Team earned accolade for me, says Fab

Apr 4 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

FAB Flournoy says winning March’s coach of the month award means nothing to him – insisting his Newcastle Eagles team should take all of the credit.

Flournoy scooped the award after leading the Eagles to a perfect March, winning all nine games and clinching their first silverware of the season by beating Guildford Heat to land the BBL Trophy.

Trey Moore, who has set a league record of 85 straight successful free throws, won the player of the month award.

After a pair of victories in the Eagles’ crucial double header against the Everton Tigers to draw a satisfactory month to a close, Flournoy’s men are now just two wins away from winning the league title.

Standing in the Eagles’ way tomorrow are the Worcester Wolves, the last team to beat Flournoy’s men, way back on February 8.

The Eagles head coach admits that being so close to the title adds an extra edge to the game but insists they must not abandon the strong team ethic that has taken them to within touching distance of their second trophy of the campaign.

“For me, winning the coach of the month brings me no personal satisfaction,” he said.

“I don’t want to take the glory – as a coach you are successful because the guys understand and buy into what you’re trying to do. The players are doing what I ask them to do, so this is really a team award.

“Trey deserves the individual award because he has been outstanding. Simply to set that free throw record is amazing – he deserves the award for that alone.”

Flournoy insists that payback for the Worcester defeat in February is not on the agenda – even though it was the most frustrating night of the season so far.

“Worcester did what they had to do that night but it was our fault that we didn’t win,” he said.

“We can’t get drawn into a scoring contest with Worcester because they’re probably the best team in the league when it comes to that.

“We have to get our defence right and concentrate on the things that have got us to where we are – two wins from winning the league.”

Meanwhile, Flournoy is confident that the Eagles will be able to keep hold of the nucleus of their highly-promising roster when the season finishes.

The likes of Moore and Tap Toney are sure to attract interest from BBL rivals and from across the Atlantic but Flournoy has already had reassurances from the players that they are committed to the Eagles. “I have spoken to all the guys and I know they are all fully aware of what we are trying to do as a club,” he said.

“The one thing is that everyone’s happy to be here and everyone is committed to the club. As players we have to take care of business before we can start talking about who’s going to be in and out next year.”