BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Going into another week of BBL ball, BallinEurope’s man in the UK Sam Chadwick takes a brief look back – with highlight clips – at last weekend’s games.

The weekend of January 20-22 saw a total of eight BBL Championship games take place, starting with the Mersey Tigers (2-10 going into the weekend) against the Leicester Riders (7-2) and league-leading Newcastle Eagles (11-1) hosting the Sheffield Sharks (6-6).

The round was tipped off by the Tigers, who were up against one of the league’s top teams in the Riders. The 85-66 away blowout by Leicester was a poor shooting performance by both sides, who hit a combined 9-of-36 three-point attempts, the Tigers also shooting an abysmal 50% from the free-throw line – I coach under-14s who can hit more than that!

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BallinEurope’s man in the UK, Sam Chadwick, reports on last week’s British Basketball League Cup along with the concomitant traditional festivities. Read on like Newcastle rolled on…

This past weekend saw one of the many highlights on the BBL Calendar, when the BBL Cup Final took place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. That game featured two of the league’s top teams when the first-place Newcastle Eagles (11-1) and the no. 5 Plymouth Raiders (6-2) went head to head.

The game started with Charles Smith dominating the game, going off for 21 points in the first quarter alone and on track to set a new BBL Cup points record (more on this later). Smith had 13 points within the first seven minutes and showed no signs of letting up. Charles and his 21 points outscored the Raiders 21-20 and the Eagles took a 15-point lead.

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One of Europe’s first national tournament champions of 2012 will be crowned on Sunday in England as Birmingham hosts the British Basketball League Cup Final featuring the table-topping Newcastle Eagles (11-1) against the Plymouth Raiders (6-2). Included in the festivities will be the 2012 BBL dunk contest and the “BBL Babes Cheerleaders,” of whose identity BiE’s not exactly sure, but who’s second-guessing?

Below runs everything you’ll want to know about the BBL Cup, including the match preview courtesy BBLFans.co.uk, weekly roundup by BallinEurope man in the UK Sam Chadwick, and naturally YouTubes. Jolly good!

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BallinEurope’s man in the UK, Sam Chadwick, wishes us a happy new year in rounding up last weekend’s (albeit abbreviated) British Basketball League schedule. Read on for all things BBL, plus video, below!

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There’s a new leader in the BBL after last weekend’s action, as the Worcester Wolves got to celebrate Christmas early in defeating the Newcastle Eagles. BallinEurope’s Sam Chadwick runs down his list to separate the naughty from the nice over this past weekend below…

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Another week, another round of British Basketball League play … the highlight of the weekend had the Plymouth Raiders and Worcester Wolves meeting in a pair of BBL Cup semi-final games. BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, rounds up the action. For all things BBL, read on!

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The plot thickens in the 2011-12 edition of the British Basketball League … BallinEurope’s man in the UK, Sam Chadwick, summarizes last weekend’s action while making us wonder if anyone in the BBL can beat Newcastle…

The first weekend of December saw some great basketball in the BBL including a thrilling Cup second leg between the Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders as well as three games decided by five points or less.

The second leg of the BBL Cup Semi-Final took place on Friday with the Eagles booking a place in the final with a 71-63 win over the Leicester Riders. The Eagles were led by a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double by Andrew Thomson; 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists by Charles Smith helped while Joe Chapman added 13 points to go with three rebounds and one assist. Cameron Rundles, Andrew Sullivan and Ayron Hardy combined for 42 of the Riders’ 63 points: Cameron finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists; Sullivan had 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists; and Hardy contributed 12 points and six rebounds to offset five turnovers.

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Kind enough to give BallinEurope a nice extensive interview is Cameron Rundles, currently plying his trade with the Leicester Raiders in his rookie season as a professional. Rundles made a name for himself ‘Stateside in his junior and senior years at Wofford College in taking the NCAA’s Southern Conference and earning NCAA tournament bids in consecutive years. (And he was even once a Mighty Unicorn!)

Rundles chatted with BallinEurope’s British basketball specialist Sam Chadwick about his love for football, playing in the NCAA tournament, and the importance of Andrew Sullivan, among other topics. And judging by Rundles’ apparent enthusiasm within his responses, he can’t help but get noticed along the way to playing pro hoops “in as many countries as I can.” This guy knows how to bring the exclamation points.

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The British Basketball League played games straight through to Tuesday night this week and thus the lateness of our regular BBL roundup from BallinEurope’s man in the UK, Sam Chadwick. We await his words no longer…

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Time again for the weekly dispatch from England from BallinEurope’s man in the Things in the UK, Sam Chadwick. (Apologies for day-lateness; purely BiE’s problem with time management.) Seven BBL Championship games went down and Chadwick wraps ’em up for us. For all things BBL, read more below the break!

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