Leeds Met Uni Taking It “One Game at a Time”

Interview by Joseph Fitzpatrick

Leeds Carnegie have not opened their BUCS campaign how anyone would have expected. Three games into the season they are yet to register a win having lost all three by an average of 18 points, and as a result they are currently languishing in bottom place of Premier North. This is not the manner in which the defending National Champions, not to mention Premier North Champions for the last three years, would have hoped to have begun the season. Hoopsfix caught up with Leeds Carnegie head coach and Director of Basketball Matthew Newby this week to discuss his team’s shocking start.

Hoopsfix: Obviously you’ve not had the start to the BUCS season you would have wanted or expected, why do you think this is?

Matt Newby: We can look at a number of contributing factors but the reality is that we have not delivered the brand of basketball that has made us successful previously. That’s something I am accountable for and that is something I will be addressing over the coming weeks.  This group of players are more than capable of re-establishing themselves as a contender and we need to recognise that both on the practice floor and on Wednesday nights.

Hoopsfix: With the calibre of players in your team and the relative ease in which you have won games in previous Premier North campaigns do you think complacency may have affected your team this season?

Matt Newby: The BUCS Premier North has gone from strength to strength each year and the depth of domestic university basketball has mirrored this growth.  There really is not a game on the schedule where a team can take a night off and in reality when you are the reigning national champions you are not going to see anybody’s worst game.  I think complacency is the wrong word, a number of players in our BUCS Premier side were not party to the success of previous seasons and have not competed in BUCS so have no preconceived ideas about the league or the competition.  I think consistency is what we desire and the results clearly show we are not where we  have been previously, it is our task to look at what we are collectively and individually responsible for and deliver the results that will give us an opportunity to meet our goals.

Hoopsfix: Your BUCS team minus Akin Fagbohun is the same as the Division 1 team, which given the fact you are unbeaten in National League, and through to the quarter-finals of both the National Trophy and National Cup, against arguably much tougher competition than faced in BUCS, does this then suggest that perhaps your players are more motivated on a weekend than on a Wednesday?

Matt Newby: The motivational climate is important and the way the results read people are going to judge us and are going to make similar statements.  But the BUCS Premier League and Championship are legitimate competitions with a good pool of talented players, committed coaches and some excellent rivalries and we have a desire to be part of that.  With a high proportion of the team at this juncture being incoming freshmen it is important for myself and our seniors to support them on the floor but in turn for them to step up and show their promise.

Hoopsfix: Both your American forwards, Mike Medved and Adrian Fenyn, are injured at the moment, how much has this hurt the team?

Matt Newby: You can look at this a number of ways, both bring a great deal to the floor and immediately people will defer to statistics but it goes deeper than that. We have had to make some swift adjustments to systems, and we are looking at positive solutions to reduce the impact of Mike Medved and Adrian Fenyn not being available at least until after the Christmas Break.

Hoopsfix: Even with the poor start, do you think your team can still go on to win Prem North and then retain the national title?

Matt Newby: This will all come down to our own character, should we deliver on Wednesday [Carnegie travel to the University of Worcester] in what should be the toughest match up of the season we can start to rebuild our BUCS regular season one game at a time.