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Edinburgh Dragons Basketball, Edinburgh (2026)

18/10/2025

Showdown #4 for the 25-26 season was against a familar opponent, the Gracemount Panthers. Monday late evening fixture at the Oriam meant the slot was pressed for time, so both teams had very little time for warm-up and got almost straight to business.

In that sense, the zone defense deployed by the Panthers in the 1st actually worked in our favour. We were able to get our rhythm going offensively, shot very efficiently beyond the arc and got a good lead straight off the blocks. They promptly switched their D to man-to-man after that though, and the rest of the game was a closer affair. Games against the Panthers are always a grind - tense, physical and heated. This was no exception, but we were able to match the physicality, play our brand of defense to both limit scoring and cause TOs by our opponent and ultimately build back the lead to get a deserved win.

A month and change into the season it's 4-0 and top of the table, but we still got work to do and don't intend to let up in the slightest.

On to the next one!

28/09/2025

Off to a very busy month of September for the kick off of the 25-26 campaign and off to quite a flying start for the Dragons, claiming 3 W's in the first three games of the season.

Gameday 1 against the Titans was a strange affair, with both teams seriously undermanned and trying to shake off the rust. However, our trademark lockdown defense as well as a well-rounded, collective effort from all guys on offense led us to the first win, and in fact a double-digit one.

Our second fixture vs the Leith Honeybadgers was also a very tense one. Extended rotation and more options on the bench, but also more people trying to find their rhythm on offense was a challenge. Defense, once again, made the difference, and the second W, 53-68, was in the books.

Our latest game was our first proper away game ever, travelling to Kirkcaldy to face off against the Steel in their own gym. The excitement propelled us to a great first quarter. Our stalwart D combined with a great offensive movement of the ball, and we never really looked back from that point, keeping the energy high throughout the game and taking an emphatic away win with a 28-point margin.

3-0 to start the season is obviously a great feeling, but this is a long season and it will be a grind like every year, so lots of work to be put in.

02/06/2025

It is time to bid farewell to the 2024/25 season after two heated matchups against the City of Edinburgh Kings.

The closing matchday of the regular season was an affair without real significance in the standings, as the top 3 spots in the table were already decided. However, and regardless of the absence of real motivation, we managed to play some good basketball at times and took a comfortable win against a young Kings team, to finish our regular season on a high note.

The first round of the playoffs would have pitted us against the LL Galaxy, a team of friends and good competitors. Unfortunately, they were unable to get enough numbers for the scheduled date of the match, and we got a walkover win to reach the semi-finals.

The single elimination semi-final game found us facing the Kings again, however, it was a very different team that showed up to play in that game, with lots of different faces that we didn't play against in neither match of the regular season. Affected by a long break between fixtures, as well as tough opposition meant we stayed close for almost a quarter before the Kings took a good lead to the half-time. In typical fashion, a big 2nd half run was in the books and we managed to trim the lead down and get back in the game. However, a few details here and there, including some dubious calls, and we weren't able to finish the comeback with a W, losing the game 63-68 and being eliminated from the final.

We may not have won this time around, but for sure it was a season in which we continued to grow as a team. Our regular season record of 14-2 gives us a 2nd place finish, which is probably not half bad for a team that was only promoted last year. A new coach, a few new people joining and the chemistry that we continued to build, along with tougher opposition brought us a new challenge that we rose up to, while always remaining true to our character as team: from day one, we set out to be a tight-knit group of friends, growing to be true teammates, fighting together, win or lose, and see where this takes us.

Did we say "stick tight" this year?
Stick tight.

29/03/2025

Another busy month with three more matchdays in the books for the Dragons, and it was quite an eventful March for the team.

Matchday 13 found us facing Boroughmuir Blaze B at Oriam. Our first affair against them was one of our best games this season, and sure enough we wanted to replicate that performance going into this one, which we definitely did at least for the first two quarters. Good ball movement and pushing the tempo produced good touches, which we managed to combine with some stingy defense to take a healthy lead. Admittedly, we lapsed on the defensive end in the 2nd half, sent the Blaze way too often to the free throw line and ended up conceding 70, but our offensive game remained top notch and drove us to not only take the W, but also hit the 100-point mark for the first time.

At this point in the season, the games against Polonia/Pleasance Masters were bound to determine who wins the division. Going into matchday 14, we knew that we were about to face a team that has both quality and chemistry but in the end, we didn't seem mentally ready for the game. We had a slow start offensively, fell behind early and we never matched our opponents' intensity, ending up conceding a loss that was tough, but might also contain valuable lessons.

The second game against Polonia/Pleasance Masters, we approached it very differently. We were prepared and determined to fight till the end - which we did. Unfortunately, there can really be no comment about this game at all. Let's just say we can be extremely proud of our effort and grit throughout the entire 40 minutes, and leave it at that.

