The Plymouth City Patriots went out with a bang this weekend, as the 2023-24 season came to an end in Sheffield.
The Patriots made the long journey north to take on the Sharks in Sheffield Saturday night, and once again with a large traveling contingent, they managed to force an overtime thriller in an entertaining night of basketball. The game overall was a tightly contested affair, with neither side managing to take full control of the fixture. Both did show flashes of brilliance and, as he has all season long, the Patriots own TJ Atwood put on a clinic on both sides of the ball, playing heavy minutes and dominating his opposite number. His 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists ultimately wouldn't be enough however, as has been the story for the majority of the season, and the Patriots ran out of steam in overtime, succumbing to a 98-92 loss. It meant that Plymouth finished at the bottom of the British Basketball League table, whilst their opponents secured the fourth spot on the night.
“It's been a long season,” started Head Coach Paul James. He continued “we've had our fair share of challenges this season, and plenty of setbacks of which we've struggled to claw ourselves back from. These guys have been a great bunch to work with and our fans have been spectacular. I just wish we could have given them more to cheer about.”
With the season complete and all fixtures fulfilled, all that remained were the Plymouth City Patriots Awards held at Marjon University Sunday afternoon. It was, as you'd expect, a sold out event with fans offering the players, coaches and staff plenty of admiration and appreciation. After a season with perhaps more ups than downs for the professional team, the success of the Marjon Patriots teams were well represented, wih a presentation for the NBL D2 women and NBL men who were league runners up ahead of teams such as the Plymouth Raiders, Cornwall, Bath, Gloucester and Exeter. For the women Annette Cook and for the men Brandon Brine were both crowned MVP for their respective teams. The event also had a blind auction of match worn jerseys, player worn gear and other memorabilia before TJ Atwood swept the British Basketball League teams awards that afternoon. He won coaches, fans and players player of the year as well as being named the teams MVP.
The Patriots have a long summer of speculation ahead, with fans and pundits alike gleefully predicting the teams next move. It's clear from the outset however, that they'll all be keen to put this season firmly behind them and they will be happy to set about rebuilding the squad and learning from a long and arduous eight months in the British Basketball League.
Pablo Cheeks