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Mike Shaft's Blog

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT…THE FUTURE IS BASKETBALL
 
So the BBL has announced the structure of the competitions for the 2009/10 season and I have to say it makes interesting reading.
 
You have to get all the way down to the 4th paragraph before you get to the biggest and saddest news of their press release.  That is the news that the Finals Weekend is no more.  The Championship Final is now going to be a one-off game at a central venue rather like the BBL Cup.

Obviously booking a venue for 1 day will be cheaper than booking it for two, but I think it is really disappointing that it has come to this.  The BBL Weekend has been a fantastic event for as long as I can remember and I hope that everything has been done to try and keep this event.
 
I am delighted that the top 3 in the EBL will be competing in the in the BBL Cup.  I think that will give us a sense of just how close they are to the BBL standard.  Reading Rockets might just be the team to cause a couple of upsets.
 
It is good to see the league expanding with the addition of Essex.  I hope they enjoy their excursion into the big league but, more than anything I do hope they are competitive.  Last season was truly fantastic as, with the exception of London Capital, the competitiveness was awesome. 
 
Yes the Eagles won 3 of the available 4 trophies but even they had 5 in the loss column plus other defeats in the Cup competitions.
 
The BBL Play-Offs will remain the same but the Semi-Finals will now be best of 2 (Home and Away). The higher seed will have to decide whether they want to play the first leg home or away.  Now that is going to be a big call to make.
 
I must admit, I do wish we had gone to best of 3 with Game 3, if required, at the home of the higher seed.
 
Away from the structure I am really happy to see the number of BBL coaches who are being re-signed for the coming season.  So far, of the top 8 teams, I have got Fab Flournoy, Tony Garbelotto, Rob Paternostro, Gary Stronach, Atiba Lyons and Sterling Davis all back in post. 
 
I have not heard any announcement about the Jets, the Capital or the Lions, while the Heat, the Bears and the Wolves will all start the new season with new coaches at the helm.
 
The new season is due to start on Friday the 25th of September and the new fixtures will be published soon.  Between now and then, there is the little contest which will see Chris Finch take his Great Britain team to Poland for the European Championship. 
 
A good performance here could start a very big ball rolling for British Basketball and with the Olympics on the horizon; the future might just be bright for the game in this country.
 
Later
 
Mike S        http://www.mikeshaft.com

 

 

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