Trey Moore calling for mauling of Tigers
Nov 18 2010 by Matthew Leslie, The Journal
NEVER mind the second leg, we’re ready to finish it now, states Newcastle Eagles point-guard Trey Moore ahead of tomorrow’s semi-final against Mersey Tigers.
The Eagles face Tony Garbelotto’s men in the last four of the BBL Cup at home, which will be the first encounter in a two-legged affair.
Whoever wins tomorrow still has to go and do it all over again in the return match in Liverpool next Wednesday with the onus on Fab Flournoy’s men to rack up a big lead.
No one knows this better than the Eagles, and Moore especially given his part in ramming home how crucial a solid first-leg performance is.
Last season, the two sides met in the semi-finals of the end of season play-offs under a two-legged format, Newcastle’s dream of retaining their crown smashed as the Tigers thrashed them on Mersey-side 95-79. Shell-shocked from that, Eagles proceeded to lose the second leg at home by the same score.
Moore was part of that Tigers team and went on to star in the final itself in a 80-72 win over Glasgow Rocks, and is keen that his current employers tomorrow do what Tigers did to them last season.
He told The Journal: “We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. That is try and finish it off now. Never mind talk of taking any sort of lead like just a point or whatever, we’ve got to put Tigers out of sight because we’ve got a cup final to get to.
“We’ve got home court advantage first up and we have to take advantage of that because we don’t want to go to their place next week defending a small lead or even having to play catch-up.
“I know that from playing with the Tigers last year against the Eagles in the play-offs and I’m sure the guys here know it too. Last year Tigers got off the blocks, built up a strong lead and controlled the game. That’s what we’ve got to do to make it easier for ourselves next week.
“Plus, there’s the matter of getting Tigers back for our defeat down there earlier this season. We’re going to try and make sure that’s not going to happen again.
“We’re two strong teams who are going to be up for up but we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.”
Eagles enter this game in a good run of form having won four out of their last five – the last victory being an impressive 105-76 win over Worcester Wolves in which Moore bagged a haul of 26 points.
Indeed, Trey has been in impressive form since his late arrival after red tape visa wrangles, and leads the BBL scoring averages with 22.4 points per game.
It is a marked turnaround from just over a month ago, when Eagles had made a slow start to the season – but as Moore points out, history usually shows that Newcastle recover to end up in the final shakedown.
He added: “That’s just basketball. You get teams that start off fast and then fall off the pace at the end, while others start slowly and are in contention.
“Newcastle have done this in the past. The crucial thing is that it all boils down to confidence. You get that going and you’re pretty hard to beat.
“Yes we started slowly this season, but it takes time to iron out the wrinkles. This is the first time I’ve hooked up alongside Joe Chapman and Andre Lockhart so I’ve had to get used to their styles and assess their strengths and weaknesses in order for the three of us to gel.
“That is why I take responsibility for the losses we had after I arrived. I could have done a better job in understanding more quickly how they work and in making sure that we clicked a lot faster.
“We’re doing that now and hopefully we can build upon that – starting with the Tigers.”
