THE body of work constructed by Kieron Achara during a long and distinguished career has already ensured his place in the British
basketball pantheon. On top of his 105 international caps prior to his international retirement last year, many as Great Britain’s captain and totem, he also boasts Olympic appearances with multiple European Championships, as well as having the respect of his peers.
Yet at 35, his CV is marred by an inglorious void. Home and abroad, he has not lifted a trophy since emerging from a junior career that made the Stirling-born forward Scotland’s youngest debutant. Time, he acknowledges, is running out rapidly. When Glasgow Rocks face London Lions in today’s BBL Cup final in Birmingham, this might be a last chance to obtain a winner’s medal.
History has been similarly unkind to his club who have appeared in eight major finals since lifting the BBL
play-off title in 2003 but lost them all. Motivation is not in short supply.
“People always talk about winning trophies,” Achara admits. “To win something and achieve something for Glasgow would be huge. This is going to be our ninth final and we owe the fans and the city.
It would mean a lot to lift that cup.”
There is no burden of expectation. Perhaps the Rocks can profit from an assault on the Lions by stealth. London, top of the domestic league, are deservedly favourites. Glasgow, marooned in 10th, are certainly outsiders. Yet since mid-November, no top-tier team has picked up more victories. They have been beneficiaries of a soft schedule, yet Friday’s 101-81 annihilation of BBL champions Leicester Riders left Darryl Wood’s men sensing a conclusion to the lengthy wait for silverware might be accomplished.
“Finals are funny things,” Achara says. “It is about who brings it on the day. We have confidence in ourselves. We’ve won eight of our last 10 games. We put 100 points on Leicester. That’s an impressive feat. We feel comfortable in our own skin now. And we’re ready to go.”
Plus, he adds: “There’s a real sense of urgency. We know we dug ourselves into a massive hole in the league. But that’s been turned around now. People understand their roles and I think we’re a threat for anyone, including London.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s BBL Cup final, Sheffield Hatters meet unbeaten Sevenoaks Suns.
Yesterday, Caledonia Pride opened up the group stages of the WBBL
Trophy with a 78-64 win over Newcastle Eagles. Hannah Robb and Hansine Marshall scored 14 points apiece with the Scots pulling away for good at Oriam in the third period to end a run of three straight defeats.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here