Basketball
Everton Aim for Top
10 October 2007
Ahead of the Everton Tigers' first home game of their inaugural BBL season, Head Coach Henry Mooney has indicated that his team are pursuing the BBL Championship title.
The Tigers welcome the PAWS London Capital to the Greenbank Academy on Friday night (8.00pm tip-off), and Mooney emphasised the requirement to make their home venue somewhat of a fortress during their title challenge,
"It's our first home game, and we want to put on a good show," he said. "We need to win the home games and pinch a few on the road. Obviously we are looking to win the league, but that should get us into the top four, and a home draw in the play-offs - then anything is possible. We want to play our best basketball in March and April, but first of all we need to win against London on Friday."
The ambitious Merseyside club assembled a strong roster over the Summer months including three-time BBL All-Star, and a former Championship winner, in Calvin Davis. Much is also expected of their American backcourt of Tony Miller and Tony Robertson, the former in particular has been established in Europe for a number of years.
The Tigers also have a strong foundation of home-grown talent. None more so than GB international centre Chris Haslam, who was born in Southport, and spent the Summer with the national team as they won promotion to Eurobasket Division A. Delme Herriman, John Simpson, and David Aliu are all established BBL players who have their roots in the North-West also.
However, the title charge did not start well for the Tigers as they slipped to an 82-73 defeat at the hands of the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders last weekend.
It won't be long before judgement can be made as to their title chances as, after this weekend, their next four games are against the Newcastle Eagles, Poujoulat Heat Guildford, SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks, and the Sheffield Sharks; those clubs made up the top four last season.
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