Gladiators bossGareth wantstop4
Caledonia Gladiators coach Gareth Murray says winning their home games is key to a top four finish in the British Basketball League.
Gladiators, formerly Glasgow Rocks, are sixth in the table following three back-to-back defeats against Newcastle Eagles, Manchester Giants and London Lions, that dropped them down two places from where they were before Christmas.
But Murray says it’s all positive this season, they’re playing well, and even those recent defeats have been by small margins – Manchester Giants, for example, won 95-94 on January 6.
Murray, from Rutherglen, who retired as a player following the 2022 Commonwealth Games, said:“Right before the Christmas games we were sitting fourth in the league, which is a good position for us, missed out on the BBL Cup final as we lost to Leicester in the semis, but it’s positive so far.
“We’ve dropped now three games in a row, though, in some tough games and we have some injuries right now, so we’re fighting through those.
“We’re trying to change and adapt due to the injuries.”
Gladiators, who are set to move to East Kilbride later this year, are due to host Plymouth City Patriots at the Emirates on Friday night as their league campaign gets back underway, following Friday’s 97-86 victory over Newcastle Eagles in the first round of the BBL Trophy.
Murray added:“Things are going well. We did lose three in a row, two of those were due to injuries and London are London, they’re top of the league and a big team, so it was a game we thought we were probably going to lose anyway.
“But it’s more about the way we’re playing, the positive environment and the group we’re working with, for me we should be pushing to be a top-four team and at least fourth place.
“Whether that’s now possible is down to whether we can win our home games.
“We’ve played a lot of away games since the beginning of the season so now we have quite a few home games in a row to get results on the board.
“Even when we’ve lost they’ve not been bad; you can’t win every game, there have been some when we’ve shot the ball really well, but the other team made the play down the stretch and won the game.
“We’re not getting turned over and we’re not playing badly – if you can have a positive loss then we’re there.
“Now it’s about putting some wins together, building confidence. We’ve still got 20-odd games left in the season, so there’s a long way to go.”