Conor Meany: Neptune respond to coaching change and bring the fight
Neptune's Adon Gregoria looks for the hoop under pressure from Sligo's Ja'zere Noel during their Men's Super League clash at Neptune Stadium.
Neptune lost their head coach during the week and under interim boss Paul O’Brien they got their first win of the year beating Sligo 79-75. Gregorio Adon had his best game for Neptune, scoring 23, while Nil Sabata and Eoin Nelson combined for 35. Sligo were missing John Carroll, and his absence exposed them on the interior all game long.Â
Neptune displayed fight that was missing for much of the season so far and did a much better job in transition. The coaching change gave Neptune a short-term spark, now they must build on it. Sligo will be concerned as they head into a cup clash with a Killorglin team that easily accounted for UCD Marian 90-68. If Carroll is still out, Sligo will struggle to stay alive in the cup as their depth of Irish player just isn’t strong enough. If he is back, it will be a great battle between two similar teams.
After dropping their first two games, people close to the Ballincollig team felt that they had the makings of a very good team that just needed to start defending. On Saturday they won their third game in a row, but it was thanks in large part to their excellent offence as they came out on top 97-96 against Eanna.Â
With American Latavious Mitchell missing large parts of the game with foul trouble, it was Keelan Ciarns and Josh Steele who gave the home side a big boost in a high-scoring game. Ballincollig have three excellent professionals and have a group of Irish players surrounding them that are experienced and who can all score. They look every bit like title contenders if they can match defensive focus to their firepower.
The Ballincollig-Eanna game was the best of the year so far by a distance. They are two teams with a clear identity who have talent and scoring all over the floor. Eanna don’t have high-scoring Americans but probably have the best Europeans in the league. Both teams will come out of Saturday’s matchup feeling there is lots to improve before next week’s cup match between the two.Â
Ballincollig will expect Mitchell to stay out of foul trouble and if they get a lead again next week they will need to be more clinical. For Eanna, they know they left some easy opportunities behind and will feel that Ballincollig shot better than average this week. It’s a fascinating game and would be fitting of the later stages of the competition.
It was a weekend characterised by missing players, which has been a big talking point of the season to date. Tralee missed Canadian big man Irshaad Hunte but overcame a late challenge from St Vincents winning 96-87. Worryingly for the Irish team, John Carroll was missing for Sligo in their game against Neptune and Paul Dick missed his third straight game as Killester overcame Limerick Celtics 99-80. With the new rules meaning that teams have to have two Irish on the floor at all times, injuries are having a bigger impact this year and it’s something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
Hazel Finn starred offensively with 17 points, as Meteors got revenge for last year’s League semifinal with a 63-53 win over St Paul's. It was a first loss of the year for Paul’s who were kept to a season low 53 points. Meteors are a gritty defensive team under Seamus Donnelly, and are the only team in the country keeping opponents under 60 points a game. When they meet Killester in two weeks, we will have a better sense of just how good they are, but they’ve impressed over the first month.
Coming into the weekend, there was no expectation that Liffey Celtics could go to Cork and win against Brunell. Brooke Kane and Katie Williamson had their best games of the year though as Liffey came from 15 down early to stun Brunell 66-65. The win lifts Liffey off the floor of the league, and under a new coach, with a much changed squad, there will be optimism that they can grow after the international break when their schedule is set to be considerably easier.
Fr Mathew's don’t share the enthusiasm that Liffey Celtics got this weekend, and increasingly look like a team in danger. Leila Blair is a top offensive threat each week, but there just isn’t enough scoring power on this Mathew's team. They never got going on Saturday after a long trip up to Cavan and were 15 down after the first quarter. Most teams in the league have four to five players capable of scoring on a weekly basis but beyond their Americans and Gráinne Dwyer, Fr Mathews look like they lack firepower. Unless they find secondary scoring soon, they risk being cut adrift.
