Myerscough embark on their first Euro adventure

 

After the successful open day and taster event run by the basketball academy staff on Monday the 14th of April, it was straight back to it; this time in readiness for our first trip abroad.

 

Luxembourg was the chosen destination, and with the promise of a great international tournament in Bertrange (the Sparteens cup) we hit the road.

After a long trip, we arrived in Folkestone, where we would spend the night ahead of a ferry crossing to Calais in the morning. A trouble free trip across the channel on Thursday took us into France. En route to Luxembourg (a 5 hour trip from Calais) we called in on Dunkirk for history lesson. After spending a few hours stretching our legs it was back on the bus.

 

With this being many of the guys first trip abroad to play basketball, Luxembourg provided a fantastic location, a quick visit to the arena in Bertrange, which is an outstanding venue put everyone in high spirits and lifted the excitement levels ahead of our first game on Friday evening.

Our game schedule meant that we had Friday morning off; this gave us a great opportunity to head into the Luxembourg City. The city steeped in history was a fantastic place to visit – it really gave the guys an idea of the culture of our host country and an eye opener as to the beauty of Luxembourg.

With a return to the arena we prepped and got loose ahead of our opening fixture against OKK Belgrade (Beograd). Our Serbian opponents who were founded in 1945 carried a lot of history, their professional team play in the top league in their home country and the club have had several members inducted into the FIBA hall of fame including the late Radivoj Korac. It was most certainly the best way to start our European adventure and without understand the magnitude of the club we were about to face we tipped off. No fear was shown in the opening exchanges and despite the Serbian side holding a significant height advantage Myerscough adjusted well limiting the inside presence of Belgrade with a physical approach. In European fashion Belgrade broke up our transition and made life hard, tactically prying on any visible weaknesses. As the game wore on it was obvious that Myerscough were not to be beaten easily and with Belgrade limiting their rotation we continued to plug away. An 11 point hole that had developed but with one minute to play we brought the score to within 2 points after a well worked offense from a timeout, and a stop on the defensive end resulted in an opportunity to score – however Myerscough rimmed out from deep. After a late foul Myerscough dropped game 1 by 3 points, missing 13 free throws along the way, final score 48 - 45. In what was certainly an eye opener for the lads we had battled throughout, for many this was the first time playing abroad and the first time experiencing the physical and tactical elements of European basketball – it was a great way to start. Belgrade went on to win the tournament crushing most teams on the way.

 

It was back to the hotel ahead of a loaded Saturday and an early get up.

With the first game at 8:30am we were up and at breakfast at 7:15am – our first game of the day would put us up against Leuven Bears of Belgium, with both teams starting slowly it was clear that concentration would be the order of the fixture, with a rotation of Coaches Myerscough’s Dan Gayle took charge. With both teams exchanging and neither able to pull away the game headed backwards and forwards for its entirety, Leuven shot the ball well from downtown whilst Myerscough struggled for an offensive impact. Leuven did a great job in preventing our dribble drive game and limited us to contested jump shots, which at 9am in the morning was not as effective as it could have been. As time wound down the Belgium’s opened up a small margin and as time expired managed to maintain the lead to send us to a 0 – 2 record walking out 4 point winners 32-28.

 

There was no time to rest as our final group game came at 11:30, this time we would play Binnenland from the Netherlands, a team we had watched the previous evening and been very impressed with. The game was fiercely competitive from the beginning and incredibly close, both teams coming up with big plays on both ends of the floor. Myerscough as they had done all tournament went far deeper into their rotation than the Dutch team using all 12 player through most quarters with great effect, with 3 minutes left we found ourselves down by 4 points. With two great stops we tied the game up, and with 18 seconds to play ran a play out of a timeout to take the lead – the play, run to perfection resulted in an open lay-up, possibly with too much time we failed to execute allowing the Dutch team to run the floor to score for 2. With no timeouts remaining we ran what we could but couldn’t find a score – a foul late in the clock put Binnenland back to the line where they split to take a 3 point advantage and no time left for a last heave. In what was a fantastic game of basketball with highs and lows we dropped to a 0-3 group record after the 49-46 loss. High praise was in order for both teams after the fixture for putting on a real show. It was a great game to be a part of.

Having finished bottom of a very tough group we would now play for 7 – 12^th spot.

Our first classification game would come against Stambruges who had finished 3rd in group A – after a slow start we hit stride, finding our touch around the ring and finishing well through contact. Stambruges struggled to stay in front of our guards and we scored with relative ease. The game put into context the level of the teams in our original group as we eased to a 30 point victory to mark our first international W – final score 62 – 32.

 

In what was our fourth game of the day we would take on the host team Sparta, a relatively young team who were eager to please the home supporters. It was very much self-preservation mode for the first quarter, with neither team asserting themselves on the game after a gruelling schedule.

