Murray reflects on ‘amazing’ first half of the BBL season
Caledonia Gladiators head coach Gareth Murray says the position he and the team are in is“amazing”as they head into a huge second half of the British Basketball League season.
The East Kilbride club are second in the BBL Championship, 18 points behind leaders London Lions, but with four games in hand, and two ahead of Cheshire Phoenix, who have played one fewer game.
Gladiators are currently into the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy in Birmingham, where they will play London Lions in the last four this weekend, seeking to retain the silverware they won last season.
It’s a hectic schedule for the PlaySport club, at home to Bristol Flyers on February 4, at Newcastle Eagles five days later, hosting Leicester Riders on February 11, and Surrey Scorchers four days after that.
But Rutherglen man Murray and Gladiators aren’t standing still.
“Right now we have a break from league play,” said Murray, “so we’ll be sitting in second for the whole month before the second half of the season.
“That shows great progress for us, but we are still trying to move this team forward.
“We’re going for the BBL Trophy right now, the same trophy that we won last year.
“The target for 2024 is for the team to get to that trophy final and win it again.
“We want to be at the top of the table in the league, we don’t just want to be there or thereabouts.
“We want to be competing and trying to win things each year.
“Those are the goals, and we’re still on target, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
2023 was a banner year for Gladiators, with the BBL Trophy win with a lastgasp shot, new owners and a move to a temporary site in PlaySport in East Kilbride, while their purpose-built stadium is being created.
That came with it European basketball, with Gladiators ending their first ever FIBA Europe Cup campaign with a 3-3 record, having lost 78-59 to Bilbao Basket on November 22.
“Honestly, it has been amazing,” said Gareth.
“Since we got the new ownership, we’ve got goals and ambitions now that we want to move forward with.
“We’re trying to fulfil those goals and for me to be head coach and in control of the basketball side is amazing.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better, to be honest.
“It has been a fantastic year. Winning the trophy was the highlight of 2023, and the way we started the season, we were second place at Christmas time and in January for the second half of the season, which shows great progress.
“With the new arena, the fans are coming to the games and we’ve had five or six sell-outs, so that’s fantastic for the club.
“The woman’s team are doing well in Europe as well, getting to the second round, and the community side is growing as well.
“We’ve got more kids than ever playing basketball in our community hubs, and that’s starting to filter through, so they’re getting to practice at PlaySport as well.
“European basketball was amazing. We finished our group three and three, so we were unfortunate not to go through to the next round.
“It was great experience for the guys, especially for us as a team.
“For me as a coach I learned a lot from playing through the week and having multiple days where you have to prepare for games with minimal practices, and different styles of play for playing against the European teams as well.
“I think there was a benefit for everybody.”
Another sign of progress is how Gladiators have fared against top dogs London Lions, with a 94-100 win at the
Copper Box, either side of 93-65 and 8779 defeats, in London and East Kilbride.
That home defeat on December 29 stung Murray, which is in itself a marker.
“Very early in the season they beat us by 30, and then we’ve definitely showed progress, because we went down there the second time and beat them,” said Murray.
“This one over the Christmas period I was actually disappointed we didn’t win that game.
“Before, you were like ‘oh, it would be good if we could keep it close’ but I’m disappointed to lose to them, and I feel like we should have won the game.
“There were a few mistakes here and there but, overall, I thought ‘we’re competing with these teams and they’re doing well in Europe’.
“So we want to keep growing. We’re not satisfied where we are.”