Team Talbot, Guildford

Team Talbot, Guildford was an English basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL) for three seasons between 1979 and 1982, until the club moved to play in Bracknell.

History

1971 to 1979

Team Talbot, Guildford was formed as the Southern Pirates, by Brian Naysmith and was based in Portsmouth, where the club had strong ties to the Southern Grammar School for Boys. In 1957 Naysmith had started working at Southern as a PE teacher. He revived the school’s Basketball program, making it a major sport in the school. Matches were arranged both locally but also nationally. From next to nothing Mr Naysmith made the team a powerful force at both county and National Level. The pinnacle of their success was in 1971 when the Southern Grammar School for Boys won the Schools (U-18 men) Championship Cup beating Kings Norton Boys School, Birmingham. The Kings Norton team of that era included Steve Assinder a GB and England International who played for Team Fiat. Additionally in 1971 the English Basket Ball Association’s Junior Men’s final Southern Pirates defeated Doncaster Panthers 72-39. At that time Barry Hitchcock (who would be the coach of Team Talbot, Guildford) was a PE teacher at Southern, whilst two of the pupils Brian Hirschfield and Steven Bowden would go on to play for Team Talbot, Guildford in the NBL.

1975/76

In 1975 the Grammar school was turned into a comprehensive and Brian Naysmith was appointed to be Director of Sport at the University of Surrey at Guildford and his basketball club followed him. The move coincided with the expansion of the National Basketball League (NBL) to include a second division, which Guildford Pirates entered. Although they won only three games and finished sixth out of seven teams. In some ways, it was a case of what might have been, as Guildford’s nine losses included six games lost by just 1 or 2 points. At the end of the season Guildford dropped out of the NBL.

1975-76 National Basketball League Division 2 6th (out of 7) Pld 12 W 3 L 9 F 839 A 836 Pts 15

1978/79

After three years in the county leagues, Guildford Pirates rejoined the second division of the NBL for 1978-79 season. This was a much more successful campaign and Guildford ended the season as champions of the Second Division, with a 15-3 record. The contributions of the two American signings, Jim Rehnquist 36.9 ppg and Dave Fredrickson 29.1 ppg formed the backbone of Guildford's success. At that time, however, there was no automatic promotion or relegation between the two divisions of the NBL, so Guildford had to wait for an invitation to join the top tier.

1978-79 National Basketball League Division 2 1st (out of 10) Pld 18 W 15 L 3 F 1620 A 1426 Pts 38

1979-80

Division 1 in 1979-80 showed many changes with four teams dropping out of Division 1. Exeter St Lukes TSB joined Division 2 whilst the Embassy Milton Keynes All-Stars, Loughborough All-Stars and Bracknell Bullets left the NBL altogether. Three teams were invited to step up, along with newly sponsored Team Talbot, Guildford, (the NBL Division 2 Champions), the runners-up Hemel Hempstead, (with new sponsors Ovaltine) and 4th placed Blackpool joined Division One. The London Metros moved from London to Kingston, in Surrey, where, also with new sponsors they became Kelly Girl International Kingston. Team Talbot retained the services of Jim Rehnquist and it is an indication of his shooting prowess that he managed to score 26.6 ppg in the struggling team. There were two other American players were used Laurence 'Lanky' Wells (22.9 ppg) and Bob Landes (21.5 ppg). Team Talbot had a budget that was a small fraction of the more successful teams and struggled to make an impact, finishing last out of the ten clubs with a 2-16 record. In the absence of automatic promotion and relegation they remained in Division 1 for the following season.

1979-80 National Basketball League Division 1 10th (out of 10) Pld 18 W 2 L 16 F 1592 A 1837 Pts 4

1980-81

Facing a second season of struggle Team Talbot began with two new Americans, John Goedeke and Dave Winey. Goedeke had a successful season, ending it as the 4th highest scorer in the league with 443 points and his 24.6 ppg ranked 6th. However Winey was replaced after 5 games by Mark Haymore, who made significant contributions. Haymore was the leading rebounder with 14.6 per game and shot an impressive 60.7% from the field, netting 264 points in just 10 games and his 26.4 ppg rated 4th overall. The 4-14 record the club posted was enough to lift them into 9th place in the ten team division. There was also the success of the newly formed Junior Men (under 18) who, coached by Kevin Hibbs, finished second behind Crystal Palace Falcons in the Southern Division of the Junior Men's league. Their record was Pld 10 W 8 L 2 f 814 a 711 Pts 16 In the National Junior Championship Semi-Finals they met Team Fiat, Birmingham. In the away tie Fiat won 63 – 57. In the home tie Team Talbot lost another close match 57 – 60, leaving the aggregate score Talbot 114 Fiat 123. Team Fiat went on to win the final beating Crystal Palace 69-59.

1980-81 National Basketball League Division 1 9th (out of 10) Pld 18 W 4 L 14 F 1470 A 1730 Pts 8

1981-82

Their third season saw Division One expand to twelve teams with the admission of the three top teams from the previous season's second division; the Solent Stars, TCB Brighton and Liverpool. Blackpool Pacemakers dropped out. Stockport Belgrade took the decision to move away to the new Spectrum Arena in Warrington becoming Birchwood Warrington Vikings. Team Talbot, Guildford again showed improvement with a 6-16 record that included two wins against leading teams. There were three American players used Robin Jones, an NBA championship winner with the Portland Trail Blazers, Darren Pierce and Larry McKinney. Jones and McKinney made strong contributions The Junior (u-18) Men's team tasted success again winning the Junior Men's National Cup beating Team Fiat Birmingham 86-63 and reaching the Final of the National Championships Play-offs where they finished as runners-up to Crystal Palace. More importantly for the future, players from the Junior squad, most importantly Peter Scantlebury, began to appear on the Senior Men's roster.

1981-82 National Basketball League Division 1 10th (out of 12) Pld 22 W 6 L 16 F 1811 A 2005 Pts 12

At the end of the season it was announced that the franchise would be moving to Bracknell, under new ownership. The Pirates name survived for a while, before the new franchise morphed into the Thames Valley Tigers.

Notable Former Players and Coaches

Sources

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