News from the Eagles nest 23rd February 2012
Something’s got to give in Plymouth
The facts are plain and simple. Plymouth Raiders have a 9-0 unbeaten home record in this year’s BBL Championship. Newcastle Eagles have an 8-0 unbeaten Championship record on the road. One of those 100% records is going to tumble on Friday in Plymouth.
It’s the first of four meetings between the two clubs over the next month and the Eagles will be determined to keep the upper hand following their dominance in the previous two matchups this season. A 90-67 blow out win at Sport Central in November and the memorable triumph in the BBL Cup Final won’t have the Eagles resting on their laurels however, particularly as both of those victories weren’t achieved in the Raiders’ stronghold. As their record shows, Plymouth Raiders are a tough cookie on their own court and the lads will have to step up once more. This is a must win game for the home side if they are to maintain a challenge for the Championship. Unfortunately for them, a full strength Newcastle Eagles team stands in their way.
Follow the lads on Twitter
There are plenty of you out there who are already social media addicts and this season in particular has seen a marked increase in BBL Twitter activity with fans, writers, players and officials all joining in the fun. Some well known BBL figures have made their feelings a little too public recently resulting in the BBL now working on a new social media policy. The Newcastle Eagles Twitterati have been behaving themselves though and you can find out what they’ve been getting up to by following them on the accounts below.
Here’s the full Eagles Twitter line-up:
Paul Gause @boycanball22
Joe Chapman @joechap32
Charles Smith @PrinceCSmith10
Darius Defoe @borntoball13
Joel Madourie @J5ive12
Ross Wilson @rosswilson101
Lamar Morrison @lamar_morrison
Anyone want to persuade Fab, Bridgey and Andy T to join the Twitter family?
Fab’s finally back to full fitness
Player/coach Fab has been playing through the pain of a badly bruised bone in his ankle, not that you would have picked that up on recent performances. While Fab may not have been lighting up the stat boxes like Charles and Joe in recent weeks, he’s been the driving force behind several great wins with mammoth performances at both ends of the court despite carrying this injury.
The good news for Eagles fans is that Fab is finally back to 100% fitness. I doubt that the news will be greeted with the same cheer by this weekend’s opponents in Plymouth and Cheshire!
BBL Team of the Week
Newcastle Eagles incredible season continues to be recognised by the BBL with another two Eagles appearing in the starting five. Man of the moment, the irrepressible Joe Chapman is in the starting line up for the fifth week in a row and has surely become a major contender for League MVP and a lock for February’s player of the month. Joe is joined by Mr Consistency, Andy Thomson who is quite simply a double double machine this season. That makes it two weeks in a row for Andy and a fourth appearance overall, as the man who was once a thorn in the Eagles side is developing into one of the League’s real stars.
Follow Darrin Smith on Twitter @OleDJ