Inside Basketball: Conor Meany posts up the weekend's Superleague talking points
TO THE PAINT: Daniel Jokubaitis of Tralee Warriors and Dylan Corkery of Emporium Cork at Tralee Sports Complex. Picture: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus
Ballincollig were full value for their 95-85 win in Tralee at the weekend and yet there’s a feeling that they aren’t yet close to what they can become or even what they were last year. Jose Jimenez Gonzales is an excellent player and has taken to the Irish league incredibly well. John Dawson has excellent pedigree and has been very solid this year too. The shadow of Andre Nation is still case over this team to a certain degree. Nation covered so many positions and gaps that he enabled some of Ballincollig’s home-grown stars to find the perfect role for themselves. Both Dawson and Jimenez are excellent at their positions but the Irish players around them still look like they are trying to find how best to play beside them. Championship teams in Ireland have Irish players starring in their role and unlocking Adrian O’Sullivan in particular is critical to Ballincollig challenging the top teams.
Since their return to the Super League, Tralee’s Complex has been a fortress that teams rarely went to and won. The biggest factor for this, outside of their crowd, has been Tralee’s relentless physicality which has always been tough to play against. Visiting teams would usually get overwhelmed by the Warriors' size and physicality and would eventually drop away. With players like Goran Pantovic, Dusan Bogdanovic and Nikola Roso beside Kieran Donaghy it allowed players like Eoin Quigley and Daniel Jokubaitis to take advantage of mismatches. Without a physical interior presence this year, those mismatches aren’t there for Tralee. Equally on the defensive end, Tralee aren’t as intimidating as in the past and are giving up the highest points per game in the country. Worryingly, their two wins this year have come against Killorglin and Maree who have combined for two wins between them. John Dowling has a tough job on his hands to find a solution, especially when last year’s double winners still have a target on their back.
As we head into an International Break, Irish Coach James Weldon will be one of the happiest coaches in the country after seeing the performances of some of his top stars over the weekend. Dayna Finn continued to deliver for Trinity Meteors as her 19 points helped Trinity in their 70-59 road win against Fr Mathews. Finn is averaging almost 16 points a game and the one game that she missed out on was Meteor’s lone loss this season (away to DCU). With just one American, Meteors are very reliant on Dayna and her fellow Irish international Claire Melia to create offense for their team. James Weldon will be hoping to take that influence from the two young stars into next week’s internationals.
Sligo got back to winning ways as they managed to survive in Cork against a Demons team playing without an American. The Mardyke has always been a shooter's gym and Sligo looked very good for large parts of the game, hitting 12 threes along the way. Shane O’Meara would have been comfortable with four minutes to go as Sligo led 96-81 but Demons fought back with a small aggressive line-up that got the game back to one point. Despite the scare, Sligo move back into the playoff spots. 90 seems to be the magic number for the All Stars, in all of their wins they’ve scored over 90 and in all of their losses they have been held below that. For Demons, their young guards got them back into the game, and Demons at their best may be an even more up tempo aggressive style. Whether they can survive on the inside playing a faster pace will be the question on Danny O’Mahony’s mind.
In terms of drama, the match of the weekend came on Friday night as Killester gave DCU their first home loss in a 64-63 thriller. Mark Grennell’s team played great defense to limit DCU and then offensively he had the standout star of the game Chanell Williams to take over. The 5’4 guard was able to get into the lane at will and hit a number of tough floaters and mid-range shots in the fourth. As good as their American guard was, the winning of the game was definitely on the defensive end as Killester gave absolutely no space in the key and forced DCU to shoot from the outside more than they would have wanted. Despite not playing their best Mercy had a golden opportunity to win the game with two free throws with 2 seconds on the clock but couldn’t convert either.
When Scott Kinevane returned to Eanna this season it wasn’t noticed by many people around the league but it was an important signing for Darren McGovern. One of the knocks on Eanna at times is that they have so much individual talent that sometimes it felt as guys were waiting for their turn to shoot. Having someone like Scott come in and run the team and not care about scoring himself is a big addition. Checking into the game against Vincent’s on Saturday, Eanna trailed 22-17, but by organising the team and getting the right guys involved, the game was Fieldsturned on its head and Eanna led 38-31 when his shift was over. Eanna have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to offensive talent and having someone help co-ordinate them might be all that’s needed this year.
Jokso Srzic certainly knows how to find American guards who can score. He found Jon Jean for UCD Marian last year, and Jean currently leads the league in scoring. This year he brought in Donovan Fields who is a similar type player and one who is causing defenses all sorts of problems. Fields issue remains consistency but at home he looks one of the best players in the league. In home games so far this year he averages 27.4 points a game while he manages only 15.6 on the road. If Vincent’s are to get into a playoff spot they will need Fields to run the show home or away this year, and they’ll need to find him some help too.
Energywise Neptune will be delighted with their 108-87 win over Flexachem KCYMS in Killorglin on Saturday. The win showed the blueprint for what the best version of Neptune can be. Jordan Blount continued his dominant season with 27 points but it was the spread of scoring that will please Colin O’Reilly the most. Six Neptune players scored over 13 points in a balanced attack that teams will struggle to contain. The 16 threes that Neptune hit were a season high for the team and when they hit from the outside it gives Blount and Sabata the room they need to dominate.
Last season Cian Heaphy had a break-out year as he became a third team All Star and was the best young player in the league. So far this year his impact hasn’t been as big as he tries to find his role with this Neptune group. Strangely in his two games against Kerry opposition Heaphy has averaged 15.5 points a game but only 3.35ppg in all other games this year. He still needs to become a more consistent shooter but Heaphy on the break is a top tier option and if Neptune can get more consistent production out of him it will strengthen Neptune’s case for silverware.
Pyrobel Killester’s 93-80 win away to Griffith College Templeogue had all the makings of a frustrating win for Brian O’Malley. Killester were definitely the more talented team and yet seemed to only play their best basketball when they absolutely had to. It was only after they went down nine after the first quarter that Killester started to play. They then switched off again in the third before dominating in the fourth when it mattered. One area of concern for Killester moving forward was how dominant Templeogue’s big man James Gormley was, scoring 24 points. Tomas Fernandez Zerolo was injured at the start of the season and still hasn’t settled into the player he’s capable of being. Killester need to have the inside out balance and like many of the other contenders remain a work in progress.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
