RALPH Bucci has set the Durham Wildcats a play-off target as they prepare for their debut season in the BBL.
With experience of high-level hoops in basketball-mad Greece, the 35-year-old Bucci is the most experienced player on the Wildcats roster as they look to make an immediate impact at British basketball’s top level.
Most of the rest of their squad is made up of young, promising semi-professionals and Stateside imports like midweek recruit Fred Hinnenkamp, who was lured partly by the promise of completing a degree at Durham University.
That means the pressure is on Bucci – but he wouldn’t have it any other way as he contemplates his first ever taste of the BBL.
“I can’t wait to get started in the BBL. It’s a league where a lot of my friends are playing and I’m really looking forward to being involved,” he said.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be part of something that is just beginning with Durham Wildcats. It’s our first season in this competition but we’ve got a lot of talent and potential on the roster so we should be looking forward to it.
“Obviously it’s tough because other teams have been going for longer and are used to the BBL but hopefully we’ll try and push on and get ourselves into the play-offs.”
They tip off the BBL era with a tough-looking Trophy derby against Newcastle Eagles – a real baptism of fire for the expansion franchise. But Bucci sees it as an early litmus test of pre-season preparations which have gone well.
“Newcastle are traditionally the best team in the country so we couldn’t actually ask for a more difficult game to start things off,” he said.
“But we’ve got a good team. Dave (Elderkin) has recruited really, really well and I think that we’ll surprise a few people. ”
A career spent in Greece gave Bucci a decent basketball education but he now lives with his wife in Teesside, making the move to the Wildcats an obvious one. He spent last year starring in the EBL with the Teesside Mohawks.
“Playing in Greece was a great experience. Basketball is on a level with football over there,” he said.
“There are a lot of good players over there and it really improves your game playing against that level of player week in-week out.”
