Intro
This weekend marks the start of Basketball England’s NBL 2022/23 season with the Trophy opening the proceedings. The trophy is a regionalised group tournament which then goes into a knockout phase.
Chris Hughes will breakdown his personal predictions as well as discussing possible MVP’s and off season moves.
Past seasons
Team Solent Kestrels and Thames Valley Cavaliers have dominated the top two spots in the last few seasons. The former are reigning four time champions and runners up the year before that. Solent’s dynasty may appear over after losing significant financial support from a key sponsor and with plenty of changes on and off the court.
There will also be questions on how the Cavaliers will fair after losing key pieces in the form of Hakeem Sylla, Blayne Freckleton and Charles Acquah-Davis.
Chris’ predictions
1st. Hemel Storm, last season 6th
Pros: The Play-off finalists are a well coached side with a lot of key pieces already in place. The signings of Hakeem Sylla, Bernard Hehetro and Charles Acquah-Davis along with former Dartmouth big Aaryn Rai will be key. All four have played with MVP calibre Taylor Johnson in the past.
The shot blocking and rebounding ability of the recruits from Thames Valley will hopefully improve the team rebounding and block stats from 3rd in the league as well as sure up a defence that gave up a lot of points per game (7th).
talented USA import Seth Swalve could also be the signing they need to share the shooting load.
Cons: Hemel really struggled with consistency last season and the signing of Taylor Johnson turned them form a 14-5 3rd seed to 16-10 6th seed. The loss of Bode Adeluola will also be especially missed. Scoring will not be an issues but the detail in defence will be the difference between a title season and a top four spot.
2nd. Worthing Thunder, last season 5th
Pros: The roster screams out All-Star quality with Zaire Taylor recruiting pretty much every player from Ronald Blain’s side (or Blain picked his new team mates). Recruiting four of last season’s title winning side is a good tactic alongside two of Rebound’s ‘Team of The Year’ stars makes for a mouth-watering prospect for the Thunder fans.
Ronald Blain, the MVP candidate is in for a massive season with a galactico-esqe roster re-united with his wing man David Moya. The guard duo of David Moya and Andre Arissol will also be key, especially on the defensive end with their transition defence and relentless defensive energy and will be a two-way threats for every team they face.
Cons: Zaire Taylor will be missed on the court and this will be a great test of his coaching ability in his debut season. With a multi-talented roster at his disposal along side almost a totally different side to last season a lot of work is needed to find his best rotations.
3rd. Thames Valley Cavaliers, last season 2nd
Pros: Coach Banks has assembled a good side in light of the changes mentioned above. The signings of Victor Olarerin, Bode Adeluola and Jordan Gray really strengthen the guard spots, the signing of the versatile forward Shaquillle Lewis is also a shrewd signing and will go some way to replacing the 3-point shooting that they will miss from their former captain Blayne Freckleton.
Keeping the majority of last season’s bench, who know their roles alongside experienced guys such as AJ Roberts and Aiden Saunders bodes well for the Cavaliers. If the former has a break-out season and they could easily better last season’s second place finish
Cons: They have yet to announce an import signing and the side feel like they are 1-2 key signings short of challenging for the title. However substantiated rumours that key player(s) are coming soon is a concern for the rest of the league.
4th. Derby Trailblazers
Pros: This side have form for being one of the top sides, the last time Derby finished outside of the top five was the 17/18 season.
The signing of Jase Harrison and re-signing of Simeon Perry. The latter could easily follow the path blazed by former player and now BBL homed Blake Bowman. The signings of Jake Wilmott and William Lightfoot will be ones to watch out for.
Cons: Outside of losing Blake Bowman to Leicester Riders I do not see many that they can control. They may well be the team who surprise many who feel the ‘super teams’ may dominate.
Rest of the Play-off picture
This is where I feel there will be a gap with maybe only Newcastle having the potential to upset my top-four predictions.
5th. Team Newcastle University
Pros: The North remembers, Newcastle have been well represented in past years with high calibre players in Ronald Blain, David Moya and Brendon Federici. They have seemed to rebuilt well with adding size and quality signings. I am intrigued to see how former London Lions II star Edrick Okunola gets on.
Expect 6’5 wing combo Trey Carrier and Nestor Saa to dominate and add spacing for the big men to flourish,
Cons: It is a rebuild season and how quickly this team finds chemistry will be vital. A well lead coaching team should get the best out of this bunch. However the majority are untested at this level and that will be a test in itself.
6th. Reading Rockets, kept the core of their squad and with the addition of their imports that should be enough to keep the club in the play-off spots.
7th. Bradford Dragons, the signing of Jordan Whelan shows they mean business
8th. Team Solent Kestrels, the signing of Justin Bessard who netted 23 points in the behind close door friendly has given the fanbase one of their few reasons to be confident. We understand a second import will be announced soon, a core squad from their successful D2 and BUCS side will need to adapt quick for it to be a good season.
This is probably the team with the biggest upside and downside range in this prediction (5th-12th). A change of role for serial champion Matt Guymon and the loss of Adam Sewell will be hardest felt. Solent will hopefully still keep the latter’s scout reports.
Rest of the pack
9th. Nottingham Hoods, how they match up with sides around them, especially their former head coach Ben Stanley‘s Solent side will likely determine if they can make the play-offs.
10th.London Lions II, a busy pre-season has been a great preparation for this young side.
Relegation scrap
11th. Loughborough Riders, a repeat of last season’s 11th place could beckon for this university side depending on recruitment between now and next weekend.
12th. Westminster Warriors, after a great season in D2 last year, the London side will be looking to stay up this time around.
13th. Essex Rebels, after surviving last season by a head-to-head record a lot of their survival will determine on how often Lee Linton-Hodges is available as well as how they replace the void of losing their captain Tom Child.
14th. Manchester Magic, I feel this will be a better season than their last forgettable D1 experience. The signing of Greg Wild is an amazing coup. A lot of responsibility on his young shoulders within a talented side. A lack of experience may be their undoing.
The MVP debate
Taylor Johnson
It seems Hemel have built a side that knows how he plays and to top that they have provided some help in the guard spot with Seth Swalve.
Re-united teammate and international star Hakeem Sylla may also have his eye on the prize once team trophies are secured.
Ronald Blain
The explosive star will instantly become a fan’s favourite on the South coast with lots of championship pieces to help with personal and team goals. Blain should definitely flourish with the spacing added by having top shooters like Tom Ward, David Moya and Andre Arissol on the floor.
Thames Valley Cavaliers may also contribute a candidate to the discussion with a lot of hard working talented guards to really add value to a star player’s contribution.
Malcolm Smith
You can not rule this guy out, he has history and no doubt he will be a contender for sure.
Player signing discussions
As of yet no team has announced Elliot Dadds, this guy knows what to do to win and is an elite defensive player.
The Hemel and Thames Valley ‘trade’
Players from both sides made the short journey to change uniforms for the upcoming season.
Hemel Storm added forwards Hakeem Sylla, Bernard Hehetro and Charles Acquah-Davis to fill the whole left by Greg Poleon and possibly Jonathan Lashley.
While the Cavaliers got Bode Adeluola and Shaquille Lewis. Maybe Hemel have won the ‘trade’ but both teams will be happy with their recruitment.
We will be hosting a discussion on this before the upcoming season. Tag us on social media with your thoughts.
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