London Lions 94, Plymouth Raiders 102
To the Copper Box! …on Good Friday for my first b-ball game watching the newly formed London Lions of the BBL.
I say newly formed - like many things post 2012 legacy [URGH], the London Lions are a re-packaged sporting concept, shipped out towards the edges of Lee Valley, all in the name of putting bums on empty Olympic seats.
And you know what?
The London Lions have been doing rather well.
The basketball back-story involves the old Milton Keynes franchise shifting slightly south on the map to ‘explore new sporting possibilities.’ Oh the irony of Milton Keynes based sports team being on the wrong end of franchise bed hopping.
But it all makes sense - unless you are a Milton Keynes basketball fan…
The Copper Box is a BRILLIANT venue for the BBL. It’s not a half-empty enormo-dome set up to fail with a North American sporting venture. The London Knights‘ Docklands experience remains a textbook example of how a US sports business model doesn’t translate very well back in Britain.
The home court match on Good Friday against the Plymouth Raiders was the last regular season game for both teams. The Lions were sitting sixth in the BBL, already guaranteed a play-off place - not bad for your first season as a new franchise.
Two aborted attempts at the National Anthem (it’s a basketball thing) and the Carry on British Basketball feel was firmly established for the rest of the evening.
With a home vest of bright yellow, the Lions look remarkably like the much-missed London Towers.
And looky looky over there: it’s only point guard Rod Brown, a hero for many (actually there weren’t that many) of the Towers’ fans back in the Crystal Palace days.
Good to see you once again, fella.
“He went looking for love in all the wrong places”
…was a GREAT bit of in game commentary from yer man on the mic to set up the atmosphere for the game. Basketball is a highly technical sport. You want someone on the mic who can explain the flow, but also with a bit of fun thrown in.
It is notoriously difficult to generate any sense of manufactured atmosphere at these events. It needs to grow naturally and allow a bottom up fan culture to develop.
Shouting out during the Plymouth penalty shots certainly seemed to help. This may *or may not* have involved the Lions cheerleaders…
Some Bank Holiday butter fingers from the home team saw the Lions trail 25-17 at the first buzzer.
Mr Mic Man then explained that a home court win would lead to a £5 voucher for everyone in the crowd from Just Eat, the match game sponsor. Many spectators in the Copper Box were already counting their chickens, deep fired as well.
Lions looked a little shaky with their penalty shots, but somehow managed to draw the ball game level at 27 each. Plymouth threw away points with the same enthusiasm that the cheerleaders launched free T-shirts into the crowd.
48 - 46 to the away team at the half time buzzer.
A superb demonstration followed during the break from the Hertfordshire Raiders. This is a basketball team that helps sports people with special needs to participate. The team has recently triumphed in a national competition. One of the star players has been picked to represent Team GB over in LA. The enthusiasm and SMILES were infectious.
A Mexican wave in the third quarter was a sign of the current state of the scoreboard, with the Lions trailing 60-50.
A BIG BIG three pointer right on the buzzer stretched the away lead to 75 - 65 with a quarter of the game remaining.
A full court press was put in place by the Lions for much of the fourth. It was effective with the lead being reduced. Time ran out on the clock though for the home team, with a final game score of 94 - 102 and a Raiders away win.
You need a little stability for all of this franchise hopping to settle down. If the Lions hold firm and stay settled in the Copper Box, London might finally have found the right formula in which to make basketball work in the capital.
Kiss the rim.
Gosh.
