Rickey McGill predicts a classic semi-final clash will go down to the wire as Newcastle Eagles take on Dziki Warszawa for a place in the European North Basketball League (ENBL) final.
The US guard has a foot in both camps after representing the Poles earlier this season and clinching the ENBL’s regular season MVP award in a Newcastle jersey during the 2023/24 campaign.
And McGill — back in Super League Basketball with Sheffield Sharks — is relishing a fight to the finish as his former clubs battle it out for a berth in the final.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s going to be a special game,” said the ex-Eagles favourite. “As long as everyone’s healthy on both rosters it could go either way.
“I have a feeling that the game’s going to go right down to the wire because when you get to a semi-final you don’t want to lose.
“I played for both teams so I can’t say who I want to win! And there’s no way I can predict who’s going to win.”
McGill was on the losing team when Newcastle eased to a 79-70 win against Dziki back in November.
Warszawa came up against an Eagles side on their way to topping Group A with an impressive 7-1 record.
And the men in black have gone on to dump holders Bakken Bears out of the competition and reach this week’s Glasora Final Four in Bratislava in style.
“To win a European title would be an amazing achievement for both teams,” added McGill. “When Newcastle made it to the quarter-finals last season we felt we could have gone on to win it. Maybe this is the year.
“In Mike Okauru the Eagles have a player who can light up the Final Four. I like his game but this Newcastle roster is all about the team. No one player is the main guy and they can all score big on any given night.
“But I know my guys in Warszawa know what to expect after what happened earlier in the season.”
Okauru missed the fourth quarter as Newcastle slipped to an unconvincing defeat at the hands of Surrey 89ers last week.
And Eagles playcaller Marc Steutel headed to the locker room clearly concerned about the fitness of his star man.
But Okauru is expected to start the clash in the Slovakian capital — a game his coach can’t wait to contest.
“I am elated at where we are in this competition right now,” he said. “I’m excited at the opportunity that we all have. I know the excitement that’s around the club and the buzz that this week’s games are generating for everybody.
“There’s been a lot of conversations around the Final Four in the last few days and we need to make sure that we respond the right way to the expectation and the excitement.
“If the guys don’t get the opportunity that we have here then maybe I need to try and figure out our group a bit more.
“We really do need to understand the importance of the game on Tuesday. Dziki has to be the biggest 40 minutes of our lives.
“Our performance simply has to be built on the kind of urgency and desperation — and any other words that you can think of — associated with a game of this significance.”
Steutel has already enjoyed a golden start to 2025 after leading his club to the 2025 SLB Trophy and his country to this summer’s EuroBasket tournament.
But he echoed skipper Darius Defoe’s sentiments when he admitted the next two games are about more than one competition and one season.
“Games like these transcend the current team and impact upon the whole history of the organisation,” he added.
“That message needs to be understood by everybody. We’ve got some guys who’ve been here for a few months and guys who’ve been here a couple of years but absolutely everyone needs to understand what’s at stake here.
“I understand that we have a responsibility to generations of Eagles fans and players and Darius feels the same.
“We want to make sure that we do all that we possibly can to be successful with these games.
“The semi-final is everything. Nobody wants to look back on a semi-final and wish they could have done more.”
More than 60 Eagles fans are expected in Bratislava during the next 48 hours with hundreds more packed into the official fan zone at the city’s Maldron Hotel.
This historic game will be streamed live and for free on the ENBL’s YouTube channel from 7.30pm with Wednesday’s final tipping off at the same time.