The regular season is almost done with only one game against the CoE Vets next week, but there's still plenty of basketball to be played in the playoff tournament afterwards.

La lucha continua.

05/03/2025

It's been a hot minute since our last update but be sure this wasn't because there wasn't any basketball being played - quite the opposite: three Lothian League fixtures within eight days is the story of what's been going on for the Dragons.

Both matchdays 10 and 11 pitted us against Pleasance 1st, with the first fixture away at St Augustine's HS. Once again, previous booked activities on the court meant both teams had limited time to warm up, resulting in a slow start for the Dragons. An overall uncharacteristic stretch of defense found us conceding more than we should, but we managed to turn things around in the 3rd quarter and get to the W convincingly. Same opponent, different story a few days later at the Oriam. Partly it could have been fatigue, but if we're honest, we also probably got a bit complacent that the job would be done in the end no matter what. It wasn't a great game, and we ended up conceding 20 more points than the previous game, against an opponent that was also short-handed with absences. But by now we know that winning the ugly games is part of the story too.

Matchday 12 we hosted the Fife Steel in St Thomas of Aquin's and all that was on our minds was to actually play some damn ball. Unlike other games, we started clicking on offense from the get-go, made shots and scored pretty much at will, but defense was once again a problem. We didn't protect the paint enough, gave up drives and free throws and Steel remained in the game until the second half. That's usually when we make a run and this was no exception - while the offense kept firing, we also pressed the ball well, got stops and steals and ended up getting the win not only with a 24-point margin, but also getting to 90 points for the first time.

Four games remain in the regular season but the finish line is anything but in sight, as we still have to go through Boroughmuir Blaze B, the 3rd-placed CoE Vets and of course the two big derbies against Polonia/Pleasance Masters that will probably determine who wins the division.

Bell ding, squabble up.

28/02/2025

Just before midnight on February 28, 2023, the passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki collided head-on with a freight train near Tempi in central Greece. 57 people, including many students, were killed and many more were injured.

The tragedy, along with everything that came to light afterwards, shocked Greek society to its core. Rail traffic control systems had been out of order for years, causing the two trains to travel towards each other, on the same track, for more than 10 minutes. The massive explosion and fire caused by the collision raised serious concerns about illegal cargo in the freight train. The crash site was filled with gravel immediately after the incident, evidence was destroyed and two years on, the truth about this disaster has been systematically covered up.

Today, we mourn the tragic loss of 57 people that could have been, and indeed were, family members, friends and loved ones. We stand in solidarity with the victims' families and united with everyone else who protests, demanding to know the truth. Regardless of political party support, justice is our fundamental right as citizens.

We will not forget, we will not forgive.

13/02/2025

The Lothian League D2 season rolls on with gameday 9 pitting us against the West Edinburgh Warriors, a team that we have already beaten twice both in the league and cup fixtures. Well, the confidence was there but sufficient time for warmup was not, and just like that we started off with a game that seemed to come straight out of last season. It was a slow and disjointed first quarter for the Dragons, while the Warriors made a lot of shots before we started finding some rhythm in Q2 and got much better on defense to stay close, even though we had conceded far more than we usually do.

Wait, did I mention it was a classic Dragons game - like the ones we always had last year? Yeah, that.

The 2nd half was that story, the different story. Our offense clicking early on to poke holes in the Warriors zone, shots falling, our D locked up and forcing a bunch of turnovers - all of that meant the momentum had shifted and it was a different game in the blink of an eye. Within one quarter we built a good lead and kept the pressure on until the end to get one more in the win column.

We move to 9-0 and remain top of the league.
And we are nowhere near our ceiling as a team yet.

"Δέκα μπάλες αλλά μόνο μία στέκα
Κι είμαι στο 5 ακόμα, πού να δεις το 10."

28/01/2025

January roared to basketball action for the Dragons with both LBA Cup and Lothian League fixtures to start us off for 2025.

LBA Cup round 2 saw us facing a tough Division 1 opponent in Boroughmuir Blaze A. It was a hard-fought, physical affair against a very well-trained team with great chemistry. We managed to stay close for almost two quarters before the deficit grew enough to put the game out of reach. Playing such a game right after the Christmas break as well as a couple of in-game injuries certainly didn't give us a better fighting chance against a quality team, and our Cup journey ended there.

Matchday 8 of of Lothian League pitted us against familiar faces in a familiar court. Playing against the Galaxy, especially in Pleasance, is always fun and while still plagued by injuries (how many more ankle sprains?), we largely managed to play the game in our tempo from the beginning. Greatly bolstered by our new player, Alex, the Dragons showed some spells of good ball movement and efficient offensem and the lead we took early helped us play with confidence and never let the outcome be in doubt.

Congrats to both teams we faced for two excellent games.

