Basketball's back: the big talking points from the opening Super League weekend
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Performance of the weekend goes to Tralee Warriors who were outstanding for 30 of the 40 minutes of their opener in Cork. A slow start from the visitors saw UCC Demons open a 17-point lead early on, as Elijah Tillman and Toby Christensan combined well. But Tralee grew into the game and anyone watching had to be impressed by the team John Dowling has assembled. They are long, athletic and aggressive and with shooters all over the floor they are going to be a nightmare to play against this season. With four players scoring 18 or more, Tralee are balanced and multi-dimensional.
Demons, on the other hand, were guilty of getting caught between two worlds. They need to utilise Elijah Tillman but their predictability and sloppiness led to a lot of turnovers, which Tralee were glad to capitalise on. Last year Demons were guilty of being a rollercoaster team capable of both being electric and incredibly frustrating to watch. On first glance it looks like they could be plagued by the same issues this year, although it may have just been first-game nerves.
Neptune fans hoping to see a new lease of life under Pat Price would have been very happy with Saturday’s away win over Belfast Star. Neptune played a lot of zone defence but with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and were disruptive, particularly in the critical second quarter. Trailing by five going, they started the second quarter on a 12-3 run forcing a timeout and they never looked back. Darragh O’Sullivan’s return to Super League action was an exciting one as he had 23 points including seven three-pointers. I really liked the positivity and energy from the Cork side; it was exactly what I expected from a Pat Price-coached team. On the other side, Belfast were missing key American Tamyrik Fields which undoubtedly was a major factor. That said, offence wasn’t the issue for Star - the problem was how poor their defence was at times, as many of Neptune’s 16 threes were uncontested. That will be rectified though, and new signing Maurice Jones looks like a competent player too so Star will look to bounce back quickly once Fields is back.
Killorglin came up with big plays when they needed them as they topped UCD Marian in Dublin. It was a typically messy first game of the year for teams trying to bring in lots of new faces. Killorglin’s bigger physicality was the major difference between the teams as their wings Eche Okeke and Beni Fungola bullied their way to 43 points. Marian will be concerned by their lack of ability to get to the basket as they shot just seven free throws compared to Killorglin’s 25. Lovre Tvrdic’s arrival should help UCD’s offence, but they will need more cutting edge if they are going to avoid a relegation fight again.
Last year Maree lost their opener to Ulster, and they almost had a similar result on Saturday as they visited a Templeogue team expecting to be in a relegation battle. Maree were missing both of their Americans which just highlights the strength in having three additional pros who could play on Saturday. Of those Zvonimir Cutuk saved their blushes with 32 points including the game-winning shot with under 20 seconds to go. I’m not sure there’s much to take from the game for Maree without their Americans, although they will be happy they found a way to win. For Templeogue their American duo of Fagan and Allen combined for 57 and look capable of keeping them competitive this season.
Defending Super League champions Eanna had no difficulty as they easily beat Ballincollig in Cork. Despite missing Sean Jenkins, Eanna's continuity with the same coach and largely the same team, shone through as they raced into a 29-11 lead after the first quarter. Ballincollig were poor overall, scoring just 56 points at home, which is hard to understand from a team with so much offensive ability and experience. Jordan Rawls had been pegged as one of the brighter stars to look out for and his seven points will be disappointing. Equally Joshua Tomaic scoring only four points will be a concern. Ronan O’Sullivan and Keelan Cairns missing hurt the balance and Ballincollig would have come in knowing that a new coach will take a bedding in process, but they will still need a much better performance next week against Belfast Star.
In the Women's Super League, Karl Kilbride won’t want the hype to get out of control, but his Liffey Celtics team have all of the ingredients needed to have a dominant season. I was intrigued to see how they would travel to a new look St Paul’s with a number of new signings, and they came away with a 33-point win. I still expect St Paul’s to do well this year, but this was a sobering welcome to the league. Liffey’s mix of experience and young talent is ideal and perhaps most exciting for them is that their Americans only scored 26 of their 98 points, as Sorcha Tiernan led with 25 points. It was also great to see Ciara Bracken back on the floor after injury and herself and Hazel Finn job sharing in the backcourt is a scary dynamic for any team to consider.
Defending Champions Killester got their season off to the perfect start with an 83-79 win over Wildcats in the Oblate Hall. Ieva Bagdanaviciene had an important 18 points and Mark Grennell’s side looked like a force to reckon with again this year, particularly with American Sam Halby (31) looking like a top signing. Wildcats will be disappointed especially as Hannah Thornton was not playing for Killester. Ashia McCain looks good though and Sarah Hickey continues to show herself as a top player. The worry will remain on their depth and with four players playing more than 35 minutes, they are an injury away from having issues.
Meteors have been pegged as a team to watch this year, but they came up just short against Glanmire in Cork. The ageless Áine McKenna was one of the big reasons as she scored 20 points to complement Mark Scannell’s Americans who had 43 between them. Meteors will be disappointed but with so many new faces to get settled, it will likely take them a few weeks to get going. The other big result Sunday was Portlaoise Panthers dismantling Brunell 90-71. Portlaoise’s addition of Amy Dooley and Lynn Tunnah had raised expectations and this was a statement road win for the midlands team. Brunell know that without Katie Walsh and Edel Thornton their depth has been seriously reduced. Whether they can stay in the playoff race without Thornton is the storyline to watch.