The 2023-24 BBL season was a thoroughly entertaining spectacle and there were a raft of alterations including the return of the All-Star game, all of which added an extra layer of intrigue. As always, there were a couple of notable coaching changes with the London Lions and the Manchester Giants opting to make a switch ahead of the forthcoming campaign.
We’ve taken a closer look at how the three most recent appointments have fared and whether they have shown enough to justify their position.
Peter Bozic - London Lions
Otherwise known as the ‘Professional Trophy Lifter’, Peter Bozic took over a team who were clearly on an upward trajectory and expectations remained extremely high ahead of the 2023-24 season.
MVP Matt Morgan played a key role at the Copper Box Arena and was instrumental in helping the Lions finish twenty points clear at the top of the standings. His rapid change pace and scoring ability enabled his side to edge a number of tight games, and with many of the Lions’ rivals struggling to keep tabs on the guard, he was a constant thorn in the side of their opponents.
With Morgan and 2022-23 MVP Sam Dekker working together, it is tempting to suggest that Bozic had a fairly straightforward task, however, he was forced to overcome a significant injury back-log throughout December and found a way to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to the Caledonian Gladiators towards the end of 2023.
The only blot on Bozic’s copybook is his failure to clinch the mid-season BBL Trophy. The Lions were beaten by Cheshire Phoenix courtesy of a blistering second half display by Laquincy Rideau. Despite going off as favourites with the majority of online bookmakers, they were unable to justify their extremely short odds and with the Lions having now been defeated in three of their last four appearances in the BBL Trophy finals, it isn’t the first time that punters have been stung in this competition. This is something that the Serbian will be looking to correct next season.
Bozic’s presence has undoubtedly helped widen the appeal of the BBL and the league continues to grow each year. With pre-sale tickets for the BBL Trophy finals proving popular and selected games now shown live on Sky Sports in the UK, there are clear signs that the popularity of competition is increasing on an annual basis. For those games which aren’t broadcast on TV, online bookmakers such as Bet365 also stream many matches throughout the course of the campaign and they are just one of the many sites who, alongside generous betting deals for new customers, also have increased the number of in-play betting markets available during each and every match.
Brian Semonian - Manchester Giants
Although the Giants’ appointment may have lacked the glamour or fame of their counterparts, the arrival of the well-travelled Brian Semonian did give fans some hope that the American could improve their fortunes and have them challenging at the top end of the Championship.
Having finished sixth in the 2022-23 season, Semonian was hoping to improve on that highly respectable outcome, however, things didn’t quite go according to plan.
Although he oversaw a flurry of positive results towards the end of 2023, Semonian’s side garnered just nine wins en-route to an eighth placed finish. Their failure to qualify for the play-offs was a huge blow and they also bowed out of the BBL Trophy at the Pool Stage.
Nevertheless, there were green shoots of recovery at the tail end of the campaign with a rare away win at the Leicester Raiders before edging out play-off hopefuls Newcastle Eagles. Having lost all three match-ups with the Eagles this season, they were finally able to turn the tables on the North Easterners at the end of April.
It was a disappointing maiden season for the new coach, however, there are a handful of positives to take into next year.
Marc Hendrik Steutel - Newcastle Eagles
Marc Hendrik Steutel has been in position for a couple of years having been appointed in the summer of 2022, however, he remains a relatively new name for BBL followers. The Newcastle Eagles coach had been acting head coach for GB and replaced the outgoing Ian McLeod who had overseen a miserable campaign in which his team had failed to make the play-offs for the first time in over two decades.
Unfortunately, Steutel wasn’t able to oversee a transformation during his first season in charge despite reaching the quarter-finals of the cup. His side finished eighth, winning 11 of their 36 matches during the regular season.
His second season in charge saw a steady improvement and although they ended the campaign with a -10 points difference, they won exactly 50% of their matches and qualified for the play-offs. They were beaten 94-81 by eventual champions London Lions at the semi-final stage and can hold their heads up high.
Steutel hasn’t made radical changes in Tyneside, but there has been measured improvement and that bodes well ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
