Basketball
Popoola is a Panther
24 August 2007
The Team Birmingham Panthers have captured 6'0", Nigeria-born, Lekan Popoola ahead of the 2007/08 BBL Championship season.
The 26-year-old guard has been involved with successful BBL clubs over the last two years as an important part of the Guildford Heat's and Sheffield Sharks' squads. Whilst with the Heat in 2005/06 he averaged 6.38 points per game; with the Sharks last season he posted 3.56 points per game and shot 36.54% from three-point range.
Having also announced the signing of 34-year-old point guard Rob Paternostro this week, Nigel Lloyd was quick to emphasise the importance of having these two contrasting players in that position,
"Lekan is a different type of point guard to Rob," said Lloyd, himself one of the most legendary point guards in BBL history, "he wants to learn to be the way that Rob is, in terms of running the team and making plays. Right now he is a scoring point guard and he has a great engine and works hard all the time."
Popoola is looking to gain more responsibility and increased minutes in his third season in Britain's top flight, and it's his eye for the basket and scoring touch that attracted Lloyd to the player,
"Lekan has a great jump shot and he can take the ball to the basket and get scores, he's also trying to learn how to be that General that you want on the court.
"It's a great situation for us because we have this young guy that defends well, can run the floor, and shoots the ball, and we also have a veteran point guard. Lekan wants to learn and develop into the role that can carry him into the future."
After spending the two previous seasons with top-four clubs, this is quite a coup for Lloyd and the management of one of the BBL's new franchises. Despite it being their inaugural season in the league, Coach Lloyd has had little trouble in attracting the players that he wants,
"It's funny because the recruiting for Birmingham has been challenging because we haven't had the kinds of finances that we would want, but everyone that I've spoken to wants to come to the club! Lekan approached us and he was hungry and he wanted the opportunity, we are happy to provide him with the opportunity to play basketball at the highest level and if he plays well then he will be playing as much as he wants."
The Panthers start the season with a massive East vs. West Midlands derby game when they face the DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday 22nd September.
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