The 2019-2020 BOV Men’s League starts today with Hibernians taking on Starlites GiG at 16:15, followed by reigning league champions Gzira Athleta facing Depiro on 17 November at 16:15.

Luxol BUPA open their season on 24 November against Depiro.

We spoke with each head coach of the senior men’s teams to get their preseason summaries and their outlook for the regular season.

Gzira Athleta

The reigning BOV Men’s League champions finished the preseason by claiming the 2019 St James Hospital MBA Shield against a strong Hibernians side by the score of 87-82. Athleta are “the team to beat” according to many in the MBA, but Gzira Athleta head coach Sasa Dimitrijevic keeps his club focused on the here and now – past success is just that: past success.

“What happened yesterday, happened yesterday,” Dimitrijevic said. “Every next game is the most important one for us. We are ready for the start of the new season.”

Athleta’s roster contains a healthy mix of experienced players and young talent. Malta national team representative Peter Shoults will be Dimitrijevic’s on-court leader for the team. Shoults suffered a leg injury during the Independence Cup in September, forcing other players to step up to fill in the role of court general in the absence of the multi-year veteran point guard.

“Peter is our leader on the court, our captain,” Dimitrijevic said. “Without him, every game is a new experience for the team.” Players such as Luke Stefanovic and Sean Galea are expected to have more minutes on the court. Dimitrijevic praised the development of youngsters Ryan and Eric Abela during the preseason. Shoults is recovering well from the injury.

Keeping the team focused on the next game is Dimitrijevic’s primary goal this season.

“Nothing is the same as last year, except the desire to be champions again.”

Athleta start their regular season on 17 November when they face Depiro.

Luxol BUPA

The most noticeable change for Luxol this season is the man pacing the technical area for the club. New head coach Duncan Fenech takes charge of Luxol this season in place of John Tabone, who retired after 40 years helming the team.

Fenech was named head coach in August 2019, giving him only one month to prepare for the 2019 preseason. Fenech began coaching in 2013 with Floriana BC and assisted in the Malta national team youth sector and academy sessions in 2014. He joined Luxol’s nursery programme in 2015.

The new head coach is leading a likewise new and young team. According to Fenech, this fits right into his coaching career experience up until this point.

“The team is fairly new and young, with an average age of 21,” Fenech said. “Having worked with youths and looking at the local basketball scene, I see that there is a gap in experience between the generations of players. My goal as a coach remains to be ready to prepare the players, to motivate them and to guide them to perform to the best of their abilities.

“This preseason was a good time for us to understand our strengths and weaknesses. We gave more exposure to players like Francesco Mifsud Bonnici, Juan Cefai, Isaac Pace and Philip Engelberth. Other players like Vule Jandric, JP Schembri, Stefan Capello and Keith Dimech had positive performances.”

Fenech said that the one crucial thing he learned from John Tabone was determination and resilience to achieve the team’s objectives in the face of adversity.

Mixing his own experience with player development and Tabone’s will to succeed is just the kind of culture Fenech wants to bring to Luxol BUPA.

“This process takes time and carries risks but, with patience and working in the right way, it will eventually produce results,” Fenech said. “After analysing our performances this preseason, we feel comfortable with our progress and look forward for the league to start.”

Luxol BUPA will face Depiro on 24 November.

Hibernians

Head coach Mario Tabone’s side claimed the 2019 St James Hospital Super Cup against Gzira Athleta 69-66 but fell short in the preseason finale to the same foe 87-82 in the MBA Shield final.

Throughout the preseason, as per usual for most clubs, Hibernians needed to time develop the kind of chemistry Tabone wanted to see from his players. The team was assembled “a bit late”, Tabone said, but the biggest challenge was getting the new players to find rhythm together.

“The MBA Shield final showed us that if we don’t play as a team and if we are not aggressive, we can lose to any team,” Tabone said.

Tabone said that his group of young players show great promise and they will be a major part of the team.

Hibernians open their 2019-2020 campaign today against Starlites GiG at 16:15.

Depiro

Depiro had a slow start to their preseason development. Head coach Julian Naudi pointed to the change of import players and them becoming comfortable with Depiro’s veteran and young players as the reason for the underwhelming preseason. Yet Naudi was very pleased with the team’s willingness to fight through every game and their ability to transform mistakes into learning moments to help them move forward.

The gelling of the team has come at the right moment for Naudi as they prepare to open the 2019-2020 BOV Men’s League campaign against Gzira Athleta on 17 November.

“We have a mix of experience and youth, plus two strong foreign players to rely on for scoring,” Naudi said. “Our bench is deep, full of young players ready to contribute. I think Kurt Xuereb showed a small glimpse of what he can do, and as his confidence grows he will become a great player.”

Starlites GiG

Head coach Paul Ferrante was extremely pleased with the way his club performed during the preseason. While their performance did not result in any preseason tournament championships, Starlites GiG were able to impress their head coach with the way they developed as a team.

Ferrante’s “group of hard-working and humble players who put the team first in any situation” consists of club-grown talent and two towering import players who are also good team players.

“With the exception of one player, all of Starlites’ players come for the club’s nursery,” Ferrante said. “This is a key factor in enhancing our team’s camaraderie. The inclusion of Konor Kulas and Jeremy Marseille gives us a much needed increase in height and size.

“Considering we are in the first part of the season, our team played some very good games. We always look at things to improve,” he continued. “However, we are on the right track. We have a young team who can play fast tempo basketball.”

Starlites GiG open their season today against Hibernians.