Scottish Rocks out to spoil party – Fab Flournoy
Apr 10 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
FAB Flournoy has warned his Newcastle Eagles that the Scottish Rocks will be looking to send out a statement to the rest of the British Basketball League by spoiling their title party tonight.
Victory this evening would clinch a second successive BBL league title for Flournoy’s men and, on paper, the in-form Eagles should have few problems seeing off Sterling Davis’ inconsistent side.
But Flournoy believes the Rocks would have been serious contenders for honours if they hadn’t lost one of their star players, Blake Shelton, to an Achilles tendon injury earlier in the season.
It has taken the Scots a while to adapt to losing Shelton, but Flournoy believes they are capable of giving the Eagles another epic battle at the Arena tonight.
“The Rocks have been hamstrung by injuries this season, that’s probably why they have been up and down,” he said. “They lost Blake Shelton and maybe didn’t have the strength in depth to replace him for a while – it took them a long time to adapt to that and they lost a few games because of it. But they’re a good side and no one at the Eagles will forget the epic battles that we’ve had through the years – the games that have gone down to the wire, the times where we have been denied trophies or lost in the play-offs because of them. It’ll be that type of game again.
“And we can’t forget that, for them, beating the Eagles and ending our winning streak would send a loud message to the rest of the league that they’re coming back to form just at the right time before the play-offs.”
The Eagles would be the first team for 11 years to retain their title and it would be a remarkable achievement considering the wholesale changes that Flournoy made to his roster.
One game away from clinching that title, though, Flournoy says there is no extra pressure on the Eagles to add to the BBL Trophy that they won in March.
“We have done all the hard work this season and it’s just another game,” he said. “What motivates us is the prospect of winning it on our own court and in front of our own supporters – that is a big motivation for all of us.”
Meanwhile, Flournoy says he will await medical advice before deciding whether Lynard Stewart will play again this season. Stewart landed awkwardly on his injured knee after taking an elbow to his face in his comeback game against the Cheshire Jets – and Flournoy is being cautious with one of his key players.
The Eagles head coach said: “We’re going week to week with Lynard. I’m not going to say when he’ll be back or whether he’ll be back for the play-offs. We’ll just wait and see.”
