Eagles must get their confidence back – boss
WITH 10 games left in this season’s BBL Championship, the Eagles’ Head Coach Ian MacLeod has laid out his team’s plans to be ready for the end of season play-offs.
Winning the league may well be beyond this side now, but there’s still plenty to play for.
The Eagles face a tough doubleheader this week, with tonight’s clash against London Lions at the Vertu Motors Arena followed by Cheshire on Sunday.
Before these games, MacLeod reflected upon last Saturday’s loss down in Surrey. A game many expected Newcastle to win.
“To be honest I thought the first half we dug ourselves a hole. We gave them some rhythm and some life. As much as we fought back in the second a couple of key moments went against us late on and we didn’t execute in those key moments.
“We started the game very well particularly in the first three or four minutes but then we started allowing them to get too much confidence especially at the start of the second quarter. The disappointing thing was we were really prepared for that game.
“We were up for it; we’d had a great week of practice but we just didn’t put forward the version of ourselves that we were perfectly capable of doing. We lost focus in the first half and even though we did bring it back and had a chance to go up late on we overpassed and picked up an offensive foul.
“They came back down and hit a three which turned the game back around. So, digging a hole early and then not executing at key moments late in the game.”
Results have not been in Newcastle’s favour recently, partly thanks to the absence of Justin Gordon. Players have had to play and get used to different roles, and then change again now that he’s back and fit. But MacLeod knows the first thing Eagles need.
“We have to get our confidence back. It’s five wins and six losses since we won the Cup Final and we didn’t have Justin who was MVP in the Cup Final. It’s about hitting the reset button and drawing a line under previous things that have happened. “There are 10 games to go in the league which we have to focus on and then we roll into the play-offs. The biggest area for improvement is our defence. Particularly our interior defence and I don’t mean our bigs by that, I mean all five have a responsibility to defend the interior.
“That’s the biggest key for us as that sparks our offence as well. It’s how that links to the fast break, the transition and everything else so that’s the biggest thing we’re addressing. We’ve got two difficult games coming up this weekend so it’s by no means an easy one to look at. It’s about refocusing about the details, about the small things and just rededicating to that and then wins will come, I have no doubt about that.”
London are coming into tonight’s game on the back of their Trophy Final win against Plymouth Raiders, so their confidence will be high. Cheshire have beaten both London and Leicester on their own court recently.
“Lions... are where everyone at the beginning of the season thought they would be and that makes them a really tough task for us tonight. But we know that just as we know Cheshire will be tough on Sunday and we have to be ready for that. Right now, it’s about getting on a roll.”
It’s about refocusing about the details... and just rededicating to that and then wins will come. Ian MacLeod