Blog Archives

Bradford Dragons finish 2016 on a high.

20/12/2016

The Dragons travelled to Hemel Storm for their final match of the 2016 calendar year and came home with the points, following a 94-104 overtime win.

Bradford have been the highest scorers in the National Basketball league this season, currently averaging just short of 95 points per game. Much of this scoring prowess has been down to American point guard, Marcus Gooding, who has thrilled spectators with his accuracy from beyond the three-point line. However, Gooding took his performance to a whole new level, against Hemel, hitting an incredible 45 points in a game which could quite easily have slipped out of the Dragon’s grasp.

Gooding commented on social media, following his achievement, “Basketball is a really mental game, not only on the court but also through preparation and visualisation – the way you see yourself as a player is how you will (eventually) play - IF you invest the work to get there of course. It's that simple ... it may not come into fruition until maybe 1,2,3 years down the line but you gotta truly believe in your head that you can get to where you want. I was maybe a lil delusional back then but I saw myself scoring 45 three years ago, in my mind. So, it's not a surprise to me, I'm not shocked, I'm not satisfied. Nobody believed in me more than myself. Finally joined the #40Club … #50Club up next.”

Early Tip-Off Doesn’t Suit Travel Weary Dragons

14/12/2016

Bradford Dragons had an early start on Saturday, travelling to the Braunstone Leisure Centre, to face Leicester Warriors, in a game that tipped off at the earlier than accustomed time of three o’clock in the afternoon. Whilst the Dragons were still waking up, the Warriors took full advantage to steal the victory, 88-77.

The home side named two former Dragons in their line-up – point guard, Carl Pearson and American forward, Chris McGrew, which added a bit of Christmas spice to the fixture.

Like the previous week’s fixture against Manchester Magic, the Dragons couldn’t buy a basket in the opening six minutes of the game, going down to an early 8-1 deficit, and it took a Marcus Gooding three-pointer to finally get them going. With only ninety seconds of the first quarter remaining the game was tied at 12 apiece, however the home side just edged ahead to finish the period at 18-17.

Bradford took the lead with the opening score of the second quarter, a Ricky Fetske two-point jump shot, but the two sides traded baskets during the early moments of the period. However, it was the home side who again put themselves in the driving seat, and with less than two minutes to half time, they were up by eleven, 47-36. Fetske then bagged another two points, and a foul which he followed through with the extra point from the free throw line and then Gooding hit a three to pull the deficit back to just five. However, Leicester responded with three points of their own to finish the half with a healthy eight-point advantage, 52-44.

The Warriors extended their lead to ten, straight from the restart, however a couple more successive three pointers from Gooding quickly brought the game back to just four points and a Rihards Sulcs free throw then narrowed the gap further to only three points (54-51).

Bradford can’t break Magic’s spell.

5/12/2016

Bradford Dragons faced their toughest challenge of the season so far, against last season’s quadruple winning Manchester Magic and it proved to be a challenge too far, as the Mancunians travelled home with the win, 79-86.

Defeats by twenty points plus were the norm whenever the Dragons faced their Lancashire rivals last season, as Manchester took a clean sweep of all four domestic competitions. The two teams also met in the opening game of this season’s National Trophy, with Manchester again getting the better of Bradford (85-99). However, this time around, following a much better assault on this seasons league season, the Dragons were full of confidence that they could at last get the better of their opponents.

However, in the opening three minutes it appeared that it was going to be the same again, with Manchester rocketing into a ten to nothing lead, as their hosts were caught napping, forcing the Bradford bench to call for an early time out. It was a timely intervention, as the Dragons finally got into their stride and at the end of the quarter the damage had been limited to just five points, 20-25.

The pre-game optimism seemed to be well founded as the Dragons bossed the opening five minutes of the second quarter, forcing Manchester’s head coach, Paul Middleton, to call for time, with his side now trailing, 32-31. And although the game remained close, when the teams left the court, at half time, Bradford had extended the gap to three points, 41-38.