Swords Thunder

Swords Thunder
Leagues Super League
History Dublin Thunder
2011–2013
Swords Thunder
2013–present
Arena ALSAA Sports Complex
Location Dublin Airport, Dublin
Team colors Red, black, white
Main sponsor Griffith College
Head coach Dave Baker
Championships 0
Website SwordsBasketball.com

Swords Thunder, also known as Griffith College Swords Thunder for sponsorship reasons, is an Irish basketball team based in Dublin. The team competes in the Super League and plays its home games at the ALSAA Sports Complex. The team is a division of Swords Basketball Club.

History

Dublin Thunder

In 2010, Dublin Thunder Basketball Club was founded. In June 2011, Dave Baker was appointed head coach of the club's senior men's representative team.[1] Baker applied for national league status for his team but was unsuccessful as Basketball Ireland requires a team to be at least one full year in basketball at local level. He tried to enter the Dublin league, but it was full, so they entered the European Friendly Basketball League (EFBL), which consisted of 17 teams in two different pools. Between July 2011 and January 2012, they went unbeaten in the EFBL. They also boasted a friendly record of 27–1, having played 28 games against four American colleges, a pro team from the Philippines and five SuperLeague teams.[2] Behind the play of Isaac Westbrooks and Michael Goj,[3] Dublin Thunder won the 2012 Irish Senior Men's National Cup title with an 87–45 win over UCD Marian in the final.[4][5][6] For the 2012–13 season, Thunder entered the National League Division 1, with Isaac Westbrooks and Michael Goj continuing on as the leaders.[7]

Swords Thunder

In 2013, Dublin Thunder Basketball Club linked with Swords Basketball Club to create the Swords Thunder men's basketball team.[8] Swords Thunder subsequently entered into the National League Division 1 for the 2013–14 season. Thunder exploded onto the men's basketball scene in 2014, finishing runners-up in the National League Division 1 in their rookie season[9] and winning the Three Nations Cup title in Lecce, Italy behind the play of National League Division 1 Player of the Year, Alex Zurn.[10] They subsequently earned promotion to the Premier League for the 2014–15 season and again finished as regular season runners-up.[11] In 2015–16, they finished runners-up in the National Cup after losing to Templeogue in the final by three points.[12] A year later, on 28 January 2017, Thunder made history by winning their first Men's National Cup after a 72–51 victory over Killester in the final. They were led by Spanish forward José María Gil Narbón, who had 12 points and eight rebounds in an MVP performance.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ David Baker – LinkedIn
  2. ↑ Thunder set to make noise in big time
  3. ↑ Basketball: Champions Killester aim for Star as new season gets in gear
  4. ↑ National Cup finals preview
  5. ↑ Thunder too powerful for UCD Marian
  6. ↑ Templeogue slight favourites for novel national cup final
  7. ↑ National Basketball League returns to Donegal
  8. ↑ About Dublin Thunder Basketball Club
  9. ↑ Swords Thunder explode onto scene
  10. ↑ Thunder's Italian job
  11. ↑ Swords Thunder secure league runners-up finish
  12. ↑ Templeogue pip GCD Swords Thunder in dramatic Men's National Cup final
  13. ↑ Griffith Swords Thunder make history and claim first ever National Cup after win over Killester
  14. ↑ NARBON SHOWS HE’S IN A DIFFERENT CLASS AS SWORDS CLAIM CUP
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