BBL slammed for overlooking Fab's achievements

Apr 30 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

NEWCASTLE Eagles chief Paul Blake has blasted the British Basketball League for overlooking Fab Flournoy for the coveted Coach of the Year accolade.

The Eagles’ player-coach leads his team into this weekend’s Final Four showdown in Birmingham looking to add play-off glory to the League and BBL Trophy titles that have already been won.

But despite the considerable achievement of moulding a transitional side into an all-conquering one, Flournoy missed out on the award as the BBL chose to honour Leicester Riders’ coach Rob Paternostro in his first season in charge.

The East Midlands side finished third in the standings with a 21-12 record in Paternostro’s first season in charge.

Blake applauded the efforts of the Leicester man but said Flournoy, who was named North East’s Sports Personality of the Year this year, deserved to win.

“I’m disappointed, to be honest. I don’t think Fab gets the credit he fully deserves as a coach amongst the basketball community,” he said.

“If you look at the record, we’ve only lost three games at home in three years. That’s three from a total of 65 games, which is impressive. And the team line-up bears no resemblance to the team that Fab inherited five years ago – this is his team.

“I just think that if he can’t win it this year and he couldn’t win it last year, he’ll never win it again. It seems to me at the minute you need to come third in the league and allegedly over-achieve with allegedly a poorer squad to get it. I understand how it happened but it’s harsh on Fab and it undermines his achievements.”