The Phoenix Club – Open To Happy Players

John Lavery came out with a statement of pure intent to win a trophy, of some form, during the upcoming BBL campaign after taking over the head coach reigns with Cheshire Phoenix; but will it be possible to do that considering the club’s finances now that it is a Community Interest Club compared to others with more clout in the kitty or will it make any success that little bit sweeter when they do lift silverware?

“That’s my job,” says Lavery, in regards putting to good use the power of persuasion when building his roster, “I have to make sure that if a guy comes along that I like, such as Calvin [Clemmons], you have to work on him, and try and get the best deal as possible.

“Some clubs can financially outbid us but we have to make them welcome, make sure what is out on court is right for the player in regards to the type of basketball and what is off court; if we get it right in the first place, it’s a happy player coming to a great club.”

Speaking for the first time about Clemmons, Lavery is confident he can provide the balance to match up with other sides across the league: “He’s played in some of the top leagues across Europe, putting up 8 points and 11 rebounds a game, and he’s a real inside presence.

“If you look at the teams across the BBL who have announced signings, many are going with a big line-up, and we have wanted to counteract that by bringing in some big guys ourselves, with the likes of Plymouth with [Andreas] Schreiber – 6′ 9″, Shane Walker – 6′ 10″ , Ben Eaves – 6′ 8”; that’s a big line that Gavin Love can put out, but we can probably field roughly the same once all our signings are in.

“Calvin can dominate this league, he’s got a soft touch with his jump shot from 12-15 feet that can extend the defence, so we are looking to see very good things with him this year.

“If you look at his experience, he’s played in Chile, Mexico, France, Luxembourg, a fantastic career through Europe, as well as the other guys who are coming in hungry in their rookie year to make it a good one with decent numbers, and then Calvin, Shawn [Myers] and Chris [Pearce] can bring these guys experience both on and off the court.”

Focusing in quickly on how he’s felt the BBL has changed during only being away for a year, Lavery feels the expansion can only be positive.

“It changes every year, as different teams are bringing in different players, the league is expanding every year, such as Birmingham this year, East Scotland and Bristol next year, and to have that can only help the BBL and its profile and hopefully we can attract bigger and better players with having a stronger league,” said Lavery.

However, the increase of teams coming in this season has been cancelled out by the loss of Mersey Tigers, a side whose home games Lavery would often attend last season, and had expressed his praise and sympathy for the Merseysiders: “For what Tony Walsh had there, I thought he did an excellent job, the owners did what they could to help Tony, but they just couldn’t cross that line to be able to do what they needed to do on court. It’s always sad when a franchise folds or is removed, you don’t like to see everyone else surviving and thriving on and off the court, but it’s pretty sad to see them go.”

One stark fact from last season’s Championship table was the lack of representation in the play-offs from teams in the North West, and despite the teams from Chester and Liverpool having to climb a significantly steep mountain already, Lavery pointed out that it says a lot more for the BBL on a national level: “It shows the strength of the league, aside from Tigers, if you look at the Phoenix roster, their first five were fairly strong, but didn’t really have a great depth, but for Giants as well not to make the play-offs – it shows the BBL’s toughness and the talent on show out of the other franchises.

“That is what we [Cheshire Phoenix] are going to develop to compete at that top level in the BBL rather than fighting for a play-off spot coming into April/May, we want to be secured of a play-off spot before then, and to compete in the league to bring back some silverware to take the club back to where it was and where it belongs.”

Finally, the one trademark Lavery’s Cheshire side were famous for in that marvellous final month of the 2011/12 season was the ‘Mohawk’. Starting with the players as a way of coming together, it soon transferred to the supporters, and many feel there were magical powers within the ‘Mo’ – but will it be a requirement of the Phoenix players to sport the hairdo?

“You’ll need to ask the new guys, nothing to do with me but we’ll have to see what goes on through the season – probably if, but to me more when, we make the play-offs, but I’ll let the fans make their own decision to do what they want to do after that!”

• Cheshire Phoenix season tickets are still on sale for the upcoming BBL season – visit cheshirephoenix.co.uk for more information and how to book yours today.