A Letter from a British Basketball Fan!

Hi Mike

This is a desperation message!

I was recently at the Giants’ away game at Cheshire and as soon as I walked in and heard your voice a million and one memories flooded back to the early 90’s at the Armitage Center.

It’s where I would go to every home game as a kid and have been a Giants’ fan through thick and thin for more than 25 years.

Its not the time for nostalgia now as my concerns are the club today and I’m at a loss as to what to do as it’s driving me insane!!!

I’m close to a few of the players and have become very good friends with the US boys this year. I see the game and the club differently to 95% of the fans as I’m in the minority that truly understand the culture of the game and especially the culture for the players having played the game and experienced it at all levels in some capacity here and in the States.

After seeing how amazingly the Nix present their team, arena, fans, game day and whole experience in the snapshot of one game I cant keep quiet much longer!!!!

WHAT IS GOING ON IN MANCHESTER????

The club is a mess and worryingly a disaster waiting to happen again. Everything from the facility, to the coaching, to the owners, to the image is all wrong but what’s killing me is seeing what the players are going through.

Especially the American players who are simply not being taken care of by the club and these are great guys who are essentially kids who have come here from Division 1 Colleges and are living hand to mouth in awful accommodation and simply having to deal with it.

You know better than most that the BBL is a small community and the platform to discuss this stuff isn’t what it would be for soccer etc and there is no opportunity for the fans to voice opinions about the club in any capacity.

I’m sure all teams in the league have issues but remember the 90’s when the game boomed and we had the arena days?? Gone yes but not forgotten. Seeing the team falling apart week by week but with a sure thing top 4 squad is just making the name of the Manchester Giants suffer and it feels like the organisation doesn’t deserve to use the name.

Is there any scope to discuss this?

My heart’s breaking for the team right now but it seems that the ‘keep our heads down and just play’ culture is truly there and there are 12 long games with no shot at the play-offs to go.

I’ve been racking my brains as to where to go with this and it seems crazy to go to someone affiliated with the local rival but Mike you are one of the few original Britball guys around.

What can be done??

Do the players have a union any more? I remember Mark Robinson setting something up years back in the day?

I still talk to Tony Dorsey on email and some of the other old school guys and it’s like non of the great days of British ball happened.

So much to discuss so little time!

Yours in desperation

Adam Masters