Ben Thomas is confident he can put together an even stronger Cheshire Phoenix squad to compete in the BBL next season.
The Nix head coach lead his side to a ninth-placed finish in the league this season, one place and six points off the pace for a place in the end-of-season play-offs.
But for Thomas, in his first full season as head coach, the season was an overall success as his team lifted the BBL Cup back in January in front of a crowd of 10,000 at Birmingham Arena.
And while some changes to the roster are almost inevitable during the close season, Thomas believes that next season’s squad will be stronger and able to build on the campaign, that finished with a narrow home loss to London Lions on Sunday at Cheshire Oaks Arena.
“There will be changes but I am confident that we will be able to put together an even stronger squad for next season that will help us kick on again,” he said.
“It is still a bit early for me to reflect on the season as a whole and the disappointment remains about having missed out on the play-offs.
“But when you look at the season I’m sure people would have taken winning some silverware at the start of the season. It had been a long while since that hd happened for this club and it is nice that we have been able to deliver that.
“But there are improvements we can make and our focus will be on how we can become stronger for next season.”
Thomas was thrust into the role as head coach at the end of last season following the departure of Robbie Peers.
Under Thomas’s stewardship the Nix put in some impressive displays on the court and he was rewarded with the permanent job last summer.
And Cheshire have been at their most settled for some years on and off the court under his guidance, although Thomas admits it has been a steep learning curve for him personally.
“I always wanted to coach a basketball team but it is something that came around much sooner than I ever anticipated,” he said.
“There have been some successes and some failures and things I have done right and times when I have made mistakes.
“But this has been a steep learning curve for me but one I have enjoyed immensely.
“I’ve had some positive feedback along the way and I feel that I will be heading into next season a better coach than I was at the start of this season.”
Robert Sandoval was voted MVP by the Nix fans following Sunday’s season finale, with Raheem May-Thompson named Fans’ Favourite and Devan Bailey as Defensive Player of the Year.