8-0 record and that's us gearing up for a very busy month of February that will include no less than 4 games. Midpoint of the season is the time to stay on the grind, kick it up a notch and give it our all.

Let's get it!

14/12/2024

The calendar year draws to a close with matchdays 6 and 7 finding the Dragons going up against two hard-working opponents in Fife Steel and Gracemount Panthers.

The Steel reportedly had absences, but their U18 guys that stepped up were more than ready and showed great potential. The entire game was an up and down affair for the Dragons, with offense finding some rhythm in quarters 1 and 3 but also allowing a bunch of easy points at times. Ultimately a good run in the 2nd half proved to be enough to give us the W.

Matchday 7 found us facing the Panthers for the second time this season and by now both teams know each other quite well. The Panthers showed up a bit shorthanded but ultimately this might have made us a bit complacent, and we definitely allowed the game to be a lot closer than we would have liked. However, we can also pat ourselves on the back on some stretches of good ball movement offensively resulting in wide open shots, and again a couple runs of solid basketball helped us keep the streak alive.

Congrats to both Fife Steel Basketball Club Registered Charity Sc050337 and Gracemount Panthers Basketball Club Senior Men.

We head to the Christmas break happy to be holding a perfect 7-0 record, but also determined to keep working hard and constantly improve. 2025 will bring on new challenges, starting with the cup game against Boroughmuir Blaze A and continuing with the latter half of the D2 regular season, and we know we have a lot more to give and a whole lot more to show.

Best wishes and happy holidays to everyone!

23/11/2024

(The Dragons' press office apologises unreservedly for the delay in updates caused by extraneous circumstances that may or may not be linked to an alleged interval of "dolce vita".)

Round 1 action for the LBA Senior Mens cup found the Dragons drawn against a fellow and, by now, familar D2 team in West Warriors B. With the cup game coming a few weeks after our victory in the league fixture, while also being played in the Warriors home court of Tynecastle HS, we had to be extra careful not to get carried away but stay concentrated and stick to our game. It didn't take long to do so, with our defense being front and center for three entire quarters and the team managing to keep our opponents to just 23 points at the end of Q3. While we undoubtedly took the foot off the gas a bit in the final quarter on that end, the final score of 63-40 depicted a game whose outcome we never allowed to be in doubt.

Only a couple days later and it's back to league action, this time against the Gracemount Panthers. A tough and physical team which has both size and discipline, the Panthers gave us trouble on the boards by snatching a lot of second chance points and managed to attack our defense consistently on the inside game, draw fouls and score easy points. While it is true that it was our second game in a very short period and fatigue might have played a part, we also showed lapses of concentration and made our own game harder. The decision to switch to a zone defense in the second half turned the tide though, and we were able to limit points in our paint and finally managed to take the narrowest win of our season so far.

Congrats to both the Warriors and Panthers for their efforts.

We are now going into the final two league games of the calendar year being top of the table with a perfect 5-0 record, while also moving on to the 2nd round of the cup for the first time. Can't afford to be complacent, we need to fight every game tooth and nail and show there is a reason we are where we are.

The marathon continues.

09/10/2024

Gamedays 3 and 4 for the Dragons are in the books with our third and fourth straight wins of the season against LL Galaxy and West Edinburgh Warriors.

In game 3, it was clear that our tempo and decisions on offense weren't where we left off against Blaze. We weren't moving the ball really well and had trouble creating space when attacking. The other end of the floor was a different story though. Relentless effort on defense forced missed shots and turnovers to give us points in transition, with halftime closing with the Dragons scoring less than usual, but also conceding only 11 points in two quarters. In the 3rd and 4th quarters, we perhaps got carried away by our lead and sort of lost our intensity on defense, while also not improving our offensive flow much. However, we managed to not let our opponent get back in the game and held on to get the W.

For the game against the Warriors, service resumed as normal. Our offense clicked and we managed to move the ball patiently, be a lot better with our spacing and get points on the board from the get-go. When this is the case, this team can be hard to beat - because defense is never going out of the picture, and indeed it didn't. With the exception of a few minutes in the 2nd quarter, we grinded very hard on D all game long, came up with steals and won the battle of rebounds too. The final score reflects an all-in-all great game for the Dragons.

Congrats to both the Galaxy and the Warriors for two great games.

We are wrapping up an extremely busy 10-day period to a flying start and a 4-0 record, sitting atop the Lothian League division 2 standings, but also looking to get back in the lab next week and keep on working to keep this up.

"κάθε χρονιά η χρονιά μας" - it started as "the year of the Dragon" but it is shaping to be more of an age...

Edinburgh Dragons Basketball

18/10/2025

28/09/2025

02/06/2025

29/03/2025

05/03/2025

28/02/2025

13/02/2025

28/01/2025

14/12/2024

23/11/2024

09/10/2024

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