Eagles not getting the recognition they deserve - Fab

LEICESTER Riders will be competing for a British Basketball League treble at the O2 Arena tomorrow, Newcastle Eagles a double.

To have the league’s two heavyweights meet in the showpiece play-off final is a BBL marketing man’s dream - but Eagles’ playercoach Fab Flournoy insists no bragging rights will come with the winners’ medals.

“This is not about us trying to establish our dominance,” the New Yorker told the Chronicle.

“It is hugely important but it is not about sending a message.”

Leicester won a treble in 201213 and the two teams have made up the regular-season top two for the last three years.

Newcastle are hunting for their 25th BBL trophy since 2005 – something Flournoy thinks has been lost on some people.

Flournoy, who has been playercoach since 2003-04, said: “If you look at our history, I believe the BBL referred to us in terms of ‘in recent years’ (in their preview of the final) but from my perspective there is nothing recent about us being in finals.

“We may miss one here and there but it is very rare when there has been a season where we have not been in a final.

“So you cannot turn around and say that is recent.

“It is to downplay what we have done over a decade and playing my whole career in this country that is kind of a slap in the face.

“It is not the success I am talking about, it is about being established as a quality team which is going to be there or thereabouts.

“There is nothing recent about that.

“The (BBL) article went back to 2012 and wiped out our success since 2005. To the person who does not know, they are going to say, ‘Oh, it is only recent.’”

With injuries and even a few family bereavements stretching his squad, Flournoy has described 2016-17 as the most emotional season of his career, which is why he will be delighted if the can add the play-off trophy to the BBL Cup.

He added: “It is going to mean a lot because this particular team had to forge its own identity through its own trials and tribulations to get to this point.

“With it being Leicester, over the years they have tried to establish themselves as the dominant club in the BBL as Newcastle have and it has always come down to the clash of the two. For me it is just simply they are a dominant club in the BBL and we are.

“I don’t necessarily think us beating them or them beating us is going to change that. I do firmly believe they are going to be up there next season and so are we.

“They are going to be playing this season for the treble, which will mean a lot to their club, and we are going to be playing for the double, which will mean a lot for our club. The expectation on them to win all four pieces of silverware is similar to ours.”