James Brice says Cheshire Phoenix are adopting a different approach in order to remain competitive in an ever-improving British Basketball League.
Cheshire missed out on a spot in the BBL play-offs at the end of last season following a disappointing campaign that only really showed signs of promise toward the end under the stewardship of interim head coach Ben Thomas.
Thomas did enough during his short stint to convince Nix chiefs to hand him the role on a permanent basis and he has already set about piecing together his roster for next season with the re-signing of Raheem May-Thompson and additions of Andrew Bachman from Worceseter Wolves and American CJ Gettys following the conclusion of his college career with NCAA Division One school Rutgers University.
And general manager Brice is hoping that a change in approach will right some of last season’s wrongs and ensure that the club don’t allow the gap between themselves and the sides challenging for honours to widen.
“It is a bit of a change for us this coming season in terms of how we approach things and we’ll be looking to add more depth to the squad, which is something that this club has struggled with in recent years,” said Brice.
“You can’t go into a season with 5/6 players and expect to be competitive, you need to have that squad depth in basketball and it is something that we are striving to improve this coming season with our rotation.
“We also want to avoid chopping and changing rosters during the season. We know that the fans don’t like it when it happens but we also don’t like doing it. Sometimes you are left with no option but we have looked at the way we bring people in to try and limit the chances of that happening.
“You never know what’s round the corner in basketball but we have tried to identify guys who we know, who know the BBL and who are the right fit to make sure that we give ourselves the best possible chance to put a team on the floor that can be competitive and stay together.
“The BBL is improving and it’s vital that we make sure we are keeping up with the top sides.”
And Brice is looking forward to seeing how coach Thomas fares in his first crack at the top job at the Cheshire Oaks Arena.
“Ben did really well in difficult circumstances at the end of last season and we’re really keen to see how he progresses from the start,” said Brice, who revealed the club are close to landing a point guard who was with a BBL side last season.
“It’s important that we start the season well this time around and that we hit the ground running, but we are putting things in place to make sure that we remain competitive.”
