News from the Eagles nest – March 29th 2012
Joe for MVP!
There’s been a lot of chatter on the BBL grapevine recently championing BBL rookie Ayron Hardy for League MVP. Whilst he has been posting impressive, alright eye popping, numbers on a regular basis it remains distinctly possible that his side will end the season without a Trophy in their cabinet. Add to that the failure so far to lead the Riders to victory over Newcastle in any of the four meetings it begs the question of what makes a valuable player.
For me one man stands alone in the category of Most Valuable Player, the Eagles’ own Joe Chapman. Just over a year ago Joe was given only a 50/50 chance of playing basketball again. Not only has he returned after a lot of hard work and rehabilitation but he’s put in his most productive season as a professional, racking up fantastic numbers in a series of clutch performances. Add to that two trophies already with a clean sweep a distinct possibility and that is what I call valuable.
I asked Joe how he felt about missing out on player of the month awards and not necessarily receiving the recognition he merits and he told me that uses this as motivation, “I’ve been getting overlooked by the League so I can just go out there and try to play my hardest and hopefully at the end of the year I get one of those awards. The MVP is usually a guy on the best team not just based on stats. They’re going for guys who get 12-10-9 but they lose a game. You really can’t control that but it does fire me up that I don’t get recognised.”
There’s no question that Joe deserves more recognition so I think it’s about time we Eagles fans start spreading the word. Let’s see if we can hear a bit more Geordie Joe for MVP talk for the rest of the season!
Read more about choosing an MVP here.
Team Northumbria
We all know about a certain Trophy that was lifted at Sport Central on Friday but it wasn’t the only cause for celebration this weekend. Congratulations are also due to Team Northumbria who clinched the EBL Division 2 Championship on Saturday by beating Hemel Storm 81-63 at Sport Central. A crowd of 300 turned up at Sport Central including most of the Eagles’ squad and staff to cheer the lads on.
The Team Northumbria side included several faces very familiar to Eagles fans including Ross Wilson. Lamar Morrison and Jamie Glen but it was American Kevin Wollbrinck with 22 points, 9 boards and 7 assists and Frenchman Ivan Emanuely with 23 points and 9 rebounds who were the most impressive performers on the night.
Eagles’ Managing Director Paul Blake was delighted with Northumbria’s success: “It’s the culmination of several years of work to get the men’s programme into place whereby we now have a seamless transition from our junior local and national league clubs into FE colleges such as Tyne Met and Gateshead and onto Northumbria University, before looking up to the Eagles. We now have a berth in BBL and EBL 1 which is great news for the players, coaches and the club in partnership with the University.”
BBL Team of the Week
Despite winning their second piece of silverware on Friday, the BBL Team of the Week was conspicuous by the absence of Eagles! The team is entirely stat based which would explain the omission as the Trophy win was a team triumph with the load being shared around the ‘Magnificent Seven’ who took to the court. Our own Mr Consistency Andy Thomson did make the bench however thanks to yet another double double.
The UK American Sports Fans Team of the Week is chosen by our Beat Writers who reward players who in their opinion had a special night. It could be a lesser light having a big night, an impressive cameo performance or simply a lights out display from the team’s star man. Anything that catches our eye. Forget the stats. My man this week was unquestionably Fab Flournoy who was the driving force behind his side’s magnificent performance. Check out our team and the why we picked them at http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/bbl-players-of-the-week-week-25.
Follow Darrin Smith on Twitter @OleDJ
