LOCKOUT A ROCKY DEBUT FOR MURRAY

Glasgow Rocks coach Gareth Murray says the sporting shutdown is a “nightmare” after his players were left in limbo.

With no change to the Scottish Government rules on Thursday, most indoor sports effectively remain under a complete ban with no prospect of being able to play games or train behind closed doors.

The British Basketball League has ditched plans to start its new season last weekend as its eleven clubs wait to learn if their pleas for financial support lead to some priceless help.

But with the Rocks under the toughest restrictions, and owner Duncan Smillie openly acknowledging their place in the BBL is under threat, it’s all meant the toughest of all starts to a coaching career for Murray whose foreign contingent were all forced to spend a fortnight in self-isolation with no reward in prospect at the end.

He said: “Right now, we’ve brought them here in the hope of a dream that we actually get started. They’re not under contract yet and those won’t start until the first game is announced. So I’m not even forcing them to even go to the gym or the court. We’ve no answers for them so it’s just waiting.

“I can’t organise anything. We know the games are postponed but are they going to start in two weeks? Will they start in January? Are they going to cancel the whole season? I don’t know if anyone can even give that answer.

“The BBL has asked for money from the government. But it might go to Basketball England and it’s hard to see them giving a team in Glasgow money. What I find it hard to take is that the fifth tier of English football is getting a million-pound bailout and we might get no help.”

The Great Britain star, 36, paints a grim picture with acute fears up and down the land that many community clubs, like the one that nurtured his talents in his hometown, will simply fold if their doors remain shut.

And the country’s professional sides could see all the work they do off the court to engage kids fall by the wayside, he warned.

“If you can’t work with them for a period of time, and there’s other sports available, you’ll lose them. The sport as a whole has spent a lot of time getting kids involved at a younger age and building a culture of basketball. That gets them coming to games. All that will be lost as well.

“I was working at a school in Glasgow doing coaching. I can’t do that right now, or for the foreseeable future. Same with some work I’d been doing at a university. And if there is no way to play, I can see some BBL teams folding completely. They might come back and re-join in two years. But without some help to allow us all to play behind closed doors, there’s no real option.”

Meanwhile Allie Fullah has been released by Manchester Giants to look for a contract in mainland Europe,