Conor Meaney's basketball talking points: Killorglin make Mardyke statement
CLOSE QUARTERS: UCC Demons' Scott Hannigan gathers the ball from Flexachem Killorglin's Patrick Lanipekun during the Domino's Men's Super League at the Mardyke Arena. Pic: Eddie O'Hare
Killorglin are hoping to push into the top echelon this season, and on Sunday they showed that they are absolutely capable of doing so, with a hugely impressive win in the Mardyke. I think Declan Wall has been very smart with how he has assembled his team this year, outside of big man Cam Timmons, the rest of the pros have either played for Killorglin before or have played in Kerry. They are comfortable and there’s less getting to know Ireland and each other than previous years. They are also long and can hunt matchups and post up a variety of players which puts defences under a lot of pressure. Eche Okeke was good last year, but his shooting has improved since he first arrived and his 35 points on Sunday, showed that he’s ready to take a next step in his game. His ability to run the offence alongside Jordan Blount was huge especially when Killorglin’s point guard Rami Ghanem got hurt. Demons knew Killorglin were a threat and it’s not a particularly bad loss, but Demons need to find more from American big man Zach Hinton, who had nine points in 20 minutes. I haven’t seen him impact the game as much as Demons would like so far.
Neptune have done incredible work renovating the Stadium which looks better than ever. There’s still lots of work needed on the team though as they dropped to 0-2, losing 112-76 to Belfast Star. 76 won’t win many games this year, but the real challenge is giving up 112, especially after giving up 115 last weekend to Demons. Neptune need to find a way to improve defensively, or they will have a lot of issues this year. Star on the other hand look every part the contender we expected. What impressed me most is the spread of scoring over their first two games. Last week their American’s dominated the scoring combining for 63, whereas this week neither reached double digits as the Irish core all scored well. I thought Conor Liston was an underrated pickup during the summer and he proved his worth with five threes on Saturday. Star have the pieces to have the most powerful offense in the country and have shown their potential in their opening two games.
Saturday gave us a good indication that the league is going to be chaotic this year. Eanna who looked behind where they would like to be last week, bounced back with a brilliant away win against Killester. Vincents who were very poor in week 1, then went down to Ballincollig and won by four, behind 36 points from Jaylyn Richardson. UCD looked great in week 1 and they went and lost to Tralee, who had great performances from their veterans to carry them through. Sligo were poor in Belfast and then win against Limerick Celtics on an Elijah Faapito buzzer beater. Predicting what’s to come on a weekly basis looks like it’s going to be a huge challenge, which is exactly what fans of the league want.
Belfast Star have played twice this year and in both games Joe Junior Mvuezolo played against them. The British guard was released by Sligo after their game in Belfast last week and Neptune picked him up and had him cleared to play. I have no issue with Neptune’s involvement with this but the whole situation doesn’t sit well, given that the league’s rules say that a Category 1 player can’t switch teams during the season. Seemingly the MNCC have made a ruling that an exception should be made in this situation. Without knowing the specifics of the background, it seems strange from the outside as the league rules are very clearly against this happening. For the league to be taken more seriously, if there are going to be decisions like this made, there should be at least a statement explaining the decision.
Liffey Celtics are off to the worst possible start as they drop to 0-2. Wildcats bounced back from their week 1 defeat to St Pauls and were well worth their 82-67 win. Alyssa Frescas looks to be box office, and worth the price of admission alone. The former NCAA three-point champion, is dynamic and doesn’t lack confidence. If she can consistently lead Wildcats, to balance their inside game, it’s a winning formula.
Killester look stellar Killester’s camp were worried they might have a slow start to the year, but it’s been the complete opposite so far, as the defending champions have looked a class apart. Killester completely shut down Glanmire, limiting them to just 50 points in the IWA. Despite being a competitive game for three quarters, Killester used a huge fourth quarter (26-7) to win 78-50. Audrey Roden is fitting in well alongside the established core and Killester certainly look like the team to beat again this year.
Brunell did well in Cavan, beating Eagles 72-55. It looks like the Cork side have found themselves a great player in Maddie Cluse. The point guard led the way with 24 points, 12 of which were in the decisive third quarter when Brunell pushed away from the home side. Brunell have depth in Irish talent and have lots of contributors all over the floor. 12 players played on Saturday. That depth and ability is brilliant for Liam Culloty, as it’s a fun way to play and also it takes some of the burden off Edel Thornton who had to carry the load at times in previous years. Next weekend’s battle with Killester in Cork will be a great early season test to see just how real Brunell’s challenge will be this year.
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