When basketball was God

buyer95

A great read for anyone who loves the sport and is hurt by its decline in this country. It hurts when I think how big this sport was once in Ireland, and then compare it to its present state. These guys were legends

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/columnists/kieran-shannon/when-we-were-kings-188259.html

A lot of these guys were Division 1 NCAA standouts, Jasper McElroy averaged 20 points per game in collegeand was drafted in the NBA, I don't have stats on the other guys, but they all could have played at higher levels

WHIP IT!

buyer95 wrote: »

A great read for anyone who loves the sport and is hurt by its decline in this country. It hurts when I think how big this sport was once in Ireland, and then compare it to its present state. These guys were legends

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/columnists/kieran-shannon/when-we-were-kings-188259.html

A lot of these guys were Division 1 NCAA standouts, Jasper McElroy averaged 20 points per game and was drafted in the NBA, I don't have stats on the other guys, but they all could have played at higher levels

To be honest, all the rubbish about chasing women and drinking pints made me cringe - journalist hasn't covered himself in glory there. No one gives a f*ck - write about the basketball, please!

Still, great days for Irish b'ball... even the 90s, when I was playing and following b'ball myself, was like a different world compared to now. Back then, everyone seemed to have some interest and a tiny bit of knowledge of the game. Now... jeez, nothing!

Felexicon

Have you read 'Hanging from the Rafters'?

Royal Legend

There is still a strong basketball vibe in the country, more on the womens side than the mens, especially underage and schools.
The 80's were great years and had some great weekends in the Neptune and around the country, as well as the competive edge there was also a great social end.
Strickland and Jasper were for the Cork lads, Deee orrr aaaaah, Ed Randolph when he was in Dundalk, Westbrooks when he was in Trim, Kelvin Troy (an animal of a player), Mario Elie to name just a few.

Show Time

Anyone who was in the Neptune Stadium over the weekend would tell you that the game is still alive and well.

ButtersSuki

Royal Legend wrote: »

There is still a strong basketball vibe in the country, more on the womens side than the mens, especially underage and schools.
The 80's were great years and had some great weekends in the Neptune and around the country, as well as the competive edge there was also a great social end.
Strickland and Jasper were for the Cork lads, Deee orrr aaaaah, Ed Randolph when he was in Dundalk, Westbrooks when he was in Trim, Kelvin Troy (an animal of a player), Mario Elie to name just a few.

This was part of the problem. Trim with a National League team! I remember when there were 3 Divisions in the Men's National League! Some of the towns that had teams could barely field a Gaelic Football team they were so small yet they were buying into the basketball dream.....Trim, Ennistymon, Oughterard etc.

The game expanded too quickly and got out of control with the resources spread too thin and the quality dropped. And as what typically happens in these situations, the richer/better organised clubs survived and the rest faltered.

Biggest mistake ever though was to limit Americans to 1 per team. The game as a spectacle suffered, the crowds dropped and interest waned and obviously sponsors and their money went elsewhere.

I have fond memories of the glory days, just think we'll never see their like again. Sadly.:(

buyer95

ButtersSuki wrote: »

This was part of the problem. Trim with a National League team! I remember when there were 3 Divisions in the Men's National League! Some of the towns that had teams could barely field a Gaelic Football team they were so small yet they were buying into the basketball dream.....Trim, Ennistymon, Oughterard etc.

The game expanded too quickly and got out of control with the resources spread too thin and the quality dropped. And as what typically happens in these situations, the richer/better organised clubs survived and the rest faltered.

Biggest mistake ever though was to limit Americans to 1 per team. The game as a spectacle suffered, the crowds dropped and interest waned and obviously sponsors and their money went elsewhere.

I have fond memories of the glory days, just think we'll never see their like again. Sadly.:(

Exactly, that more than anything else killed the thing.

You say Trim was too small to ever be a viable national league basketball team and " the richer/better organised clubs survived ." Here I have to disagree, the Tralee Tigers, who at one time had an American coach, 2 American players, a Bosman as well as guys like John Teehan folded as well! Mark Bernsen, who coached there coached Misouri State, an NCAA Div 1. That rule, more than anything else has led to the leagues demise imo.

ButtersSuki

buyer95 wrote: »

Exactly, that more than anything else killed the thing.

You say Trim was too small to ever be a viable national league basketball team and " the richer/better organised clubs survived ." Here I have to disagree, the Tralee Tigers, who at one time had an American coach, 2 American players, a Bosman as well as guys like John Teehan folded as well! Mark Bernsen, who coached there coached Misouri State, an NCAA Div 1. That rule, more than anything else has led to the leagues demise imo.

There are/were exceptions obviously. But Tralee is WAY bigger than Trim - have you ever driven through Trim?!!!;)

There was a time when I was geuninely worried the Men's League (Division 1/SuperLeague - whatever you want to call it) would be made up of Dublin and Cork teams pretty much only - with Star also in there. Mid-90s - early '00's were a time when I think the whole thing could have folded.

Royal Legend

There was a good buzz last weekend without a doubt.

