Roy Downey insists Neptune can bounce back from disappointment

IT was a difficult season for Energywise Ireland Neptune captain Roy Downey last season but with the new one due to begin in late September, he is already looking forward to it.

Downey has played his entire career there, with the exception of a couple of seasons when he donned the UCC Demons colours when Neptune withdrew from the top tier.

Looking back on last season Downey had some interesting points.

"It was a very disappointing season, particularly with the way we had played in the previous one but having said that maybe we overachieved the year before when we made two finals.

“The media and public narrative was after finishing runner-up to Tralee Warriors and signing Jordan Blount that was the last piece of the jigsaw we needed to go one better.”

People had forgotten about the fact they had lost some key players. 

"Losing James and Scott Hannigan to Demons weakened us and with Colin O’Reilly also stepping down from playing that void was a huge one to fill.”

In the opening four games, Neptune looked a serious outfit but Downey believes a loss to Demons in the opening game when they won by the minimum could have brought the meltdown forward sooner.

The American selections in the last couple of seasons haven’t gone to plan according to Downey.

For some strange reason, they came with good CVs but just didn’t fit into our system but hopefully that will change this season.”

The injury to their Spanish star Nil Sabata earlier in the season certainly weakened Neptune on all fronts.

“In the four and five slots we had only Nil and Jordan filling those roles but Nil couldn’t train for the majority of the season and in hindsight, he should have sat out three or four months but his determination saw him try and help us.”

Poor performances in some games last season stand out.

“To be honest they were a few but losing at home to Sligo All Stars hurt as it would have given us a good lead going into the Christmas break." 

When I pointed out that the loss to Templeogue near the end of the season was a complete embarrassment to the club surprisingly he didn’t agree.

“I think whether we won or lost that we still had to go to Tralee and win the last game and although that’s not an excuse for our performance. I will admit it was a tough journey back to Cork."

The Neptune captain believes his side showed great character winning their last game away to Tralee Warriors but again another dismal display saw them exit the league play-offs with a quarter-final defeat at Belfast Star.

“The Tralee win was hard-earned but that’s what we expected and came away with a great win but inconsistency came back against Star and we failed to kill off the game."

BETTER

Looking back to December the cup quarter-final home defeat to Eanna was another hard pill to swallow but Downey has a problem with the manner basketball is run at the top tier.

"It’s a bugbear of mine as when you lose in the cup quarter- or semi-final stage that people in Ireland actually think your season is finished.

"There is so much more than the National Cup in Irish basketball and the only reason back in the day that it was held in January was the RTÉ coverage but let’s be honest if people are looking at the big picture having the cup finals at the end of the season would be a good idea.

“The media coverage and everything that goes with it makes it a special championship but surely if it was held in March it would be better for the sport.”

Downey feels that getting consistency into their game for the coming season will be crucial.

Last season we looked a serious basketball team when producing our best form but on the other side of the coin when we were bad we were very bad."

Colin O’Reilly will be returning as head coach despite resigning from his position at the end of last season.

Gary Walsh, who gave many years playing with Neptune, has retired but is set to be involved in O’Reilly’s backroom team with Conor O’Sullivan returning to the club following his spell in the States and Belfast.

For Downey getting back to basics and becoming a major force in Irish basketball again is his priority.

“We have the players let’s start repaying the support our club give us as I feel we owe them after last season.”