The London Lions continue their 2020-21 BBL Championship campaign at home to the Plymouth Raiders. Watch the action from the Copper Box Arena live from 7pm Friday on Sky Sports Arena.
Thursday 10 December 2020 13:23, UK
Life at the top comes with pressure, and London Lions coach Vince Macaulay has braced his team for a season in the firing line as their BBL rivals look to dethrone the most recent league champions.
The Lions edged out Leicester to clinch the 2018-19 title a year after finishing runners-up to the Riders, before sitting in second with a game in-hand on the first-placed Glasgow Rocks as the 2019-20 campaign was brought to a halt by the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.
Macaulay's side host the Plymouth Raiders at the Copper Box Arena on Friday night as they go in search of their first win having opened their Championship campaign with an 88-79 defeat to the Newcastle Eagles last Thursday.
The Raiders enter on the back of a 69-60 win over the Worcester Wolves and Sunday's 77-76 victory over the Eagles, across which Ashley Hamilton led the team with a combined 39 points.
"We're in a situation where we are moving into a different realm of expectation," said Macauley.
"The London Lions are the league champions, Justin Robinson is the MVP, I'm the Coach of the Year, so we're right there at the top to be shot at.
"Every game we play is going to be Game 7 in the NBA Finals so that's a challenge for me to get the players to understand that you've got to be up for the game wherever you are."
Macaulay has been a front-seat witness to both the BBL's development and strains for over 30 years, having spent time as a player before acquiring the then-Hemel Royals in the 90s and later playing a leading role in relocating the franchise to Watford, Milton Keynes and finally London in August 2012.
Player turnover has been a familiar factor in that time, however, the Lions owner believes the league is in a promising place in regards to homegrown talent returning to compete in the UK, which, in turn, is aiding the on-court standards.
"Coaching in the BBL is a big challenge, this league is far better than people think," he added. "Every team has upped their game this season, in terms of the level of play in the league right now it's fairly sensational. This is a really underrated league right now.
"The British Basketball League right now is flying. I've been around a long time in the BBL coming up in the league with the London Docklands back in 1989, there have been a lot of changes over the past 15 to 20 years.
"I think possibly the biggest change has been the return of British players to play at home, starting with Justin Robinson who not only came back to play from Greece, a real high-profile league, but he came into the BBL and was successful in the BBL as a two-time MVP.
"Being able to bring Justin Robinson back home to play in the prime of his career is a huge achievement for us."
Robinson is the reigning back-to-back league MVP having averaged 19.2 points and 4.9 assists per game in the 2018-19 Championship following 17.8 points and 5.6 assists in 2017-18.
He remains an integral part of Macaulay's set-up after a busy summer of new arrivals in the wake of 2019-20 top scorer Ovie Soko's move to France.
The Lions signed a league-high 15 players in the offseason, including former NBA pair DeAndre Liggins and Byron Mullens, and Kevin Ware, who spent time at both Louisville and Georgia State in college.
"Recruiting players is probably 80 per cent of the battle, getting the right player that you want to fit the system you want to play," explained Macaulay.
"I think DeAndre Liggins is magnetic to watch. He just plays basketball the right way. If the opportunities are there for him to score, he'll take them. If the opportunities are there to assist a team-mate he'll do that, he is averaging a ton of assists and a ton of rebounds.
"Kevin Ware is speed on legs, so quick. He's an exciting guy for the fans to watch, finishes at the rim, shoots from long range and assists his teammates."
An influx of fresh faces has consequently put the onus on the likes of Robinson to introduce his new team-mates to the Lions way of doing things.
"The 18/19 team that we had here was sensational in the connection they had with each other, and it was a joy to coach," said Macaulay. "When you bring in a lot of new players and a lot of higher expectations like we have now, it's a bigger challenge.
"So it's about my guys who are already with me, like Justin, like Andre Lockhart, like Joe Ikhinmwin, the London players to help us as a coaching staff to impose London upon our new arrivals and if they can care for London and represent London then good things happen."
Watch the Lions against the Raiders live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm Friday evening.