There are pockets around the country where basketball is strong, its still a religion in Cork and the standard is still high at club level. Its getting the standard up in the other areas that is the problem.

P.S. Was it not great that places like Trim and Oughterard, Castledermot had top teams nationally, people travelled miles to see Trim play. If clubs went into the red, it had more to do with getting the right mix to managing the finances, there was never an issue with getting spectators.
Now you could visit a Superleague venue and you would be lucky if there were 30 people at a game.

Kerrydude1981

RTE used have the semi finals and finals on live before,its a pity they stopped showing them cant remember what was the last year they showed it. TG4 used have a weekly highlights programme as well Hoop Zone but that is gone as well and now there is noting done by the TV stations to help promote the game.

ButtersSuki

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

RTE used have the semi finals and finals on live before,its a pity they stopped showing them cant remember what was the last year they showed it. TG4 used have a weekly highlights programme as well Hoop Zone but that is gone as well and now there is noting done by the TV stations to help promote the game.

Setanta have Irish Basketball Monthly once a month and it's ok. In fairness to the tv stations, the game's administrators have to create a compelling product that people want to watch. I go back to cutting in half the number of Americans. That alone decreases E number of dunks, spectacular plays and overall standard of play hugely = less marketable product.

As stupid as RTE are, were there sufficient demand for the game on Irish tv, they would show it. The factis, there simply isn't such demand outside of a few of uson here and in certain pockets across the country.

ec18

Theres a documentary called we got game on setanta tonight after the finals on Irish basketball in the 80's

ButtersSuki

ec18 wrote: »

Theres a documentary called we got game on setanta tonight after the finals on Irish basketball in the 80's

Ah, cheers for that! Look forward to watching that and checking out everyone wearing old-skool Adidas Top Ten Hi and Forum.

Once a sneaker-head, always a sneaker-head...........;)

Show Time

ec18 wrote: »

Theres a documentary called we got game on setanta tonight after the finals on Irish basketball in the 80's

I hope there is some naming and shaming of the people behind the one American rule which helped kill all the momentum the game had picked up in the 1980's.

WHIP IT!

ec18 wrote: »

Theres a documentary called we got game on setanta tonight after the finals on Irish basketball in the 80's

Didn't want to bother with a new thread for this.... I presume you can buy tickets at the door for the SuperLeague finals tonight??

Show Time

Neptune back on top where we belong.

ButtersSuki

Watched most of the documentary from last night (flipping UPC box missed the last 10-15mins as the cup final overran) and it was pretty good, in a nostalgic kinda way. nothing new per se in it if you've read "Hangng from the Rafters" or grew up with the game but worth a look.

Couple of things stood out though - the clips they showed of the Americans getting a defensive rebound and the dribbling full length of the court 1 v 5 for lay ups didn't really paint the best picture of the standard of the Irish players at the time (which was actually relatively good).

Interesting to hear Tom O'Sullivan say if they held Jasper to 40, they felt they'd always beat Demons.

Oh, and Liam McHale had some mullet back in the day!

It's repeated next week so hope to catch the part I missed.

finisklin

It definitely captured the heart of the nation. Going to a game and people packed in like sardines be it in Cork, Dublin or Killala. In some respects it was way ahead of its time because it was a professional sport - you paid in and it was a great product. Think of Gerald Kennedy winning the league final for Neptune in 88 with a 70foot shot that sucked the life out of Kelvin Troy's Killester.

Yeah and the only player to hold Mario Elie to under 20 points during his year in Ireland? Liam MacHale.

Basketball in the 80s was a tale of ligends.

Show Time

finisklin wrote: »

It definitely captured the heart of the nation. Going to a game and people packed in like sardines be it in Cork, Dublin or Killala. In some respects it was way ahead of its time because it was a professional sport - you paid in and it was a great product. Think of Gerald Kennedy winning the league final for Neptune in 88 with a 70foot shot that sucked the life out of Kelvin Troy's Killester.

Yeah and the only player to hold Mario Elie to under 20 points during his year in Ireland? Liam MacHale.

Basketball in the 80s was a tale of ligends.

Ger Kennedy shot was a 76' foot shot and Ray Smith made short work of Mario in a league game in the Stadium.

As for McHale well Neptune just love to make the Mayo boys look like the boggers they are so his claim the UL were going to win the cup final by four was rammed back up his ass.:D

finisklin

Show Time wrote: »

Ger Kennedy shot was a 76' foot shot and Ray Smith made short work of Mario in a league game in the Stadium.

As for McHale well Neptune just love to make the Mayo boys look like the boggers they are so his claim the UL were going to win the cup final by four was rammed back up his ass.:D

Yeah those boggers could play though....not sure about commentating. Didn't a few of the neptune lads play for Ballina?

Show Time

finisklin wrote: »

Yeah those boggers could play though....not sure about commentating. Didn't a few of the neptune lads play for Ballina?

Very tongue in cheek comment as the two teams always got on well.:)

And yep one or two of the Neptune lads went up for a season(Or an almighty piss up).