www.ManchesterGiants.co.uk

Home
Fan Forum
Fan Chatroom
Fixtures
FREE E-mail

"Superman" couldn't save the day!

Julius "Superman" Joseph nearly saved the day, but couldn't quite manage when arriving 8 min. before the end.

Giants 90 - 97 Storm
''Superman,'' alias Julius Joseph, arrived with only eight minutes of this Championship game remaining after a nightmare journey back from England duty in Switzerland.

But he almost pulled the match out of the fire for Andre Alleyne's team. Joseph managed to reach double figures in the time he was on court but without him Giants had given themselves too much to do. ''I just tried not to overdo it,'' said Joseph after completing his fourth game in six days. ''Sometimes in those situations if you try too hard it doesn't happen.'' ''I just went on and tried to relax and it nearly paid off.''

Joseph, who has withdrawn from England's forthcoming European championship games with Slovakia and Latvia because of a knee injury, flew into Heathrow early yesterday afternoon. He missed his first train out of Euston which would have got him to the venue midway through the opening half. When he finally arrived back at Piccadilly, it was straight into a taxi, a quick change at the M.E.N. Arena and into the fray.

Joseph scored with his first touch and with seven minutes, nine seconds left Giants trailed by only three points.

But Derby, whose team included Manchester old boys Michael New and Carl Miller, netted eight of the next 11 points to restore their superiority. Another 6-0 run took them 83-72 in front and, despite a late Giants rally, there was no way back.

''I thought Superman was going to do it for us,'' said Alleyne. ''But it wasn't good enough. I've always prided myself on being a defence-orientated coach and to concede nearly 100 points was just not acceptable. We stank.''

New Yorker Reese contributed only five points in his 26 minutes on court but did manage five assists. However, after only one practice session with his team-mates it was hardly surprising he struggled.

Source: MEN


This website is totally unofficial and has no relation with the Manchester Giants official website. All the logos are Copyright © 2000, ManchesterGiants.co.uk. All photos are courtesy of ManchesterGiants.com