Worcester Wolves
| Worcester Wolves | |||
| Founded | 2000 | ||
| Hall | Worcester Arena (2,000 seats) |
||
| Homepage | http://worcesterwolves.org/ | ||
| Chairman | Roger Clarke | ||
| Trainer | Paul J. James | ||
| league |
British Basketball League 2013/14: 3rd place |
||
| Colours | Navy blue / gold / white | ||
|
|||
| successes | |||
| BBL play-offs 2014 | |||
The Worcester Wolves are a professional basketball team from Worcester , England . The team, which was founded in 2000, made the leap into the closed professional league British Basketball League in 2006 after the Birmingham Bullets from the West Midlands withdrew from the BBL.
history
Start in the English leagues (2000 to 2006)
After a lower-class team called Chiefs had existed in Worcester in the 1990s , but which had moved to Solihull near Birmingham in 1996, the desire to found a new basketball team arose after the construction of the Worcester Arena at the University of Worcester . The Wolves found 2000 admission to the third division of the "National Basketball League" (NBL). After a second place in the premiere season, they made it straight to the second season. At the beginning of the following season, after the withdrawal of the Doncaster Panthers , they were upgraded to the highest class of NBL Division One. After the founding of the "English Basketball League" (EBL) in 2003, they first played in the second division, but made it into the Patrons Cup in the first season of the EBL 2004 as second in the regular season and winner of the play-offs and the league cup EBL Division One. In Division One they finished fourth twice and won the 2006 League Cup National Trophy.
British Basketball League (since 2006)
After the 2005/06 season, the BBL again suffered the loss of three franchises with the London Towers , Birmingham Bullets and Brighton Bears . In search of a regional replacement as possible, the BBL chose London United , Worthing Thunder and, in the West Midlands, the Worcester Wolves. While the Worthing Thunder did not start playing in the BBL until two years later, the Wolves were already represented in the BBL in the 2006/07 season and finished last among ten teams after only four wins this season in 36 league games. The subsequent engagement of the German-American Markus Hallgrimson did not change anything on this balance sheet . London United had made it into the play-offs in eighth place, but were replaced by London Capital for the following season . In the following season, the Wolves gained athletic ground, while the newly added regional competitors Birmingham Panthers took last place and withdrew after one season.
In eighth place in the final table of the 2007/08 season, the Wolves, who had strengthened themselves with the experienced German-American Chuck Evans , qualified for the play-offs and also reached the semi-finals in the League Cup BBL Trophy. While they were eliminated in the Trophy against the eventual winner Guildford Heat , they lost in the first round of the play-offs against defending champions Newcastle Eagles . In the following season there was a setback when they missed the final round in the final table in tenth and third from bottom place in the table. Chuck Evans was then brought back as a trainer, who took up his first coaching position with the Wolves. Two months after the start of the season, the Wolves made headlines, but not from a sporting point of view, when the self-colored new coach Evans criticized the work ethic of his fair-skinned players. The so criticized players, including the former Canadian player- coach of Wolves Skouson Harker , felt racially insulted and refused to continue working with Evans, which is why the Wolves' game schedule was postponed in December 2009. Evans eventually resigned while the players on strike were sacked by the club. Evans' successor at the end of December was Paul James, who was also colored, who signed six new players and achieved a balanced record at the end of the season. But in a three-way comparison with two other teams you had the worst record and finished ninth, so you missed the final round.
At the end of the 2010/11 season, the Wolves again finished ninth, this time having a negative season record with more defeats than games won. In the following season, however, the sporting breakthrough came when they not only had a positive season record in the BBL for the first time, but as third with only eight defeats in 30 games, they were only one defeat worse than the table first Newcastle Eagles, which all closed that season won the title awarded by the BBL in the end. The end of the season was disappointing for the Wolves, because despite the good starting position they lost in their second play-off participation in the first round against the Cheshire Jets . In the 2012/13 season you could confirm the sporting success of the previous season and again reached a place in the upper half of the table in fifth. In the first round of the play-offs you won your first final round game, but in the addition of the return game you were eliminated with three points difference against the fourth-placed Surrey Heat again at the start of the play-offs.
In the 2013/14 season, the Wolves got a regional rival again with the new franchise Birmingham Knights , who, however, paid the hardship as a newcomer and did not win a single game of the season. The Wolves instead kept up with the top teams in the league and finished third after the main round behind Newcastle Eagles and Sheffield Sharks. In the play-offs, MVP Zaire Taylor finally led the Wolves to a final victory over the Eagles and their first title in the BBL.
Web links
- Worcester Wolves - British Basketball League BBL - profile on the website of the BBL ( English )
- Wolves History - British Basketball League BBL - Seasons overview on the BBL website (English)
- Worcester Wolves basketball - team details, stats, news, roster - club profile on the websites of Eurobasket.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ England Basketball: Senior Men - Cup Competitions - National Trophy. (No longer available online.) England Basketball . Archived from the original on April 2, 2013 ; accessed on June 8, 2013 (English, overview of final results). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 2006–07 BBL Championship & Playoffs. British Basketball League , accessed June 8, 2013 (English, season overview).
- ↑ Michael Reeves: Worcester Wolves' Roger Clarke positive over BBL returnlWorcester Wolves torn apart in 'racism' row. (No longer available online.) WorcesterNews.co.uk, December 15, 2009, archived from the original on May 9, 2012 ; accessed on June 8, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Worcester Wolves' Roger Clarke positive over BBL return. BBC , December 31, 2009, accessed June 8, 2013 .
