MURRAY EXPERIENCES JOY AND PAIN
Gareth Murray admits he felt the highs and lows in a single weekend.
Glasgow Rocks broke their BBL Championship duck on Sunday with an incredible fightback to snatch a 63-61 overtime win at Plymouth Raiders.
It was sparked by heroics from player-coach Murray who played all 45 minutes and scored a game-high 21 points as he continues his rookie campaign in charge at the Emirates Arena.
It was the veteran Great Britain forward’s three-pointer that put the Scots ahead for good with 66 seconds left after they had trailed by 17 in the third quarter.
After suffering a 96-54 rout at Bristol on Saturday, it was the most unlikely of responses from Glasgow who were forced to take an 11-hour bus ride home from Devon with no flights available.
Murray admitted: “I knew I needed to play. I had to make changes and once I was out there, I couldn’t come out. Saturday was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had in basketball. We had a spell where the guys gave up.
“I told the guys to take a long look in the mirror because Bristol did whatever they wanted and our guys didn’t care. But to go from that to beating Plymouth, there’s no better feeling.â€
The rapid turnaround moved the Rocks off the foot of the British Basketball League standings, with no teams now left winless.
Murray, now 36, had played just 53 minutes over the five previous games but his defensive know-how underlined why he was an ever-present under a succession of GB coaches, with his long-time team-mate Jonny Bunyan accompanying him on court for every second of the contest.
It had looked all but certain that another defeat would come when Plymouth, with a deep squad lavishly funded by their billionaire Turkish owners, used a 14-2 run to move as much as 44-27 in front.
Yet Murray capped a 15-2 rally in the fourth and then his three tied the game at 54-54 at the close of regulation.
And with Plymouth short-handed due to foul trouble, Scotland forward Fraser Malcolm iced a vital free throw with 12 seconds left before Raiders guard Elvisi Dusha missed a lay-up that would have forced double OT as time expired and the visitors began their celebrations.
And Murray conceded: “I’m delighted because it wasn’t easy.”
Ahmedphotos
Do you like our work?
We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.
We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.
We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.
If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.
We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.
-
-
Bristol lose to defending champs in ENBL opener
-
Mayor of London to create ‘basketball taskforce’ to grow the game
-
From collapse to rebirth: how the SLB came to be
-
Launching a new professional basketball league in 10 weeks – with Vaughn Millette – Ep. 117
-
SLB announces exclusive broadcast deal with DAZN
-
0 comments