 

Sparta shot the lights out from downtown to open up a 6 point gap during the 2^nd, to be replied by a rally from Myerscough levelling the game at the half. Some big plays down the stretch by a tired Myerscough team helped us etch out a 6 point victory and set up the possibility of 6^th place. The final score being 42 – 36, in what was a real battle of a game.  

 

The evening saw some down time and allowed us to stay at the arena to watch Sparta’s professional team play league champions Amicale as Sparta hunted the last playoff spot – we were treated to an awesome exhibition of basketball and the guys got to experience the atmosphere at a European basketball game – it was certainly inspiring. Sparta led by a point guard master class from the outgoing Kasey Ulin grabbed a memorable victory over their rivals in what was a heated, high paced affair. After the game it was back to the hotel and to bed!

 

With our final fixture at 2pm on the final day, we had the chance to sit back and watch some of the other teams and take on ideas during the final morning, it also allowed some time for reflection on what had been a great experience.

Game time came and once again we took to the court against Leuven Bears in an attempt for some retribution from our group game defeat. We started well, moving the ball with purpose and finishing well to punch out a 10 point lead, then as rotations came in we began to fatigue, going 9 minutes scoreless to trail by 8 at the half. A third quarter push saw us tie the ball game going into the fourth but with energy levels low we slipped to a 4 point defeat to end our tournament in 7^th place and with lots of positives to think about.

With an evening spent in the hotel it was an early start on Monday morning as we headed back to the UK, somehow we managed to get to Calais within great time and managed to catch an earlier ferry, meaning we arrived back at Myerscough after a 9 hour drive at 6:30pm – marking a little victory at the end of a great trip.

Upon reflection the tournament had provided a great stage for us to gain some valuable experience, which is what we hoped for. A great spread in playing time and everyone seeing extended minutes was the aim of the trip and considering the inexperience we have at that level the guys should be proud of every minute they played. There is a lot to take away from the trip and memories that will last a life time – our huge thanks go out to Sparta for hosting us.

 

 

Myerscough lose out in MABL cup final

The rise of Myerscough through MABL competitions this year has been rapid; for a programme which is only 7 months old MABL has provided a great platform for our junior players who range in age from 16 to 19 to gain vital senior level experience, the cup competition has been the pinnacle of this.

After a hard fought cup campaign in which Myerscough basketball academy who play under partner club Preston Pride’s banner had knocked out teams from all divisions faced off against club rivals Preston Pride 1, who are currently sitting top in the MABL premier league. With both teams knowing all the finer details on one another the game promised to be an interesting one.

The final held at UCLan’s Sir Tom Finney sports centre provided the perfect environment for the all Preston affair.

Phil Hargreaves opened the scoring for Pride 1 and quickly found range to add another two points, Andre Gayle responded for Myerscough netting from deep – in a quarter that was not pretty to watch both team scrapped for points and traded either way. Pride 1 opened up a 5 point cushion at the midpoint in the quarter before Connor Tuxford converted 2 free throws to bring the score back to within 2. Myerscough looked to have found their touch as the time wound down hitting in quick succession to bring the score to 23 – 24 in favour of Pride 1.

With both teams looking more settled the 2^nd quarter scoring was opened by Montel Dennis of Myerscough. A run from Myerscough saw Pride 1 slip back to 9 point deficit and with Myerscough turning the screw and applying extended pressure Pride 1 almost buckled, up stepped Jonny Graham who halted the Myerscough run with back to back triples at a crucial time. Myerscough continued to probe defensively not allowing the opposition to settle into their offense with the game on a knife edge the half finished 42 – 40 in Myerscough’s favour.

Pride punched out a 7 point run to open the 3^rd, Graham Holland and Alex Hodgson doing the damage, this inspired Pride 1 and with back to back threes from Harry Beenham - Myerscough were forced to use a timeout;  with nerves settled and defense in mind Myerscough got the stops they deserved and attempted to chip away at Pride’s 11 point advantage. Andre Gayle repeatedly got to the line but struggled to convert from the charity stripe, Myerscough missed 7 free throws straight, despite this they managed to pull the lead back only trailing by 3 going into the final period.

A slow start by the young team saw Pride once again put together a 11 point run, this within the first 4 minutes of the quarter put Pride 1 in the driving seat, Chris Bwana who had been a revelation for Myerscough pulled back 4 points to make it an 8 point game with 5 minutes to play. Pride 1 made their experience count and knocked down two quick buckets to extend their lead to 12 with 3 minutes left – this margin proved too much for the battling Myerscough side. With the benched emptied and time expiring Pride 1 took the title 73 – 57, the fourth quarter proving fruitless for Myerscough who only mustered 5 points to Pride’s efficient 17.

