Hey,

A question for you as we look to lock in the date for the 2022 edition of the Hoopsfix All-Star Classic - which day is better to do it on - Saturday or Sunday - and why?

This week's 3-pointer:

🏆 Cup Finals Weekend

I was in Manchester all weekend for National Cup Finals weekend - there was a whole lotta games! Haringey won in the dying seconds in the U16 girls, Islington took down Richmond in the U16 boys, Manchester got past Sussex in the U18 Men, CoLA dominated Ipswich in the U18 Women, while Solent cruised in the Men's National Cup Final and Stockport defeated Solent in an OT thriller for the Women's National Cup. You can find condensed highlights on our YouTube channels and also check out this TikTok about Stockport and their founder Jim Bennison MBE - I was convinced it was gonna go viral, but has absolutely bombed on TikTok and done well on every other platform 🤣!

🚀 BBL returning to Brum?

It has been revealed this morning that there is an investment group led by former BBL Commercial Director Bob Hope, working with City of Birmingham Rockets, to get a BBL franchise in Birmingham for the 2023-24 season. The news, as you'd expect, has been very well received - and if they are successful, it marks 1 of 4 new franchises new BBL investors 777 want in the league in the next 5 years.

🦁 Lions' European Quarter-Final hopes dashed

London Lions comeback attempt fell short as they lost 61-76 at the hands of Turkish side Bahcesehir College on Wednesday night, ending their hopes of quarter-final qualification in the FIBA Europe Cup. Despite the result on the floor, the step up off the floor was evident - the lower bowl of the Copper Box was pretty much full - busiest I've seen it in years - while investment was made into more lighting, game day presenters, and big screen action. Things slowly moving in the right direction...

That wraps up another week, as always hit reply with any thoughts, questions or anything else!

With gratitude,

Sam

P.S. Check out the BBL Top 10 plays from Week 16 led by Zach Simmons!