Seán Flood returned to the floor for London Lions at the weekend and it came at a vital time for the men’s Ireland national basketball team. With injuries and other absences an issue, they’ll be leaning on Flood in this week’s FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers.
Timing matters in sport. Timing is why Ireland doesn’t have its starting point guard, CJ Fulton, for this week’s FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers with Azerbaijan and Kosovo. It’s also something Seán Flood knows all too well. His return to the London Lions this past weekend gave him real minutes on a basketball court at a crucial time.
Getting the reps
The stat lines will hardly blow anyone away. Across two games with London Lions at the weekend, Seán Flood scored 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting, to go with 6 assists and 2 rebounds. The stat that mattered was the first in the boxscore. Flood played 41 minutes and 19 seconds of basketball across those two games.
That’s the most significant time he’d been able to manage on the floor in quite a while. Injury coupled with back court competition for the Lions meant he hadn’t really been active in a while. Getting on the floor, including in crucial times when it mattered, in those wins over Cheshire Phoenix and Caledonia Gladiators, was crucial.
Flood has long been one of the key men in the Ireland national team. The challenge for him coming into these FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers was being fresh. Having a busy weekend where he mattered helped. London Lions don’t play a style all that similar to Ireland. Flood will certainly be featured more by Mark Keenan offensively. Still, there was legitimate cause for concern at him coming in rusty to the games in Tallaght. The past weekend put those to rest.
A less than ideal situation
The return of Seán Flood to the floor with the London Lions will be of some relief to Keenan. While the Ireland national team coach was aware ahead of time that Fulton and other US based players would be missing due to NCAA duty, that wasn’t the end of his troubles. Taiwo Badmus, the focal point of Ireland’s offensive game, is out. Badmus, who players with Valur in Iceland, suffered an injury that ruled him out of the FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers.
This adds to the pressure on the roster which has already been dealt some blows this season. James Beckom, who was playing his basketball in Italy, suffered a season ending injury early in the campaign. Having healthy and available players is a luxury for Keenan right now.
This week’s opponents, Azerbaijan and Kosovo, both present mixed bags. At full strength, Ireland would be highly confident of beating both at home. With the absentee list growing, both now look much tougher encounters.
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A winning culture
The circumstances for Seán Flood this season are a touch different to last season. At Den Helder, in the BNXT League, he was the star on a team that just kept losing. Flood has to work more for his minutes with London Lions. Still, he’s been able to enjoy being part of a side that has developed a winning culture.
The assorted challenges with the Lions this past summer have been well covered by this site. As a result, their Trophy campaign involved them working out their identity. Ever since the Super League Basketball season started, they’ve been a different team entirely.
The Lions lead the league with a perfect 5-0 record. Matters are still quite early but Flood is coming into the Ireland national team camp bringing that winning mentality with him. It’s going to matter because Ireland have played from underneath for most of their past two campaigns. Being able to show a bit of swagger is almost necessary at this stage of the FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers.
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Signs of progress
At 28, Seán Flood is in his prime years for Ireland. Realistically, there are two maybe three more international campaigns where the Ireland national team can lean on him. Fortunately for him, those will cross over with the generation behind moving on from NCAA ball to being back in Europe.
Flood will be able to rely in Fulton for future FIBA World Cup and Eurobasket qualifiers. Sam Alajiki, ND Okafor and more will also suit up alongside the London Lions man. The availability issues for the national team should be reduced after this campaign. What sort of position Ireland is in for those campaigns is what’s at stake now.
A win over Azerbaijan feels the most vital but in truth Ireland need to win both games. Going 2-0 this week moves them to 2-2. It means progress to the second round isn’t unthinkable. More importantly, rankings points are vital to get a better seeding in the next two cycles. That’s a big ask, particularly down key bodies, but it’s what feels necessary.
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