Post by Newcastle on Sept 22, 2016 17:22:26 GMT
Newcastle Chronicle AP.
New Era, New Beginning
It has been a busy few months for the league as a whole with the new teams, relocation's and contraction but none more so in Newcastle and their new Franchise. It wasn't that long ago that Rio de Janeiro Flamengo lost game seven in the finals to Piraeus Olympiacos after taking a three nothing lead, now the team are have relocated to Newcastle, find themselves in a new conference looking forward to a new era, a new beginning.
The fans of Newcastle have had a tough time since the start of the league, in the first 7 seasons never making the playoffs and then all the talk and rumors of them losing the team during last season. We were told the plan was always to keep a team in England, given strong fan base in the country and that is where the owners of the Rio de Janeiro Flamengo franchise started talking about moving their franchise over to the UK. Of course they was lots of moving parts with various different franchise movements in a league wide shakeup to boast viewing figures and nothing could be made official until the end of the season. Now the fans of Newcastle Eagles have a team coming off a finals appearance and league MVP Anthony Davis to support this coming season.
Anthony Davis and Newcastle Eagles General Manager were at the press conference to announce the move. First the General Manager had this to say. "It's a New Era, New Beginning for this Franchise and we can't be happier to play for you guys here in Newcastle. We have a new logo, the Metro Radio Arena has been redeveloped so we can play our home games here in Newcastle. Of course it was a tough move to make, and I want to thank all the fans in Rio for their support over the years but we are all exited to be here as we look to bounce back from last seasons finals defeat".
Anthony Davis, happy to be in Newcastle
Anthony Davis: "It has been a crazy couple of months that's for sure. The team is still hurting after the finals and that is going to live with me for a long time but at the same time you have to look forward. I have to thank the fans back in Brazil firstly, it was a tough decision for the Franchise to make to move the team, and they have been great to me and the team. To the fans in Newcastle, I want to say I'm looking forward to getting to know the city, it's a lot colder than Rio, and playing for you next season".
Since the press conference, the Newcastle Eagles have made a trade with Maccabi Tel Aviv to bring star forward Elgin Baylor and Shawn Respert to exchange for Dan Majerle, Jason Richardson and a 1st round draft pick. Baylor averaged 23.5PPG last season for Maccabi and has averaged 25.8PPG over the course of his career. Baylor gives Newcastle another go to scorer alongside Anthony Davis which was missing throughout the playoffs. Veteran Detlef Schrempf also signed a 2 year contract in free agency, he started for Piraeus in the finals last year and should give good depth at the forward spots off the bench.
Now the focus goes to the 30th October and the season opener, against? You guessed it, Olympiacos BC in Piraeus. That is followed by two more away games with the first home game against KK Partizan on the 6th November, the game is expected to be a sell out but limited tickets can still be ordered from the clubs official website.
