Taunton Tigers Men's team came away with many positives after their first encounter in the top flight of English Basketball. The visiting West Anglia Fury, as with all Div 1 teams, arrived strengthened by American imports with considerable experience at this level.
However it was Tigers home grown player Joe Saunders who shone brightest amongst the stars in the early exchanges. His three point shooting helped the home side to a 15 – 13 lead. Head Coach Ronnie Heath's decision to start the young guard raised a few eyebrows but didn't surprise the players themselves. Experienced guard Matt Nolan pointed out:
“He's been playing like that in training and deserved his chance. He has worked really hard on his game over the summer and has proved what an asset he can be for us now.”
Saunders went on to score 22 points on his way to receiving the MVP award. He was supported by Paul Yabsley and Rich Anderson (16 Points each) at the scoring end, but the rest of the Tigers only contributed 13 points between them. Heath recognised this as a core reason for Taunton stuttering offensive performance:
“The club is built on intensity and flowing basketball. We rely on quality player and ball movement to create easy baskets. When we do this everyone score and we become difficult to defend. We were too predictable today.”
The clubs decision to stick with local players is a brave one and they will have to quickly adjust to scoring potential of the other teams' imports.
Fury's Americans Lamar Hull and C Williams scored 25 and 23 respectively and they were supported by West Anglia's player-coach James Bamfield who led the way for his side with 32 points including 6 three-pointers.
Taunton will regroup ahead of a daunting trip to London Leopards this weekend, but the team were upbeat about their potential. They have already proved they can hang around at this level and now must tighten the bolts of their programme and improve execution.