As I say, we will be moving to a u20 team going forward. So here is a few words of appreciation for the 21year olds that will be moving on.
Kit Harris- trained by RioMashvili of Borac Basket, Harris was an interesting player to use, but he has definitely had an effective EC. Finished with averages of 7.1rpg and 9.3apg and some funny statlines, including 2 near double-doubles with 0 points! Despite only playing 7 games, he’s has ranked 6th for single season assists! His passing was crucial in our success this season as we lacked true offensive firepower.
Mark Speakman, Robert Bernard and Forest Arrowsmith- trained by js8 of Wanaka Lakers, Speakman and Bernard have provided a strong defensive presence on the perimeter. Speakman also ended as our 2nd top scorer with 15.2ppg in a team which was limited offensively. Bernard was mostly limited to a bench role because of the strong play of Speakman averaged 9ppg. Arrowsmith was held to a mostly reserve role, but I expect to see him featuring for our senior NT team in the future.
Scott Woodhouse- trained by Rich Pickings of Bicton Bombers, Woodhouse turned out to be the surprise package of the season for me. Averaging 22.8ppg, including a 44 point outburst in the EC opener against Greece. He also offered strong defensive versatility which made his presence in the team almost irreplaceable.
Colin Hay and Mason Hudson- trained by testudo of Dartmoor Pumas, they were the defensive backbone of the team, anchoring the defensive from inside. Hay finished with averages of 13.1rpg and 4.8bpg and was 1 block and 1 point away from ending the season with a triple double! Hudson had averages of 8.6rpg and 3.4bpg while adding 9.9ppg. Hudson’s big performance came in the win over Israel where he had a team high 18 points, 9 rebounds and 7 blocks, while also limiting Israel’s biggest scoring threat to 9-38FG!
Tank Dixit- trained by Johny89 of BB London City, Dixit offered solid work as a backup to Hudson and Hay. Very solid player in his own right who would’ve been a starting big in most of my u21 teams previously. He averaged 8.5rpg in under 24mins per game which shows how important his efforts were mostly from the bench.
Drew Watson- trained by Flavoured of Spartan Warriors, Watson offered a strong all round skill set which made him valuable as a backup scorer and playmaker at the PG/SG positions. He averaged 11.3ppg and 4.3apg from the bench in an effective 6th man role.
Pat Anderson - trained by RanLT of London Rams, Anderson was a key figure off the bench early in the campaign, and even provided a 20 point in 21min performance against Georgia.
Digambara Jain- trained by BC17 of BC Gunnners, Jain provided a solid inside scoring presence off the bench, something we didn’t have from our other bigs. May have been more involved if he had another offensive minded big to go next to him.
This group exceeded expectations this season and picked up 2 quality wins against Greece and Israel but in the end fell just short due to losses vs Czech Republic and Italy, which is no shame. The group was really competitive between the top 5 teams and all 4 games we had against the other teams were decided by 3 or 4 points.
Thank you to all the managers for their commitment to training and managing the game shape (which has been excellent i should say) of this group. We did the best we could but it wasn’t quite enough. We look to keep improving, and one season we’ll make the 2nd round I’m sure!