London Ends Season

London ended the season one game shy of their goal, falling in Game 7 to the top overall seed St Louis.  This was the second Finals appearance for the Knights in three seasons.

“First off congratulations to St Louis.  They played a helluva series.  It was a tough loss for us.  We came close but just couldn’t close.  I’m extremely proud of the team and how we pulled together after losing Bryant Walsh for the series in Game 4.  Now its time for some rest and recovery and lets run this back.” said Coach Irvin Bennett

The team finished the season third in the National East with a record of 54-26.  In the playoffs the Knights were the fourth seed and defeated the 5th (Manhattan Swing), 2nd (Arizona Thunderbirds) and top (Toronto Huskies) seeds to reach the Finals.

With the season now over London enter the off-season with many questions.  The main one on everyone’s mind is will the Knights front office decide to run it back for another season.  If the answer is yes then re-signing big man Edmund Harley and picking up the 4th year option on Richard Koons should be the top priorities.  Both players are instrumental to the team.  Harley has been a stalwart on defense while Koons has flourish in London.  In three seasons he has been named an All-Star, All Defense First Team and Sixth Man of the Year.  Despite being 31 years old, he has shown no signs of slowing down.  In fact his play was stellar in this year’s playoffs: 32 minutes, 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block while shooting 47%/68%/32% (FG/FT/3P) in 23 postseason games.

“Obviously we’ll love to have both Eddy and Richard back next season.  But we have to sit down and see where we want to go.  Last off-season we were able to bring in new players and got younger.  Hopefully that extended our window.”  said GM Lian

Last year the Knights signed Nathan Hindman to a 5 year $70 million contract and the young guard responded with his first All Defensive First Team and also led the league in steals per game.  London also drafted Danilo Pipes with the 24th pick in the first round.  The 6’10” center showed potential, especially on defense,  in the Development League.  The team envision him as a defensive clog in the near future.  With only 10 players currently on the roster London has ample space to add, upgrade or start anew.