Cork Basketball: John Coughlan on what went wrong for Neptune and UCC Demons this season

It will be a very special Saturday in the Men’s Super League for UCC Demons and Energywise Ireland Neptune as their fight for survival continues in earnest.

All eyes will be on Neptune when they travel over the county bounds to play a Tralee Warriors side who have dropped to eighth place in the standings following their home loss to Limerick Celtics on Saturday.

The Kerry side will not want to finish in eighth where a possible trip to play Belfast Star in the play-offs would not be on their radar.

Most genuine basketball folk won't not want Neptune to be relegated but the reality is they cannot afford any more defeats in their remaining three games.

Over the season, I have dissected Neptune’s problems on a consistent basis and for them to survive, they will need their professionals to be firing on all cylinders.

Recruitment at the Blackpool club in recent years has been very poor from various coaches. 

Keith Daly started the season at the helm and building a team is equivalent to like constructing a house, your foundation must be rock solid.

The original Americans were two guards, Cameron Glover and Zyon Dobbs and right from their opening defeat to UCC Demons in the first game of the season, they looked a side in trouble. To be fair, the Americans didn’t look like bad players, just simply they were a bad fit.

Daly had also signed a 6' 9" Eoin Nelson for the post position solved but he took some time to find his feet at this level as he hadn't been getting big minutes with his former club UCD Marian.

Ultimately, Daly lost his job and, rightly or wrongly, recruiting cost him big time.

Many folk in the sport thought they would try and get an experienced coach in but after trawling the country, Ciaran McKiveney was put forward.

No disrespect to McKiveney but he had no experience of coaching at this level. Despite a Christmas derby win over UCC Demons, his tenure came to an end on January 26 after their 105-93 home loss to Limerick Celtics. Once again, the recruiting at Neptune came back to haunt them. 

Now they have two rookies in Paul O’Brien and Darren Geaney with the responsibility of keeping them in the top tier of Irish basketball.

A state-of-the-art revamped stadium could be hosting Division 1 basketball next season if this present squad doesn't get the required results in the coming weeks.

Tralee Warriors are a very average team that Neptune could defeat but it will take a mighty effort as Kerry teams simply don’t like losing to Cork opposition.

PRESSURE

If Neptune thought they had problems, UCC Demons are also hoping for the elusive win that will guarantee them Super League basketball next season.

American Tamyrik Fields suffered a knee injury in their home loss to Limerick Celtics and had to undergo surgery, which finished his season.

Word from the camp is suggesting they will have a new American on the ground tomorrow as they get ready to play Sligo All Stars away on Saturday.

Demons also lost English-born Live Kivuvu and Daryl Cuff with season-ending injuries that have completely decimated their squad.

Sport is baffling as this Demons team went from league winners to failing in making the top eight, a big blow for the most successful club at Super League level in this country.