It’s been a solid year for UEL’s basketball club with the men’s first team winning the league and in the final of the cup, the women’s first team finished fourth after promotion and the men’s third and fourth team’s secured mid-table finishes.
One major plus point for the university has been the performance and success of the men’s second team.
In a Rising East exclusive, UEL men’s basketball coach Marvin Addy, captain Matt McKoy-McIntosh and team member Rusarn Peters sat down to discuss this season.
Ending On A High
A second place finish in their first season in the South Eastern 1A is a great achievement, the second team won seven (including one walkover) of their 10 games this season with a mammoth points difference of +141 which is the best in the league.
Addy was pleased with the season overall but believed more could’ve been done:
“It’s been a fairly successful season, as in we’ve had a talented team and some good results, but I think we could’ve done more.
“One of the games where we were coming together as a team and maybe slipped up on was the very first game of the year, it came back to hurt us. But after that we were pretty consistent.”
Peters emphasised the success of a second placed finish but argued that first place was achievable:
“We finished second place, so we’ve been quite successful but I really think we could’ve got first place. A few games that we let slip and got complacent, the first couple at the start when we came back from summer. We came back a bit rusty.”
McKoy-McIntosh echoed both points: “We came back rusty and the first and third games slipped out of our hands. It affected us in the long run, but we had some great games and some bad ones this season. Overall it was a decent season, personally we all know we should’ve got to the cup final again but it was one of those seasons that we have to take on the chin and move forward.”
“League In Our Hands”
From the outside and looking at the table you could argue that UEL were unlucky not to claim top spot. However from the inside for Addy, Peters and McKoy-McIntosh it was a different story.
In brutal honesty Addy stated: “I don’t think we were unlucky, I think it was in our hands and we didn’t take care of business as we should’ve. But it was the very first season, so, obviously there is going to be some teething issues and I think that’s what we had.
Peters echoed Addy: “We definitely weren’t unlucky, it was really in our hands to take. The cup we had a few incidents on the way down, it was a long journey. The incident on the way down kind of affected us, we lost two players so that was unfortunate in that case. But in the league was definitely in our hands and we let it slip.”
McKoy-McIntosh firmly believed the league was in the team’s hands but they didn’t take the advantage: “The league should’ve been ours, but in general I thought us as a collective were the best team in the league just that we didn’t take the advantage of that. We let games slip, literally the league we let a couple of minutes slip and let go and that just affected us for the rest of the season. I thought, cup wise anything can happen, like Rusarn said with what happened but for the league we should’ve won that.”
Cup Misery, League Delight
Earlier this season McKoy-McIntosh spoke of his desire for the club to push for the cup as well as the league. Unfortunately for the team they were knocked out in the Last 16 by Bournemouth in 116-84 loss.
When asked about whether that defeat spurred the team on to a strong end to the season Addy said: “I think so. The game definitely made me look at myself as a coach and that game [against Bournemouth] made me look at ways that I can improve moving forward. It definitely gave me a kick up the backside as a coach and I think it did the same to the players as well.
Peters agreed and believed there wasn’t any reason why they lost: “That last game that we had in the cup was definitely the hardest team we’ve played throughout my three years of being here. I don’t think there is any reason why we didn’t beat them. If we had regular competition like that then we would’ve played to that level, but we’ve been playing at a level below. It’s just when we got there we were shocked and surprised and the game got away from us.”
McKoy-McIntosh spoke of how the game grounded them as a team: “I didn’t play the game but it definitely humbled us. From what the guys were saying it was a game that humbled all of us, even me watching the game. We should be there but the way we played against teams where we have played at that level each and every day but that game was just a humbling experience for the guys in general.”
Team and Player Development
Team and player development is a huge part of the basketball programme at UEL, after promotion last season the men’s second team found themselves just one league below Premier South. Improvements are always needed for a team to progress further in league and quality.
In charge for multiple years, Addy has seen players grow and the coach highlighted his pride in developing players:
“That’s probably the thing that I’m most proud of. I think that they’ve grown as players and individuals as well. I’m glad to say I’ve been a part of that and I think that I’ve helped them move forward to wherever they want to go from now, whether it’s playing semi-pro, pro or whatever.”
In their final season with the basketball club, Peters and McKoy-McIntosh highlighted their development as players in the team:
Peters, who has been one of the standout performers for the team over the past two seasons said: “With my personal development, when I first started in first year I didn’t really trust other players on my team so much.
“But then I learnt that me playing like that, even though we’d still win games, it wouldn’t help the run of the team. So, I took a lesser role [in the team] and I’ve learned to do other things which gets the guys more encouraged and motivated to play.”
Current captain McKoy-Intosh highlighted his growth in the form of self-assurance: “Confidence. That’s the biggest thing, over the past few years, that’s grown most for me. Also, [game] IQ as well. Confidence in myself and in the game, that’s the main thing I’ve seen improve.”
Favourite Memory
After a successful season, picking a standout moment is a tough decision. A top two finish in the league, a reasonable run in the cup made great memories for everyone involved with the team. After a brief moment of stunned silence, Addy responded: “It’s a difficult one.”
Small Forward Peters was next to break the silence stating: “Personally I’d say the last game, this last game. Apart from the start of the game we nearly let it slip away from us, towards the end of the game we all had fun, we were all encouraging each other.”
Guard McKoy-McIntosh agreed with Peters “I agree, I think the last game of the season the whole crowd in here [SportsDock] and knowing it was our [his and Rusarn’s] last time playing with each other and the team. I think that is the best memory from the season so far.”
Addy ended on a hugely positive note for him as coach: “The last two games I think we got up to play, it’s been fun to coach and it’s been fun to watch as well coaching. I could see the guys having fun and enjoying it, that’s probably the best part of the year so far.”
With key players set to leave at the end of the academic year it’ll be a year of change for the club but also one full of success in both the league and cup.
Check out the image gallery below for some action shots during the game:
