As his side prepare to face Plymouth Raiders in Tuesday's BBL play-off semi-final first leg, Lions' coach Vince Macaulay has been awarded the BBL coach-of-the-month award for April.
Macaulay's side burst into form during the month, winning all 11 games in a hectic spell that saw them playing three games a week. The highlight of the month saw them defeat league-champions Leicester Riders at the Copper Box Arena, meaning that Riders had to wait until their final game to secure the BBL Championship title. Lions won the first three quarters of that crunch game and looked to be in control, but had to withstand a late surge as Riders got back to within one shot with two minutes to play. Characteristically, from there Justin Robinson and Orlando Parker, twice, hit three-pointers that settled the tie.
That has been a feature of Macaulay’s team this season, as they lead the BBL in both three-point attempts, with over 30 per game, and in three-point percentage at a success rate of 38.8%. That included a spell in the middle of April where they recorded double-digit wins over Glasgow Rocks, Bristol Flyers and Cheshire Phoenix while going 49-107 (46%) from beyond the arc in the space of a week.
Overall, they were almost exactly on those averages in April and that served them well as May Madness got underway, with Lions safely through to the Play-off semi-finals after a comprehensive defeat of Cheshire Phoenix in their quarter-final second leg, hitting an unbelievable 13-21 (62%) triples in the first half.
In total, they made 355 three-pointers in the season, which is 110 more than any other team. Macaulay’s talisman Justin Robinson (55) and his astute new additions DeAndre Liggins (65) and Dirk Williams (91) are all top five in the BBL in made three-pointers with the latter leading the league by a clear 25 makes from Sam Cassell Jr.
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