NEWCASTLE Eagles coach Fab Flournoy admitted that exuding an aura of confidence in the face of defeat was important for his side as they snatched a place in the last four of the BBL Cup.
The Eagles had the fans on the edge of their seats during a thrilling quarter-final at Sport Central, pulling off off a superb comeback to defeat Glasgow Rocks 78-75 in an epic clash.
It seemed as if the tie was slipping away from them when the Rocks racked up a 13-point lead only for the Eagles to reel them back in to win it at the death.
Flournoy, as ever, gave the impression of having the coolest head around.
Reflecting on the victory ahead of Sunday’s trip to Cheshire Jets, he said: “It was important that I remained confident not only to the players but for myself as well, because anything else would send out the wrong message to everyone when you have a tight game like the one against the Rocks.
“There wasn’t too much screaming and shouting during the time-outs or at half-time.
“I just stressed to the team that they had to remain focussed and not to panic. I just told them to hold the line and keep doing what they were doing.
“People can look at the final result and say we pulled it off because we were afraid of losing – it was never a case of that. It was more a case of waiting for the rhythm to come as I felt that at some point during the night, we were going to get it right.
“We did lack some rhythm earlier on and shots that we normally make were not dropping in to the basket. But we eventually got that back and you saw the likes of Charles (Smith) and Joe (Chapman) make some key plays for us.
“As players we always have to find a way to win and we were able to do that.”
The lack of rhythm was an issue that Flournoy put his hand up to.
The Eagles have had their problems with injuries this season, having been without key men Paul Gause and Joel Madourie which has meant a lot more work for his depleted squad to deal with. While they have coped admirably by showing enough resolve to remain at the top of the BBL table, at times it seemed all their extra effort was beginning to catch-up with them against the Rocks.
Flournoy added: “One of the reasons why we lacked rhythm was that we looked tired. It is my job to make sure that I get the balance of game-time and rest right in order to keep all the guys who are available fresh.
“I got this balance right the previous week but I didn’t this time and it is up to me to get it right when we play Cheshire (Jets) this weekend. With the injuries, this is an issue and right now we are pacing ourselves and tactically planning and executing each game as we are not going to blow teams out on a six-man formation.”
