Injuries hinder Merry Monk but  Cunningham focused on bigger picture

After a depleted Team Merry Monk suffered a heavy 76-49 defeat to Carrick Cruisers (Carrickmacross) in the Basketball Ireland Development League on Saturday night, Derek Cunningham spoke to the Western People to discuss that game, the start to the season nationally, competing in both the BIDL and LLR, and the challenges that the season has brought for the Ballina side.

The very experienced Peter Papik injured his ankle during the warm-up of Merry Monk’s first game in Division 2 (BIDL) at home against Ongar. An important forward/centre for Ballina, Derek Cunningham mentioned he will be out until after Christmas at least.

“It put us on the back foot but we were close, we weren’t too far off and I think there was only five or six points in that game. Then we had Castlerea last Saturday week in the LLR, we had a full squad but we went with six under-18s.” 

The LLR provides the perfect base for the younger players of Team Merry Monk to gain more senior minutes, which are valuable for developing a team. “We won that game and I probably won’t coach a more enjoyable game than that one!” admitted Cunningham.

“The younger players were brilliant, we were behind for a bit but we won it alright in the end.” 

Cunningham was very impressed with the manner of his team’s win, especially given the experience and talent available to the Castlerea team. Then they faced Athlone who were in the LLR last year. They were six points up through the second quarter but then Ronan McGarrity suffered a groin injury that is keeping him out for at least four weeks.

“We were down eighteen in the fourth quarter, pressed on them and got it back to 73 each, but they got a couple of free-throws at the end of the quarter and won it 75-73,” recalls Derek Cunningham.

There’s obviously a massive step-up when making the move to national level, but despite the tough start and players lost, coach Cunningham thinks the experience – and especially the losses – will stand to the youthful players on the team long-term.

“All the young players are learning. All the ones who played last year, they’re used to winning games not losing them. We were 0-2 in the Division 2, and 2-0 in the LLR.” 

The opportunity for those younger players to play in the BIDL is something the Merry Monk coach describes as “massive”, saying his team “thought they would do well this year” but that with a lot of injuries “things aren’t going as planned”. However, he is appreciative that this has opened up more minutes for the younger part of his team on the court.

“We’re trying to build a club, not just a team. I know it’s a cliché but you learn an awful lot more from losing then winning. I’d say some of the games last year, no disrespect to the league, but some of the boys got used to winning and it kind of softened them. But we knew straightaway when we played Castleisland (Kerry) that it was a different level. So losing will drive them on to improve I hope. I think it will.

“We went to Carrickmacross, lovely gym and lovely people. They were a very good team with a lot of internationals that are living in Ireland. We had only eight players, with four under-18s. Another lad during the week, who had just come into the fray this season, Rory Smith broke his finger in training. It’s just been bad luck for us.” 

Despite a decent first quarter, Saturday’s game did fall out of their reach when losing 76-49 and Derek Cunningham does admit the challenge, with the age profile of the team, is something difficult to contend with.

“A lot of these teams, their age profile is usually late 20s, early 30s, sort of the height of their career basketball-wise”, whereas the Ballina team is very youthful with some more experienced players at the other end of the career spectrum, and not many in between. Carrickmacross Cruisers could also do it all, with scoring inside, shooting the ball and defending.

“If we had a full squad we could have given them a good go, but we have had such a tough run with injuries. We were hoping that maybe after injuries we might have two or three wins but we’re hoping now just after Christmas to pick up a couple of wins. That’s kind of where we’re at now because we won’t have a full squad until after Christmas” 

He says the biggest part of the jump in quality between the LLR, which is a regional league, and the BIDL is that the latter are not reliant on one or two players to score 30 points, pointing to the depth of squads. He does think it’s something he’s had to adjust as a coach, encouraging his squad to “become better as a team on the floor” due to the better defensive quality, and to better game-plan for defending multiple scoring options.

One of the most exciting things about Ballina having a National League team again is how “massively” it will help basketball develop not just in Ballina but around the county.

“It’s not just about the under-18s or the guys who are playing and people coming to watch. It’s about the younger guys, the under-10s, 12s, 14s actually seeing senior basketball. For a long time there was no senior basketball and a lot of kids would have played until under-16s and given up basketball and that was a real hamstring for us – and it would be a hamstring for any club. The couple of home games we’ve had, against Castleisland and Ongar, they were great games, so hopefully seeing that will spur them on.” 

Ballina Braves basketball club is truly on the rise, reflected also in it hosting the under-18’s national cup on the same weekend they played Ongar. Welcoming massive clubs like the Dublin Lions, UCD and the Tralee Magic, the return of Ballina to basketball’s national ranks, given its rich history, is both poignant and exciting.