Conor Meany: Neptune show they could still be the team to beat
ON THE RISE: Jordan Blount, Energywise Ireland Neptune, and Gregorio Adon, Killester. Pic: Jim Coughlan
Energywise Neptune gave another indication of why they could still very well be the team to beat this season as they beat a short-handed Killester team 100-74. After trailing by ten early on, Neptune’s pace and variety of offensive options overpowered one of the Northern Conference’s better teams.Â
With 6.40 to go in the second quarter Neptune hadn’t scored for over three minutes after a blistering opening quarter but that changed rapidly as the Leesiders scored 34 points in less than seven minutes to end the first half on 68. Tarkus Ferguson came to life hitting five of Neptune’s 12 first half threes and Killester were simply unable to keep up. With four wins out of five in 2023 in the league, Colin O’Reilly looks like he has his team poised for a big playoff push.
With Killester’s loss in Cork they are now likely to finish third in the Northern Conference. Health has been Killester’s issue all year, as they’ve missed key contributors. Only one player (Gregario Adon) has played in all of their league games this season. Key contributors like Ciaran Roe (six games played) and Paddy Sullivan (seven played) have missed more than half of the season and their contributions have been sorely missed. One of the big issues, mentioned before, has been their lack of American presence at times.Â
Conroy Baltimore has only played in eleven of the sixteen league games so far. When he plays Killester are 8-3, while without him they are just 1-3. It’s not necessarily that Baltimore is a major individual force, it’s more that Killester are in desperate need of depth and wherever they can get it helps. He was missing on Saturday in their big loss to Neptune and if Killester are going to make a serious playoff push they need Baltimore and some more of the supporting cast back.
Demons push for top spot in the Southern Conference was almost dealt a major blow as they trailed Killorglin by seven points with four minutes to go in Kerry. Danny O’Mahony called a critical timeout and his ace American MJ Randolph responded by scoring the next eight points unanswered to give Demons back the lead, which they didn’t relinquish again (winning 85-82).Â
Randolph ended the game with 34 points which means the former Florida A&M star has now scored over 33 points in all but one of his six games since arriving in Ireland. The one game he didn’t was a blow out win over UCD Marian where he wasn’t needed. Demons fans will be thankful that their star delivered yet again and they remain unbeaten since Randolph arrived in Ireland. With two home games on the way and then a trip to Galway to face Maree, the fight for top spot is still alive for Demons.
Whatever about the incredible talent they have on the floor, the way that Charlie Crowley has his team organised defensively is something that warrants a huge amount of credit. Central to their defense is the size of Cutuk under the basket and perhaps most importantly Rodrigo Gomez who is the most critical player to Maree. At 6’8 Gomez has size and speed and defensively he is a level above the majority of import players that arrive into Ireland.Â
With their size under the basket, Crowley has his team playing an aggressive help defence that teams struggle to break down. On Saturday Emporium Cork Basketball scored just 59 points which is 27 points below their season average and 12 lower than their previous season low. This is back to back weeks that Maree have delivered season lows to high level teams after they held Eanna to 30 below their season average last week with just 50 points. If Maree can continue to stifle opponents then a double could be on the cards.
The loss in Galway is a worrying one for Ballincollig as they have now lost three of their last four games with the sole win coming against Moycullen, the Southern Conference’s bottom team. Ballincollig were rocked in the Cup semi-final by Eanna and they haven’t looked like a potential title winner in recent weeks. Most worrying will be the performance of John Dawson who managed to score just two points and didn’t get to the free throw line once all game.Â
American guards are crucial to so many Irish teams as they can both score and also open up offence for their teammates. With Dawson scoring only two, Emporium only managed seven in the fourth quarter and were well beaten. Ballincollig aren’t fully healthy at the moment but the teams around them will be able to point to their own similar issues throughout the year. With Tralee hot on their heels, a double header weekend in Dublin in two weeks could be a defining weekend for Ballincollig.
As their competitors falter around them, the one consistent in Irish women’s basketball is Glanmire’s ability to win games. Two weeks in a row Glanmire faced difficult Cork derbies and both weeks they came away with single basket wins. When Glanmire get to their seemingly inevitable league title in the coming weeks people will point to their big win over Meteors in Cork and some of the huge scorelines they posted earlier in the year. The true sign of championship mettle is often seen in winning games when there is an easy excuse not to.Â
With their closest rivals falling away it would be understandable if Glanmire also took their foot off the pedal and yet they managed again to show their resolve and win another critical game on the path to the title. For Mathews it is the second week in a row that they have come agonisingly short. Grainne Dwyer was again peerless on the floor scoring 30 points but it wasn’t enough for Mathews. With just three games to go Fr Mathews look like they will be on the outside looking into the playoffs, but if they keep playing like this they will give themselves a shot and at the moment that’s all they can ask for.
What a month! This time last month, Meteors were favourites for the Cup and were league leaders alongside Glanmire. Now just four weeks later the Cup dream is over and Meteors may not finish in the top two in the league. Wildcats didn’t follow the basic script of hitting lots of outside shots to beat Meteors, instead they won by playing stifling defence that frustrated Meteors to just 59 points, their 2nd lowest mark this year.Â
As a team that have struggled internally in recent weeks, Wildcats did a brilliant job limiting Taborn inside for Meteors with Sarah Hickey particularly effective. Wildcats were able to force turnovers and Meteors looked like a frustrated group. It’s up to Niall Berry to now find a way to reset the dial and get the team back playing confidently over the coming weeks if they are to challenge for the playoff title. Wildcats on the other hand deserve credit for the way they’ve responded to their own challenges and this is a signature win for their young team.
Sligo All Stars hit 14 threes on their way to a vital 106-90 home win against Belfast Star. The Westerners got their best offensive performance out of their American Christian Williams who managed 29 points. Equally important was another impressive performance from Tom Child who has had a very solid first season in Ireland. Usually more comfortable running the team, Childs had 28 points which put Star under a lot of pressure.Â
For the Belfast men, the worry will remain that with Max Cooper out, do they have enough offence to go toe to toe with the top teams in March. The Quinn twins continue to improve their scoring in recent weeks but Star have very little margin for error and can’t afford Max Richardson to score in single digits in games any more. For Sligo the win gives them a two game cushion over Templeogue and Vincent’s and likely seals their playoff place.
The battle between Liffey Celtics and Brunell was likely to be a deciding game in the race for the final playoff spot and Liffey Celtics depth was the key difference. Celtics have been up and down all year and rarely get two good performances from both of their Americans in the same game. Saturday though was one of those games as Coleman and Thibeaux combined for 37 points. Equally importantly Kate O’Flaherty added 13 which was a major boost for Karl Kilbride’s team.Â
For Brunell it is another tough loss, especially as Edel Thornton once again stepped up with an incredible 36 points. Thornton is averaging 27.3 points a game and has scored over 30 on seven different occasions this year. Records of statistics in Irish basketball are awful but this has to be one of the highest scoring seasons by an Irish player. Despite the individual achievement though, Thornton and Brunell will be concerned that they are now a game behind Liffey and with no easy games left, it’s a big advantage to the Kildare team.
Despite Glanmire’s brilliance, dropping only one game so far this season in the league, there is a real depth to the competitiveness of the league that has been lacking for a long time. All four game on Saturday night were decided by seven points or less and in recent weeks the Champions-elect have barely scraped by the 7th and 8th placed teams.Â
Not only is there depth but there is also a geographic spread of teams which suggests that the Super League could be in for a really interesting couple of years, especially as Glanmire lost some of their more experienced cohort who have won so much for them.
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