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Gareth Murray was in bullish form in the lead up to the Caledonia Gladiators BBL Trophy final win last weekend. “We want everyone to know our name,” said the Gladiators head coach before adding somewhat presciently. “Winning trophies helps to do that.” The recently rebranded club – alternatively the Edinburgh, Glasgow or Scottish Rocks over the previous 25 years – have been on something of a PR offensive in recent months.
“We changed from Glasgow Rocks to Caledonia Gladiators and there are some people who are not too sure about the brand and all that,” Murray told The Herald last week. “So we want to get that name out there, we want to show everybody what the intentions are for this team – not just the men's team, but the women's team and the whole community.”
The Gladiators' Twitter account ran with the hashtag 'knowourname' in the aftermath of their buzzer-beating 73-70 victory over Cheshire Phoenix, posting a video of the winning three-pointer by David Sloan that clinched the trophy and ended a 20-year wait for a trophy that had encompassed a run of 10 defeats in finals.
Murray later said that he had felt winning was a “life or death” matter. If that could be construed as hyperbole it was in line with his and Caledonia's aim to establish themselves as the best basketball club in Britain in the coming years.
Big, bold statements are certainly in keeping with the grand plans that the Gladiators owners Steve and Alison Timoney have for the club.
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Two weeks ago, they announced plans to build a 6000-capacity £20m purpose-built stadium at PlaySport in East Kilbride, a move that Timoney says is part of his drive to make basketball the second most popular sport in Scotland. While such claims might seem fanciful with rugby and football dominating the landscape these are nevertheless exciting times for Gladiators.
They sit fifth in the BBL Championship and are still a few players short of becoming the kind of side that challenges right at the very top of the standings each season so it is easy to see why Murray felt this was his side's best chance of a trophy against a side that sits below them in the table. At the same time, however, they have some very talented players in their ranks.
Sloan, who drained the winning points against Phoenix, is fifth in the league for points per game while they have another player near the top of the player standings in Al Durham, where those connected with his alma mater Providence College – where he played for the Friars in the NCAA – were keeping an eye on proceedings at the weekend.
“Caledonia, from Glasgow, had been in the midst of a 20-year championship drought, having been to 10 finals during that time, losing every single one of them. Enter Al Durham,” wrote The Morning Hangover, a blog that reports on Providence sports teams. “Durham was third in the league in free throw attempts, averaging 6.1 attempts per contest and connecting on 82.1% of them. He continues to be a closer.”
Providence is situated in Connecticut, USA. Murray's right, winning helps to spread your name far and wide.
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