“I want to win trophies”

In a wide ranging interview with John Hobbs of Basketball England, Thunder coach Brian Deacon was emphatic about his aspirations in his new role.

“I want to do well, and I know every coach says that it’s an obvious goal, but you want to be able to do these things and give these players that chance at this level. ”

The journey to silverware starts this weekend for Brian and his team, with a double header set of fixtures to kick off the group stage of the KitKing Trophy. Saturday sees a home game against Barking Abbey (NBL Division 2), followed by Reading Rockets (D1) on Sunday. The final group game will be on September 21st against D2’s Solent Kestrels. A good showing would see Worthing advance to the knockout round.

Fans who attended the recent preseason game against London Elite, saw a glimpse of the exciting style of play Deacon wants to bring to the Thunderdome this season. Speaking with Hobbs, Brian explained his team philosophy, “For me, I’m a great believer in team basketball, and individuals don’t work on my team, and I hope I can give the fans here at Thunder an entertaining style of basketball that they will enjoy.”

That was evident in the 112-86 win over Elite, with fluid ball movement amongst players leading to strong debuts from new signings, Elijah Maynard, Malachi Boakye-Yiadom and Lewis Gleason.

In the interview with Basketball England, Deacons expands on his philosophy of giving young players opportunities, his coaching journey and the competitiveness of the teams in Division 1 this season.

“All games will be tough this season, all teams have recruited well, and the level of competition will be extremely high,”.

It all starts Saturday.

Read the full Basketball England article here.