Conor Meany on basketball: Mind the gap on Leeside as Demons up and running with derby win

A young Neptune side came up short in the season opener. 

HIGH AND MIGHTY: Demons' Shariff Black dunks the ball at the Mardyke Arena on Friday night. Picture: David Creedon

Demons start season with 115-105 derby win 

Demons won’t care that the season opener was far from a derby classic, as they showed one of the main reasons, they are favourites for the league title this year. Depth of Irish scoring ability is critical in the league, and Demons got 61 from their Irish contingent, 24 more than Neptune’s home-grown core. Neptune won’t panic as they knew that it would be a tough first game, especially without a European pro and with Sean McCarthy still sidelined through injury. They showed flashes of what they were capable of but when Nils Sabata picked up an injury their lack of depth was exposed. I felt Neptune could have taken some of the pace out of the game, as Demons love to play fast and open, but this Neptune team are young and only getting together so that is probably not a surprise. For Demons, Tala Fam looked in top form and the progression of Daryl Cuff will add to their deep offensive talent. We’ll learn more about both in the coming weeks, but on first look there is a reasonable gap between the two.