In what was a hard fought fixture that saw two top teams test each other and was a great advert for the Manchester Area basketball league Pride 1’s age and experience told and they rightly ran out victors.

Chris Bwana hit 14 for Myerscough with Montel Dennis adding a cool 10

Phil Hargreaves picked up the MVP honours after an impressive performance for Pride 1 netting 16 points Graham Holland poured 23 for Pride.

Coach Neal Hopkins said this after the game “both teams fully deserved to be in this final, on this occasion Pride 1 deserved to win – they are a great team who would do very well in National league, I can’t complain at the result at all. Our young lads have come a long way this season and will learn from this game, which is very important to the ethos of our programme. Hats off to the organisers, especially Bob McGilvary for putting on a great event – it was definitely a show case for the talent in MABL”

A DAY IN THE LIFE: Myerscough College Basketball Academy

Tuesday

Morning

Myerscough College Gym

Academy players wake up at around 7 am on Tuesday mornings. Half of the squad has an hours session starting at 7.30 in the gym with strength and conditioning coach Alex Hodgson and sports therapist Nick McCarthy. Players work on strengthening specific muscle groups, injury prevention exercises and core stability amongst other things. The other half of squad have around an hour and a half to practice shooting or ball handling individually in the sports hall and eat breakfast before their strength and conditioning session begins at 8.30. Following the conclusion of strength and conditioning and individual practice players have a 2 hour lesson with programme leader Neal Hopkins on Assessing Risk in Sport.

Afternoon

After the lesson finishes at 12pm players have an hour to get their lunch and rest before team practice begins at 1. The focus of team practice varies day to day however this Tuesday transitional defense and defensive rotations were the main focus. Although the majority of the squad train on a Tuesday afternoon, 2 players travel to St Peters High School in Manchester (with whom the academy has a partnership) to coach a training session for school children.

Evening

On Tuesday evenings academy players split into different groups and take part in various different activities. Around 6 academy players travel to East Manchester to train with the Manchester Giants professional team. Other players compete for one of the Academy's two partner teams in the Manchester Area Basketball League. For those players not involved in pro training or a fixture there is time to rest, complete classwork, or practice individually in the sports hall. Players eat dinner any time between 4 and 6.30, depending upon their personal schedule. By 11pm most players are in their rooms and are beginning to go to sleep, ready for another day of hard work on Wednesday!

Click here to view sample timetables

For further information about the academy email:nhopkins@myerscough.ac.uk

Inside MCBA: Alex Hodgson Interview

Inside MCBA (Myerscough College Basketball Academy) is a new feature which will see the coaching staff at the academy contribute regular educational blog posts to the site. We will conduct introductory interviews with each member of the coaching staff which will be published in the coming weeks.

Alex Hodgson is the lead Strength and Conditioning coach at the academy. He played professionally in his native Australia and in Europe and brings a wealth of basketball expertise to the programme. We spoke to Alex about his playing career and his role here at Myerscough..

When did you first begin playing basketball? 

I started playing when I was 9 years old in my home town in Australia. I was quite tall as a kid so it seemed a logical way to go with sport! I really enjoyed the sport so I continued to play there onward.

How did you end up playing professionally? 

I just kept playing! I played locally for my town when I was growing up and played representatively. I continued to make better teams and kept progressing until some opportunities arose which allowed me to get paid to do what I enjoyed!

Tell us about the different places you have played (and which was your favourite?)

I have played in lots of different places. My favourite place to play is at home with my friends and people I grew up with in Australia. If  c had the chance to play in Barcelona which was definitely my favourite place I have played away from home. I have also played here in the UK which was a great experience

What advice you would give to young players who aspire to play professionally?

Be obsessed with the game! If you want to be a professional you have to be dedicated and do your best. Not many people end up playing professionally just through cruising along and waiting for it to happen.

How did you end up working at MCBA?

I had played for Neal (academy head coach) for a couple of years. He knew my background and recognised that my basketball knowledge matched well with what he was trying to do here. I had finished my strength and conditioning degree locally at UCLan (University of Central Lancashire) and the opportunity came up and I thought it was a really good match.

What does your role as lead Strength and Conditioning coach encompass?

My main role is to develop the athletic side of the academy players. They're all at a developmental age so we are really looking to strengthen guys up and improve various performance aspects such as speed, agility and fitness.

How do you feel the first term at the academy has been?

It's been a learning curve but I think we've improved every week. I'm really impressed with the way the athletes have progressed so far. We're only a few months in and I think everyone has seen a marked increase in performance and strength. They are all seeing the benefits of all the training we do which is great! We're really looking forward to the future

Watch out for Alex's first blog post, due to be published in the coming weeks.