London Lions 50, L******er Riders 71, BBL Trophy
To the Copper Box! …on Friday evening for the London Lions in BBL Trophy action against the L******er Riders.
I was going to suggest that dragging your arse from South London all the way over to Stratford is one hell of a schlep for a Friday evening.
But back in the day and it wasn’t exactly easy getting up to Crystal Palace for the much missed London Towers.
This was apparently something of a basketball online experiment. Sky Sports was streaming the game live over the modern interweb.
HELLO MUM, etc.
I was tempted to to have a loner Friday evening, stuck in the flat and watching a stuttering basketball feed on my own.
Instead I managed to blag a cheapo Copper Box ticket, and so headed out east instead.
It was worth the effort for the in-game commentary alone.
“Whoops, don’t forget your Oyster card”
…was a personal favourite when a Riders player was called up for travelling.
It was good to see the Lions continuing to grow with a home base. It was always going to take a season or two for the team to bed down in the Copper Box, after the irony free move of a franchise being shipped out of Milton Keynes.
The crowd was half-decent, with even something a Lions mini-ultras section starting to appear.
The game itself was tough for the home team. The Riders were strong right from the first buzzer, taking an 18-14 lead into the first break.
It was to be a pattern that would repeat as each quarter was played out.
The London Lionesses added a bit of glamour during the interval.
Once the ball game restarted and the in-game caller came out with a classic “BIG SWINGER” line, as a Lions player did a bit of a hoop swing under the basket.
Classy.
It was slightly disconcerting to see the Riders point guard was also my painter decorator. They shared the same name, if not the same stature.
Free throws under the basket just weren’t working out for the home tea.
“There’s a lid on the basket”
…observed Mr Mic man.
38-28 to the Riders at the half time buzzer.
If you play your cards right…
Which a couple of court side fellas did with the Lionesses during the break. Friday nights were meant for a bit of a Brucie Bonus revival down at the Copper Box.
The highlight of the third quarter was a spectacular crash into the boards by a Riders player. That was as good as it got I’m afraid as the away team stretched their lead to 56-36.
The Lions were playing for pride in the final quarter. I imagine that the viewing stats for the Sky Sports live stream were slightly lower than the final points tally of 71 that the Riders managed to reach.
The Lions were left on a dismal 50 tally for the evening, dumped out of the BBL Trophy by a strong L******er side.
Gosh. I miss the London Towers.