Jeff to Juma before Giants face Glasgow

With a third of the season already played, I caught up with Giants head coach Jeff Jones, ahead of Friday night’s game, to find out his thoughts on the progress his side have made over the first 11 games of the BBL season.

Juma Ngqobongwana: What’s the mood like in the camp at the moment?

Jeff Jones: It’s ok so far – we’ve had some difficulties with injuries in the early going but I’m happy that we’re still out there competing, the guys are continuing to play tough and that’s exactly what we want. Obviously we’re disappointed with the losses but our team has remained competitive throughout. We’ve got a bunch of Manchester / North West guys over here and they’re playing hard for each other. It’s a process and we plan to be around for a long time but we need to remember that this is year one. We want to win and we want to do well and if we continue to work had then I’m sure that we will

JN:With no game this past week it has allowed for extra practice time and a chance to regroup – Is that a good thing in your eyes?

JJ: Absolutely – we can get back to our fundamentals and try out some stuff that we wanted to do at the beginning of the year that we really weren’t ready for as a group. I’ve had a chance to run through some footage with the guys and highlight a few short-comings. It allows us to look at any faults and correct them and in order to do that you need teaching time. This short break in the schedule has been great as we’ve put a lot of things right whilst continuing to build on all the things that we do well as a team.

JN: A lot of losses have come in situations where you’ve fallen behind early on. As a coach do you think it’s anything to be concerned about or is it just the way the games have gone?

JJ: You can’t really legislate for that as we built a large lead at Durham and they were chasing the game however against Cheshire we were down big late in the fourth and came back to take the lead so I don’t think it’s something to worry about. The team have exhibited a great degree of mental toughness and competitiveness so far this season and have shown a lot of courage to fight back in situations when we’ve been down.

I’ll admit that in the beginning we went through a phase where it took so much work just to get the team together that there was almost a sigh of relief when we got here. The feeling in the camp was “oh great – we made it; we’re in the BBL” and I think that might have transcended to some of the players. Now the realisation that we’re here is setting in and we know that we can win games in this league. I think that we should be competing for a playoff spot. If we can achieve that as a first year franchise then I’ll be ecstatic. I’ve seen plenty of good things from our team but it will probably be a bit of a rollercoaster for the next month or so as we start to find our identity.

JN: As a team you’re currently second in the league in made 3-pointers per game – is that a deliberate ploy or are you just taking the shots that the defense presents to you?

JJ: In Stefan Gill, James Jones and David Watts we’ve got arguably three of the best long range shooters in the league and I think sometimes we do settle a bit for the outside shot when what we really should be doing is establishing an inside game first. At the moment we are probably relying on it a little bit too much but we are still going to be able to get quality looks at the basket when we play the way that we want to play. If the ball moves properly, and our shooters are set then we’ll put them in a great position to put points on the board.

JN: What lessons did the team learn from their defeat to the Rocks a few weeks ago?

JJ: They’re a solid team throughout – GB International Kieron Achara has settled in well for them and they’ve picked another big player in American Brian Rinngold. EJ Harrison has always been one of my favourite players in the league since his days playing in the EBL – I’ve always thought he’s a class act. They’re a team that will be there or there-abouts at the end of the year. You’ve got a group of four of five teams that will be looking to compete for the title and after that it’s a dogfight. It’s all about which team hits their stride at the right time and makes a run. We feel like we should have got a result last Sunday against Cheshire; we didn’t so it’s time for us to re-focus and make sure that we’re ready to play on the 30th.

JN: Do you have any parting words for the Giants fans?

JJ: The fans have been great – the players and I are can’t thank them enough for the support they continue to show and I’ve been really pleased by the number of people we’ve been getting through the doors. My message to the fans is to please stick with us and understand that we’re at the start of a journey – It’s been a long time since the fans have had a professional basketball team to support in Manchester and I’m sure they’re overjoyed to be able watch a lot of local guys competing and playing at the highest level in the country. As long as they continue their incredible support and stick behind the team I’m sure we’ll be fine.