BBL INSIDER: BOARD WALKING

The new BBF board, although flawed, has work at hand. Plus numbers don’t lie.

A quick glance at the CVs of the trio of independent directors appointed to the soon-to-become all-powerful British Basketball Federation likely causes the selection committee that recruited the trio to give themselves a good slap on the back.

All have fine attributes.

I have occasionally dealt with Steve Elworthy and found him to be approachable and focused. The one-time South Africa cricket international is now the England and Wales Cricket Board’s head of events and marketing. Despite their senior men’s side’s laughable performance at the current World Cup, his own department will not be caught in the crossfire of criticism.

Alan Gilpin is a former lawyer (an important skill but we’ll return there) who was been involved in both commercial rights negotiation (for sports marketing giants IMG) and hospitality (for London 2012) prior to joining World Rugby to oversee the delivery of the next two World Cups.

And, Ian Curryer, the chief executive of Nottingham City Council, will come aboard with a breath of experience: from working as a teacher to overseeing a large public sector organisation while, laudably, also spending part of his spare time as a coach in youth basketball.

The three are due to sit along side representatives from England, Scotland and Wales on the board which will take formal strategic control of the sport in 2016. We still await the process by which a chair will either be appointed or chosen but the grouping is now in situ.

But, we should ask, where is the divergence of experience? Does BBF need two directors both from an events side of sport or who arrive without any conflicts of sporting interest in basketball’s urgent search to uncover the private sponsors and backers who can fill the gap left by UK Sport’s disgraceful snub, a task ever more difficult in the competitive world of sponsorship?

Where, you might ask, is the diversity of background that one might seek in a board that will inevitably be asked to lend its own contacts and becoming listening posts for those sitting below? Three white middle-aged men joining a board which is already full of the same.

Were there no outstanding women who might have brought an alternative prism? Or, in a sport where around 46% of those playing within Britain are non-white (although not a majority as is often stated), was no-one from the so-called ethnic community available to serve and perhaps provide an entry point into the black corporate world that should be using basketball as a marketing loudspeaker for its target audience?

We have not seen the résumés. We were not in the room. Maybe those who applied were the best available. If so, political correctness aside and with room for two further spots still to be appointed internally, we will wish them well.

With BBF inheriting FIBA membership in October 2016, some might suggest they now have 18 months to effectively ease themselves gently into the fray. The reality is this board has work to do now – and should be given immediate powers to get involved and be vocal.

With the potential change of ownership in the running of top-flight basketball, let the BBF immediately inherit the oversight of the process from the discredited and evacuated board of Basketball England to ensure this is a process seen as fair and untarnished by self-interest. The legality and compliance of this whole messy recipe for change requires a detailed evaluation from well outside the walls where it was cooked up.

And if, as many expect in the weeks ahead, BE’s current leadership is forced to fall on its sword, put the BBF in temporary charge, ensuring there are no more power grabs attempted during the final stage of a unification that has been far too long in the making.

With the final details of the new federal structure all but agreed, the central hub of the sport needs to start in a position of clarity and strength. It must become the face and the voice for the game, above the pettiness of localised politics or the acceptance of how it has always been.

The trio of new faces who have offered themselves up better be ready. Theirs is no comfortable seat in the corporate box but one straight in the line of fire.

Trophy clash

So it’s Leicester Riders against Newcastle Eagles for the BBL Trophy on March 22 in Glasgow. Hardly a shock when these are undoubtedly the best two teams in the league.

It’s easy to look at Newcastle as being a great offense and their Midlands rivals as being defensive gems.

But if you skip outside the basic to advanced stats, the Riders offensive rating (point per 100 possessions) according to RealGM.com is 110.9 when pace-adjusted, 2nd only to Cheshire.

While the Eagles defensive rating is an improbably good 86.9, almost seven better than Glasgow in second.

All of which shows the numbers never lie, right?

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