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When crunch time arrives in the Playoffs
and your team’s coach needs to make adjustments to seal the win in a big game,
there are few things more valuable than experience to call upon.
In most cases fans would think of experienced players, and whilst in the north-east Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles Head Coach Marc Steutel has that in the form of a star-studded roster, he also has one of the most experienced coaches in the game to rely on in the form of Gary Stronach.
Born and raised a Geordie, Stronach’s
career started with Sunderland in the 1980s before rising to further prominence
with the Plymouth Raiders in the 80s, 90s and 2000s.
Stronach led the Raiders from the National Basketball League to the British Basketball League as a player, player-coach and head coach, and secured the club’s only major British Basketball League title in their history by winning the Trophy in 2007 – beating his beloved Newcastle in an incredible final – before stepping away from the game in 2010.
Returning to the sidelines in 2021 with his
hometown Eagles, Stronach discussed his motivations for picking up his coaching
clipboard once more and why he has found a ‘friend for life’ in Steutel.
“When I decided to step away from the
Raiders in 2010 I intended to continue coaching, but I had the opportunity to move
to the Middle East away from the sport and did that instead for several years.
“The more time I spent away from the game
the less I wanted to get back into it, but I was watching a game on one of my
visits home to Newcastle and I started to get the itch again. It was a close
battle and I started to think about what adjustments I’d make and things like
that, and from then my thinking started to change.
“In 2021 I was given the opportunity to
meet with the Eagles Head Coach at the time, Ian Macleod, about joining his
staff and I jumped at the chance. It opened my eyes to how much the game had
changed in the 11 years I’d been away and all the new concepts that were very
different in many ways to what were prominent when I was at Plymouth.
“When Marc [Steutel] took the role after
Ian, he was keen to keep me involved and I was delighted to continue. We’ve had
two good years on and off the court and I’ve found a friend for life in him. I
have so much respect for him, we work together very well and we’ve had a good
season that we just want to close out in the right way.”
Winning in the
West Country
One of most successful coaches in the
Raiders’ history, Stronach held a 130-151 win-loss record as Head Coach of the
team in the League, which is quite the feat considering the transition the club
needed to go through in stepping up to this level under his guidance.
As well as the aforementioned Trophy
triumph, Stronach achieved a Cup Final appearance in his time in the League
with the Raiders and also finished as high as third in the Championship
standings in the 2007/08 season. Only the legendary Paul James has since
managed to guide the Raiders to such lofty Championship heights, securing a
third-placed finish in 2020/21.
Reflecting on the club’s incredible upward
trajectory during his time in Plymouth, Stronach said:
“I played for Sunderland from 1981 to 1985,
which is funny how things go because that franchise later moved to Newcastle
and became the Eagles, but then I moved to the West Country and stayed in
Plymouth for 25 years going from player to player-coach to Head Coach.
“It was an amazing time of my life. I
played until 1992 then became player-coach and then Head Coach soon afterwards.
We were in the NBL initially and had a dominant team towards the end of my
playing career. We’d moved to the Pavilions, we were filling it every week,
winning several titles before stepping up to the British Basketball League in
2004.
“We had a five-year plan to win a title in
the League but managed to do it in three when we won the Trophy in 2007, which
ironically came against Newcastle in the final after losing to them by 20
points in the Championship the week before.
“There are too many memories to recall but
it was an incredible time. When we won the Trophy we had part of the parade at
Plymouth Argyle’s FA Cup quarter-final in front of 20,000 fans which really
raised the profile of basketball in the city as well, but overall it was one of
the best times of my life and something I never expected.”
The devil is in
the details
Working alongside one of the most
highly-regarded young head coaches in the game, Stronach gave a glowing
appraisal of his time on the staff of Eagles play-caller Marc Steutel.
Discussing what sets Steutel apart,
Stronach also detailed the unique perspective he can bring to the role as an
assistant coach, given his own previous experience of being the leader of a
program at this level.
“Marc wants to be challenged and he wants
different perspectives, but what I can certainly do is understand his situation
every single day because I’ve been there and experienced it. There’s nothing I
have seen in the last three years that I didn’t have to deal with when I was at
Plymouth.
“For the Playoffs
everything is an evolution of what we’ve been doing all season, so my
experience can help there but Marc knows what he wants and I’m here to support
him. Whoever we play, we know everybody well and we’ll be throwing some
wrinkles and tweaks into what we’ve done all season to try and make a
difference. Those tiny details can be the margin between winning the
competition or not so that’s where our focus is.
“Technically, tactically and in terms of
detail, he’s an incredibly high-level coach. My respect for him is massive and
I feel it is reciprocated which is always appreciated and I’m delighted to be
in this role alongside him.
“We got on from the moment we met and that
bond has just gotten stronger over the last few years, so it’s a special
relationship. We obviously don’t agree about everything, but we have the kind
of relationship where we’re happy to be challenged when we do disagree and I
couldn’t be happier to have the opportunity to share this journey with him.”
Bigger than
basketball
As much as his achievements as a
play-caller are incredibly impressive, what stands out the most for Stronach
when reflecting on his career is the journey he’s had and the relationships
that have been built along the way.
League legend Drew Lasker, who Stronach
recruited to the League almost 20 years ago, has said that if Fabulous Flournoy
was his most influential Head Coach then Stronach was the most important,
purely for the belief and opportunity that the play-caller afforded the
then-rookie hooper.
After landing in Plymouth as a rookie,
Lasker would go on to win 10 titles in a distinguished British Basketball
League career, and Stronach reflected on how important those relationships he
developed with the likes of Lasker and others over the years are to him.
“It is great to have had so many
relationships in the game that have lasted over the years. Drew [Lasker] is
somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for after recruiting him to
Plymouth for his rookie season, and he grasped that opportunity with both hands
to have an incredible playing career.
“To see how far he’s progressed in that
time is amazing. We still have a great relationship and speak regularly to this
day. Ant Rowe is a Plymouth boy who I knew well before he went to college and
then he had his first professional opportunity with me at the Raiders, so I’ve
got great bonds with them both and several others I coached over the years.
“Things like that supersede titles because
these people have all become friends for life and with basketball being such a
tightknit but global community, those relationships span all over the world and
last a long time, so they’re very special to me.
“If I’d been asked all those years ago when I was a lad playing for Sunderland where I thought I’d be and what I thought I’d achieve by the time I was 60 then I’d never have said this would be my path. It’s been crazy but I’ve been delighted with every step of the journey and I’m excited to enjoy what’s ahead with Newcastle.”
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