The Newcastle Eagles fly into Bulgaria on Wednesday to take on Spartak Pleven in a crucial European North Basketball League group game. After three defeats from three games played so far in the competition, the Eagles can ill-afford to slip up again.
But they are going into Wednesday night’s game in good form and with confidence high. Three domestic wins in a row including two in the SLB Trophy group which meant Newcastle have qualified for the semi-finals of that competition have given them a real boost as they prepare for the game.
Head Coach Marc Steutel began his preview of the ENBL match-up by looking back at those last three games.
“I’m elated, absolutely elated. We went through a very difficult patch but the guys have stayed the course and stayed professional. I think we’re showing that we’re trending in the right direction and playing the right way.”
“I’m really, really proud of the guys. Like I say we’ve had some difficult situations but to get to play 80 minutes in the Trophy and be 2-0 against two good teams and set-up a semi-final against Cheshire is exciting.”
But that Trophy date is set for the future. What lies ahead is a tricky trip to Pleven. Spartak started well in this season’s ENBL campaign with two wins but since then have lost four in a row to plummet down the rankings. With Eagles currently winless both sides are desperate for a win.
“It’s a must win game for us in the competition. We do have five league games left in that and we want to make sure we’re playing post season basketball in the competition. The game is everything. If we lose I don’t think there’s post season basketball is my gut feeling.”
“I mean never say never with other results and situations. But we’ve got those five games left and when I looked at the schedule I knew that we were playing two of the favourites for the competition along with the German side in the other group.”
“I knew the schedule was going to be tough for us. Last year we were able to increase the strength of the opponent as the schedule progressed and we found some confidence in that. This year it’s a different situation.”
“Playing Iraklis twice frustrated me with the organisation of the ENBL and I’ve told them that. I feel that the Greek League is exceptionally strong so we’ll see how that pans out at the end of the season. We’ve though got to look at Pleven and do all that we can to win the game.”
Pleven’s main dangers come from USA Point Guard Jalan McCloud who is averaging 23.3 points per game in the ENBL so far. Big USA Centre Noel Brown is averaging 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds whilst another American forward Kavaughn Scott is chipping in with 10.6 points and 6.8 rebounds.
But Steutel may have a curveball to throw at the Bulgarian side in the form of his new recruit, Terrell Burden a USA Point Guard that flew into Newcastle at the weekend and will go straight into the roster for Wednesday’s game. Steutel is pleased to have Burden on board.
“Really excited about Terrell. He’s coming in at a good time when the team is performing well and he’s not coming in to be a saviour. Were facing a tough schedule and we needed to make sure we were adding some depth.”
“It’s been difficult trying to tweak the roster. It’s never something I enjoy doing. There’s people and the human side of this. When there’s outgoing people that have been professional and incoming people there’s always considerations to manage but I expect us to continue to be professional.”
