London United Basketball

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London United

League	British Basketball League
Founded	2002
Team History	London United 2002-present
Arena	Hackney SPACe Centre
City	London, Greater London
Team Colours	White, Black, Red
Ownership	Jack Majewski
Head Coach	Tony Garbelotto

London United are one of ten basketball teams competing in the British Basketball League(BBL). They are the sole representatives of the capital city, London for the 2006-07 season (replacing the London Towers) after being elected from the English Basketball League in summer 2006, alongside Worcester Wolves.

1 Franchise history
2 Home arenas
3 Season-by-season records
4 Players
- 4.1 Current roster
- 4.2 Squad changes during 2006/07 season
5 External links

[edit] Franchise history

[edit] The beginning

London United basketball club was formed in 2002 following a merger between two local teams, the Ealing Tornados and the North London Lords. Ealing Tornados were themselves a very successful team in the lower leagues, having won promotion after promotion since their foundation in 1999. When the merger took place at the end of the 2001-02 season, Ealing Tornados had just finished as runners-up in NBL Division 1 (Now known as EBL Division 2) behind the Derbyshire Arrows.

[edit] Further successes

Playing as London United, the successes continued with promotion to EBL Division 1 achieved just a year later, in 2003. United spent 3 years in Division 1 with their biggest success coming in 2004-05 when they finished as runners-up, again pipped to the title by the Arrows. The logical progression for the club was to join the fully professional British Basketball League in July 2006. However the decision was hastened when the London Towers withdrew from the 2006-07 season, leaving London without a professional basketball team.

[edit] The big step up

For owners Jack Majewski and Dave Schiller, the step-up meant finding a new venue, as well as a recruiting more able players and finding corporate investments to fund the venture into the BBL. There first step was to hire coach Tony Garbelotto to control the team on-court. Sponsorship soon came, in the way of international money transferers MoneyGram, and a suitable venue was found at the SPACe Centre near Hackney. A mass influx of British players strengthed the ranks of United, with major signings including internationals Chris Haslam and Tarick Johnson.

[edit] 2006/07

London played their first BBL game on September 30, 2006 on the road at Leicester Riders. Despite trailing 73-52 at the end of the third quarter, a huge last gasp effort and a 29-6 run resulted in a mind-blowing 81-79 victory for the rookies. United's good form did not end there and their explosive start to the 2006-07 season continued with another road victory just one week later against veterans the Scottish Rocks, who were defeated 70-76.

[edit] Home arenas

Brunel University (2002-2006)

Hackney SPACe Centre (2006-present)

[edit] Season-by-season records

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pld.	W	L	Pts.	Play Offs	Trophy	Cup
2002-2003	NBL 1	3rd	-	-	-	-	-	DNQ	DNQ
2003-2004	EBL 1	6th	22	11	11	22	-	DNQ	DNQ
2004-2005	EBL 1	2nd	22	18	4	36	-	DNQ	DNQ
2005-2006	EBL 1	7th	26	14	12	28	-	DNQ	1st Round

[edit] Players

[edit] Current roster

The numbers are established according to the official websites of the team (www.london-united.co.uk) and Britain's top professional league, the BBL (www.bbl.org.uk).

As of October 27, 2006

4	Jacek Jagodka	Guard/Forward
5	Perry Lawson	Guard
6	Marcus Knight	Guard
8	Tarick Johnson	Guard
9	Laurent Irish	Forward
10	Junior Williams	Guard
11	Marlin Capers	Guard/Forward
12	Bryant Feggins	Forward
13	Leon Bernard	Forward
14	Chris Haslam	Centre
15	Phillip Perre	Guard/Forward