Inside the club
History

History

2009/10
A number of new faces joined the team in the summer of 2009. Leaving the team from the previous season, were Gerald Robinson, Haggai Hundert, Anthony Martin, Kwbana Beckles, Terrence Durham, Gaylon Moore, Drew Lasker, and DeAntoine Beasley.

Coach Gary Stronach decided it was time for a change, and built the team around returning English players Allister Gall (who was made Club Captain) and James Noel. In came new American point guard Eric Flato, small forward Terry Horton and Power Forward Tino Valencia. Matthew Hilleary, an American forward with an Irish passport also signed. Shooting Guard Jay Marriott was promoted from the Raiders 2nd team, along with Polish forward Michal Czynienik, and Jamie Burchell.

Before the season got under way, Raiders suffered a hammer blow. One of their key English players - James Noel - was diagnosed with acute tendonitis in his Achilles Tendon. It was set to restrict him to just a handful of games before Christmas. Former Raiders’ junior player, Anthony Rowe had graduated from North Georgia State College in the summer of 2009, and signed a contract with Cognac in France’s NM1 division. His term there lasted nearly 2 months before his contract was mutually terminated. He immediately took up the offer of a contract with the Raiders for the rest of the season, and was set to be one of the team’s few bright spots.

Anthony Martin had signed with Worcester Wolves of the BBL to start the season, but mutually agreed a contract termination with the team after just a month. He too rejoined the Raiders. But the team were to suffer further injury heartbreak with a freak accident in training resulting in American point guard Eric Flato suffering a life threatening hematoma in his thigh, requiring immediate surgery and the end of his season. Drew Lasker was brought in as Flato’s replacement.

Within days of returning to the team, James Noel was involved in a road accident, from which he suffered whiplash. In February, with full recovery still months away, Raiders took the decision to terminate Noel’s contract.

The injuries and lack of consistency and quality performances throughout the season saw the team finish in their lowest league position since joining the BBL in 2004. Days before the last home game of the season, long serving Coach Gary Stronach announced the league game with Worthing Thunder on April 12th would be his final game with the club, as he wanted to pursue other challenges.

2008/09
Two new faces, Kwbana Beckles and Patrick Fitzpatrick have joined the team. Jeff Danchie, Jamie Burchell, Brody Bishop and Graham Nesbitt have all left the team.

In: Beckles

For another season, Head Coach Gary Stronach returned the nucleus of the team, but new to the side were a couple of players, brought in with the intention of dramatically strengthening the bench. The Raiders Board of Directors gave Stronach the biggest playing budget in the club’s history and states their intention of winning silverware during the season.

Commercially, the Raiders also had their best summer ever. Attracting The Wrigley Company’s Airwaves brand as major sponsor was the first step in a significant increase in team profile. The sponsorship deal was one of the biggest ever signed by a BBL team.

In the community, Raiders also brought the massively successful Hoops 4 Health programme to Plymouth, and this was set to change the face of basketball development in the City.

Bench player Jamie Burchell stepped down from the BBL team to concentrate on his new role with the Raiders as Head of Development, and at the same time, to compete with the Raiders 2 team, playing in EBL’s Division 2. Brody Bishop also moved on, playing with the Bristol Flyers in EBL’s Division 1.

New to the team were forwards Patrick Fitzpatrick, moving to the Raiders from a season in Ireland, and Kwbana Beckles who the previous season had played for Lausanne in Switzerland.

Back for the season were Allister Gall, Gavin Love, Terrence Durham, DeAntoine Beasley, Anthony Martin, Drew Lasker, Gaylon Moore and James Noel.

On court, the team’s hopes for silverware were railroaded by a number of major injuries. Gaylon Moore missed a number of games due to an ankle injury, Kwbana Beckles was sidelined with back problems, the team captain Gavin Love was forced to retire due to persistent ankle pain, DeAntoine Beasley dislocated a shoulder, and Terrence Durham ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.

Out: Danchie, Burchell, Bishop & Nesbitt, Fitzpatrick

Along with losing Gavin Love, newcomer Fitzpatrick left the team in February to pursue other opportunities. These two players were replaced with American/Dutch forward Gerald Robinson, and American/Israeli guard Haggai Hundert.

Despite the injuries, the team were in the top 4 for most of the season, and only lost out to Guildford Heat for the 4^th spot and prized home draw in the first round of the playoffs, in the final week of the regular season. This however, didn’t stop the Raiders progressing to the BBL’s showcase Playoff finals weekend with a narrow win away to the Heat in the first round of the playoffs. In the semi finals, the team lost to league champions Newcastle Eagles, who went on to add the playoffs to the BBL Trophy and League Championship successes.

The team also won through to their first ever BBL Cup Final, where they played against Everton at the NIA in Birmingham. In the weeks leading up to the final, the team were beset injuries, having lost Beasley to his dislocated shoulder and Durham having badly injured his knee. A massive 50 point win for Everton saw them take the Cup home to Liverpool.

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