United finish 2nd in the EYBL U23 Superfinal in Amsterdam
After coming second in the last qualification round in Levice, Slovakia London United booked their place in the Superfinal of the newly created U23 EYBL competition.
The campaign in Amsterdam was initiated by the clash against EMTV Hamburg. In the previous rounds United had to rely on ferocious full court defence while their offensive output was mainly provided by strong and athletic perimeter players. This time round our young Londoners had the luxury of 6’9’’ Mergin Sokoli providing relative security under the basket and considerable firepower both inside and outside. New revamped and upgraded United quickly capitalised on their new assets. Early in the game they took a double digit lead. The backcourt, superbly marshalled by Rinor Dragusha and Liam Campbell created countless fastbreak opportunities which were finished with aplomb by Joseph Richards and Ashja Sempala. In the 3rd quarter United increased their lead to over 20 points and fairly safely sailed to a 83-61 victory with Joseph Richards leading all scorers with 20 points.
In the second game United faced the host Hot Pepper Heat Academy. After a very tense beginning where United had myriads of issues dealing with the ultra-athletic Dutch team, United’s backcourt started to dictate the course of the game. This time round the guard trio of Dragusha, Sempala and Campbell was significantly bolstered by the presence of Lebron Roach. Lebron after relatively quiet game against Hamburg has displayed all his defensive and offensive talents against the Dutch team. He not only hit a couple of threes, but also managed several important steals which allowed United to finish on the right side of the 87-79 score.
After 2 wins, United was pitted against the mighty Kutaisi 2010 in the semi-final game. In the previous round in Levice, Kutaisi beat United 100:90 and our Londoners couldn’t find the recipe for 6’9’’ point forward Saba Narimanidze who already successfully competed for Kutaisi 2010 in the senior European cup. Narimanidze’s achievements had absolutely no impression on Sokoli who went on his own crusade to prove his versality and offensive prowess. In the first 15 minutes he scored 18 points in the most creative way, finishing fastbreaks, shooting threes and demonstrating finesse with inside moves. When it looked like Sokoli will be the main offensive feature for United, suddenly Rinor Dragusha started his concerto. United’s guard was shooting an incredible 6 out of 7 from the 3-point range, dished 7 assists and was faultless from the charity stripe. London United which was leading by 12 points at the half time had to deal with a spirited Kutaisi comeback in the second half. The Georgian outfit led by mercurial passer Narimanidze and the very versatile guard Dachi Kavtaradze managed to cut the margin to a single point. However, in the moment of crisis United had reverted to their most trusted weapon-ultra-aggressive full court pressure. This approach paid very quick dividends with United quickly re-establishing their double-digit lead allowing them to take a full revenge on Kutaisi by winning 104-88. Dragusha led all scorers with 36 points, while Sokoli had 26.
The final game against Baskets Beats which was an amalgamation of Slovakian powerhouse Inter Bratislava and Budapest Prep Academy was a proverbial bridge too far for the young Londoners. United started quite shakily and the superbly talented Lukas Luttmerding and Martin Minarovjech secured a 10 points lead for Baskets Beats early in the first quarter. In the second quarter United reduced the margin to 3 points, but the series of unforced errors allowed Baskets Beats again to take a double-digit lead. The first half ended with a 12 points deficit for United and Londoners had the half time to figure out an effective strategy to contain the multi-dimensional Baskets Beats Academy.
The first part of 3rd quarter was quite promising for United which again managed to reduce the deficit to 5 points. From that point both teams were trading points but United was unable to reduce the margin any further. In the 4th quarter, 17 years old Luttmerding once again shoved his impressive offensive talent and allowed Baskets Beats to build a 15 points lead. At that point United has certainly reached the point of no return and allowed the opposition to dominate the last stage of the game ending up losing in the final 90-66.
Rinor Dragusha for his superb display at the tournament was voted to the tournament All Stars team.
