Lions set to emulate Kingston Kings’ success in Europe
Image: The 1990/91 Kingston Kings after beating European powerhouse, CSKA Moscow (BBL Eighties Nineties)
The London Lions are beginning the 2022/23 season with the intention of winning it all. Certainly, the signings they have made so far have caused a stir, and it is more than likely that forthcoming signings will and have been record-breaking for the BBL.
With a few seasons of European basketball under their belt, the original aim of progressing and improving with each and every season seems to have now been replaced with the single goal being to conquer Europe, aided no doubt by the removal of the BBL salary cap.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the Lions are in uncharted territory and with regards to their season objectives and the shackles of the salary cap well and truly off, perhaps in terms of the latter, they are. However, in terms of a blueprint for dominating the BBL and competing at the highest possible level in Europe, there is already a successful one that the Lions could perhaps take a sneak peek at…
Kingston Kings.
For three straight seasons, the Kings dominated the BBL and had varied success in the top European competition of the time, the European Champions Cup. Throughout the history of British basketball, the Kings franchise enjoyed moderate success and were well respected as one of the top sides in NBL and post 1987, the BBL as well. The franchise also endured a brief stint in Glasgow for the 1988/89 season, which proved successful on the court.
In the European Cup Winners Cup, they received a bye into the second round, yet rather unfortunately, drew European powerhouse and eventual winners Real Madrid.
The club, acquired by David Murray when he bought Glasgow Rangers Football Club, stayed in Scotland for just one season before moving back to Kingston, where the franchise would enjoy the best three year stretch of any team in the history of the BBL.
Domestic dominance was one thing, but cracking Europe was an entirely different beast, as it's today. Just like the Lions, the Kings were a squad built primarily for European competition, although domestic success was essential for qualification into the Champions Cup.
The 1990/91 European campaign remains to this day, the greatest achievement of any British team in the top flight European competition. It was by no means an easy ride. For the '90/'91 season Kingston had acquired the very best players available from the England team as well as players across the BBL, including two-time MVP Alton Byrd, BBL great Martin Clark, England big men Martin Henlan and Trevor Gordon and Mick Bett. They also added Lorenzo Duncan to the mix, who was formerly drafted by the Washington Bullets in the NBA, as well as the up-and-coming homegrown talents of Mike Griffiths and Sam Stiller.
The icing on the cake? Retaining the services of former MVP Alan Cunningham. They did have the services of Darryl Reshaw, a high calibre American with an impressive record in European competition, although he played only seven games in the BBL.
Domestically the Kings won everything except one BBL Cup in three straight seasons. They were beaten by Sunderland 76ers (now the Newcastle Eagles) in the cup semi final, a team that consisted of league MVP Clyde Vaughan, the best player never to win a BBL MVP, Russ Saunders and former LA Laker Steve Bucknall. Steve Bucknall moved directly from the Lakers to Sunderland and in my twelve year old mind, it was the biggest trade in the history of British Basketball. However, the Kings still accumulated three league titles, two cups, three trophies and three play-off titles, something the Lions have a legitimate shot at achieving.
The Kings had numerous runs in European competition, with the ‘91 season standing out as the greatest, although it didn’t start particularly well.
Kingston tipped off the 1990/91 European Champions Cup Campaign by losing at home in the first leg to Dutch Champions, BV Den Helder, despite 21 points from Alton Byrd and 19 from Alan Cunningham.
Backs against the wall and facing an early exit from the competition, the King's pulled off a dramatic win in the second leg, taking the tie by just five points on aggregate behind 27 points from Martin Clark and 19 from Alan Cunningham.
The second round saw them as heavy underdogs against Russian champs and European powerhouse CSKA Moscow. As they would do so many times in the competition, the Kings upset the favourites in convincing fashion, taking the first leg 93-77 behind 26 points from Alan Cunningham. Martin Clark’s 32 points in the away leg proved enough for the Kings to hold out for a two-point loss on the road, giving them the aggregate victory of 14 points.
Wins over Moscow and Den Helder, secured Kingston a spot in the elite eight. Moscow featured multiple players that had won silver at the FIBA World Championships with the Soviet Union squad and Den Helder also consisted of Dutch international players as well as Tico Cooper, a centre that played for the Pittsburgh Panthers in NCAA, in a prosperous decade for the college team.
Kingston would now take part in a tough competition against the very best teams in Europe. Barcelona, POP 84 better known as Split, Pesaro, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, Aris Thessaloniki, Bayern Leverkusen and Limoges. These domestic league and playoff champions made up the eight teams that would face a league style, home and away competition consisting of fourteen games. The four teams with the best records would progress to the Final Fours in Paris.
The Kings, despite finishing seventh, gave a great account of themselves and proved to be tough opposition for the cream of European competition. The only blowout they would suffer would be at the hands of eventual winners POP 84 Split, losing 91-72 behind 23 points from three-time European Champions Cup MVP and future multiple NBA Champion, Toni Kukoc.
Kingston almost got the job done at home against Split, losing by just two points at Crystal Palace behind 26 points from sharpshooter Lorenzo Duncan, and Kukoc notching up 28.
During the fourteen games in the elite eight, the Kings were perpetual underdogs, and yet they managed to impress with close-fought contests, managing to take one or two scalps along the way. They managed an 82-77 win over the Italian champions Pesaro, a 64-62 win over Israeli giants Maccabi Tel Aviv, a huge 96-77 win over French champions Limoges CSP and, perhaps the most remembered win of any British team in top flight European competition, ‘The Snow Game’ that saw the Kings topple the Greek Champions, Aris Thessaloniki, 97-96 at Crystal Palace.
It was a game that had everything, from excitement, scoring, and dubious referee calls, to physical play, epic defence and Greek fans throwing coins at Trevor Gordon after he perhaps “inadvertently” elbow dropped his Greek opponent after wrestling for a rebound. All this was before the game-winning buzzer-beater from Matt Cunningham. I encourage any fan of the BBL to seek out this fixture, which can still be found on YouTube. It’s a great game.
All of the above was exciting for Kingston fans and BBL fans alike. The feat of reaching the elite eight has only been achieved once more since the epic ‘91 competition and it was again the Kings that managed it.
After moving the franchise to Guilford, the Kings once again reached the elite eight, with ageing legends Alton Byrd and Lorenzo Duncan still leading the way. They failed to win a game out of the fourteen played and were unable to recapture the magic of ‘91.
Other teams throughout history have had varied success in both the Korac Cup and Cup Winners Cup, including an impressive run in ‘88 from Manchester United, who reached the round of 16, facing Drazen Petrovic on the way. Kingston also reached the quarter finals of the Cup Winners Cup in the same season beating Galatasaray en route.
The Kings certainly set the benchmark for BBL teams in European competition, however, no team has been able to follow in their footsteps at the elite level, until now.
The London Lions have a legitimate chance to exceed expectations in the EuroCup this season and like their predecessors also dominate domestically. Granted, the EuroCup is not as high profile as the European Champions Cup, however, should the Lions be successful they could potentially find themselves in the running to be considered for the EuroLeague, which is essentially what the Champions Cup became.
With the Lions adding a plethora of top British players including Ovie Soko, Tarik Philip and Luke Nelson, not to mention the impressive import slots being filled by the likes of Vojtěch Hruban, a Czech Republic international with a decade of European club competition in the BCL, EuroCup and EuroLeague, and Tomislav Zubčić a Croatian international with over a decade of experience as well, in the EuroLeague, EuroCup, FIBA EuropeCup and BCL, the Lions look to be well on their way to meet their lofty objectives.
