“We’ve got to be able to win the really big games” - Scully
Jack Scully says he and his team have learned important lessons from last season
Portlaoise Panthers head coach setting his sights on National Cup and Division One play-offs this season
PEAKING at the right time will be key to a successful season according to Portlaoise Panthers Men’s National League team head coach, Jack Scully.
Despite having led his side as far as the Division One play-off quarter-finals in 2023/24, the Portlaoise boss believes focusing too much on league position throughout the regular season cost them dearly when it came to the business end of the campaign – a mistake he and his players are not about to make this time around.
Indeed, a serious challenge for the National Cup and Division One play-offs are what it’s all about for Scully and his squad, which has been bolstered by the arrival of several big signings ahead of this Saturday’s National League Division One opener against Joels Dublin Lions in St Mary’s Hall.
“We were very competitive last season and we were top of the table for long spells” Scully told the Laois Nationalist.
“But I think myself and the team concentrated way too much on league position instead of performing in the cup and in the play-offs.
“We were really successful throughout the season, we put loads of streaks together where we won three, four, five games in a row, but we actually finished the season with three losses on the trot, against three teams we had previously beaten.
“I think we peaked at the wrong time last year. We didn’t play the long game and we just focused more on our league position which was quite naïve of us. It’s all about the cup and it’s all about the play-offs. League position in Division One doesn’t mean anything. Once you get to the play-offs, that’s all that matters.
“We’ve got to be able to win the really big games. We’ve just got to learn from that experience last year,” he insisted.
Scully has assembled an impressive squad for the upcoming campaign with point/shooting guard, James Phelan having just returned to his home club from scholarship in the US.
His return marks the latest addition to the Portlaoise panel, which has also been bolstered by the arrival of 6’7” American forward, Eric Anderson, along with 6’6” shooting guard, Aleksandar Kovacevic from Serbia and former SETU Carlow stars, Xabi Arriaga and Kevin Donohue, who is currently abroad on army duty and is set to miss the first three fixtures of the season.
Guards, Gary Morrissey and Conor Byrne are also back with the club as well, having played with Carlow last year.
The team will be coming into this year’s league campaign off the back of some impressive pre-season performances, none more so than in their own three-day tournament in St. Mary’s that saw them make it all the way to the final where they eventually came undone against Tolka Rovers.
More recently they travelled to Limerick where they carded a comfortable victory over fellow National League outfit UUJ, before being pipped in overtime by Super League side, Maree.
Scully is hopeful his players can carry that same form into Saturday’s National League curtain raiser at home against Dublin Lions, whom they already beat in their pre-season tournament semi-final this summer.
“We’re very happy with the depth we have in the squad,” said the Panthers boss. “We feel that, on our day, we’d be a match for any team in the country and that won’t be any different against Dublin Lions.
“They’ve definitely improved from last season and they’ve made some really good signings, but we’re very confident that, if we can bring our A game, we’ll be successful.
“St Mary’s Hall is one of the best places you can play in if you’re the home team and one of the hardest places to play if you’re the away team. Last season we were savagely competitive at home. We lost only two in St Mary’s all season which was one of the best home records in the league. We take great pride in winning our games at home and hopefully we can do that again this year.
“The players have been getting better and better over the last number of weeks, so we’re building nicely now.
“We’ve no more games. We’re just training, getting players fit and healthy and ready for the first game on the 5th of October” he said.
