It's All About Europe

Michael Jordan and LeBron James are household names in America and beyond, can you think of any household names of British basketball? Probably not

The challenge of English basketball is to move up to the next level beyond these shores and into Europe. The potential is there for teams to grow and become a permanent fixture across Europe.

Britain has historically produced some of the finest sportsmen in the World but particularly in European sport – with a such a rich heritage in sport, surely there is the potential for English Basketball to replicate this success. Rob Paternostro said "It’s a sleeping giant in basketball" British Sport is not used to being a minnow it’s used to being a big fish in the sporting world.   

The final part of the series will look if the sport can grow beyond the British shores.

On the European stage, British basketball teams have been made a mockery of. The London Towers are known to Euro-league fans as a joke after their 1 win in 23 record between 2000/02.

Leicester Riders were the latest to try their hand at Europe this season and built a new arena just for themselves in 2016. Newcastle Eagles, the most successful team in British Basketball history have just built a new arena and may be looking to play in Europe next year.

Rob Paternostro the head coach of the Riders said: “(Europe) was a step up. What we found was that the disparity and the budget from what these teams spend on players to what we have was huge.

"Any team that goes in to it needs to have a budget to compete and the schedule maker in the BBL has to help out - I think we got punished domestically for playing in Europe.”

Leicester’s struggles with the schedules has sparked a change with the BBL and the format. This will see teams play 22 games in the regular season instead of 33.

“There was a time when we played 11 times in 21 days - we’d play Wednesday in Hungary, play two games in the BBL and then go to Italy and play another two games in the BBL. If a team plays in Europe what we don’t want have them play in Europe and thereby be at a disadvantage domestically. At times I thought that was the case, Paternostro added

"I’m a big supporter of the British game; I’ve been here for such a long time and it’s my home. For selfish reasons I want it do well, but I want it to do well because I think it's a sleeping giant in basketball and someday it will reach its potential."

One way that British basketball could move onto the global stage would be if the NBA decide to expand the league across the pond to London. Although at this stage it’s very up in the air  as to whether this would happen. Luke Hatfield, owner and editor of and NBA based website BouncyOrangeBall.com, said: “While a UK based NBA would represent a huge step and would be massively well-received here by basketball fans, I think the chances of this actually happening anytime soon are slim at best.

“Logistically, Adam Silver (the NBA commissioner) has already admitted that the move isn't likely.

“It would certainly be a great thing to see, but in my opinion plenty of work needs to be done before this could happen. It would most likely require a sizable NBA expansion, and the creation of a European division/conference."

What brings people into the sport and would make the sport grow is some sort of success on a national scale. If the Great Britain team were to get to a world championship, an Olympics or even a European competition there has been a proven history of the British public getting behind a success story and an underdog.

The men’s national team just missed out on qualification for the World Cup last year and were knocked out of the first stage of qualifying for the Euro Basket in February this year. They needed to beat Austria by 14 points to top the group, but could only beat them by three in what was still a big win against better opposition.

One of UK’s leading basketball journalists and editor of MVP Ultimate Basketball, Mark Woods said: "We've seen the spike from success from a team playing in a sport with scant opposition in a meaningless event with England's netballers at the Commonwealth Games. The public get excited about that.

“On a national level, basketball is still pretty invisible, and it will remain so until Great Britain teams become successful (more significantly, the men) or the UK generates an elite level NBA player.

 "The domestic league, by itself, is a long way off having that pull.

”For British Basketball to move onto the bigger stages, teams have to have their own facilities to be taken seriously not only as a sport in this country but across Europe and the world there needs to be better facilities.”

Two teams who have recently built their own arenas are the Leicester Riders and the Newcastle Eagles who are two of the most successful teams in the history of the BBL and have now set the standard.

Newcastle’s Drew Lasker spoke of the importance of having their own arena: “It's been a game changer. It’s given us a little bit more opportunity to be a little bit more professional. Over at Sports Central we enjoyed our time, but we weren’t the priority so we had to take the slots we were given.

“Sometimes we would turn up to training and we didn’t even have a court booked! We didn’t even have a locker room! We’d practice, get our stuff, shower and go.

“If we want to ever be respected throughout Europe, we want to be a respectable league and keep moving up then every team has to get their own venue.

“[Europe] is the ultimate goal as far as an organisation and a player’s stand point. That was always the next level for the Newcastle Eagles because they’ve already accomplished everything in the British Basketball League.

“Five years from now I envisage the club being bigger and better than ever. I envision us being in Europe and being a very well-known team throughout Europe and building up the prestige of the league.

“I see nothing but great things for the future.”

Is Lasker being realistic? Is British Basketball ready to move up to the next level?

While every fan would love British basketball to be more successful, unless the five areas explored in these articles are addressed i.e. funding, recruitment, media coverage, prominence in the UK and beyond, in Europe and the world – then such an optimistic vision will remain a pipe dream.

Everything needs to come together. It’s all about everything.

It will take a lot for British basketball to get out the shallows and swim with the big fish. If you spoke to the average sports fan and asked them ‘who do you think is better at basketball Britain or Lithuania?’

You'd expect the answer to be Britain every day of the week. You’d be wrong. Lithuania, a country with a population less than three million is the big fish and we’re the minnow. There’s a lot to be done.