EUROPE has been a hot potato at the Pavilions this week. Raiders have been granted the green light by FIBA commissioner Will Jones to enter the third-tier EuroChallenge in 2009/10 – IF (and it is a big if) they finish in the top two in the league this season and qualify.
Fans have been torn between applauding Raiders’ ambition or mocking their folly. It is a tough one, but The Raider believes it is grossly unfair to scoff at the club’s dream.
Put yourself in the shoes of fans of other BBL clubs, like Worcester or Leicester, who struggle to make real progress from one year to the next, appoint coaches who lack discipline and the inevitable conclusion is a ragged team to support.
The Raider knows who he would rather follow. Whether you love or hate Raiders coach Gary Stronach, you can never question his desire, work-ethic, professionalism and sheer will to win and realise his and the club’s goals.
The progress Raiders have made in four and a bit years in the BBL is startling, and now Europe is looming larger than ever before on the horizon.
Will it happen in 2009/10? Clinically, the odds are against it, but where there is a will there is a way and there is clear will at Raiders to make it happen, so anything is possible. In the cold light of day, Raiders need to find the money to fund the extra travelling, to cover court improvements at the Pavilions – and finish first or second in the BBL Championship this season.
At present a two-horse title race involving Newcastle and Everton appears most likely, but In the Year of Living Dangerously (aka 2008/09) that can all change very quickly. Cue said contenders both getting turned over, AT HOME last Friday night. Who’d have thought that? Very few.
Okay, Raiders could finish third or even fourth again and still be invited in by FIBA, but personally, The Raider would like to see Raiders EARN the right to represent the BBL and compete in Europe. Raiders also talked of increasing their wage budget to recruit a bigger squad to compete on two fronts (never fight on two fronts – ask Hitler!).
Okay, Raiders would need at least 12 solid players – they have 10 this year – to make a decent fist of it. But The Raider would feel uncomfortable if players who had worked hard to get the club there in the first place to then be discarded for bigger names on bigger wages.
Guildford coach Paul James went down that route last summer and recruited a Dream BBL Team of sorts to conquer Europe. It didn’t work; players were rumoured to be unhappy; and the club badly overstretched themselves and are this season paying a high price – and will probably continue to pay the price for several years to come, as they bid to reestablish themselves as a powerhouse in the BBL.
The Raider doesn’t think Stronach would choose that path. He didn’t when he took the club up from the EBL to the BBL in 2004, and retained players like DeAntoine Beasley, Terrence Durham and Gavin Love, who had helped get them there. He sensibly strengthened where he saw fit, in particular by adding starting centre Gerrick Morris and reserve forward Ryan French, and the club retained a happy dressing room, despite finishing ninth and 12-28 that season.
The same would be true in Europe. There would be some heavy lessons, particularly on the road, but promises to be famous nights at the Pavilions that will live long in the memory.
That 2004/05 season almost has cult status among fans and players alike, and early trips into Europe would arguably only be more memorable.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: How good was Anthony Martin in Raiders’ three recent wins? Very.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK 2: What got Leicester coach Rob Paternostro's goat at the Pavilions last Sunday? Raiders director Ian Buse clearly, because Paternostro did not let up giving Buse, also game announcer for the day, earache all game! Perhaps Paternostro could have concentrated on coaching his team, or would that have been too much for ask? Clearly. The Raider expected a lot from Leicester in light of their encouraging early season results, but bar a lively point-guard, Matt Martin and decent big-man Phil Missere, Leicester were much like they have been for the duration of Raiders' time in the BBL - messy, and certainly lacking the threat big-men Terrence Woodyard and Carlo White gave them last season.
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