Mark Woods

When Edinburgh Rocks guard Ted Berry phoned up his long-time friend Jo-Jo Chambers last autumn and sold him on a job at Scotland's only representatives in the British Basketball League, he admitted that the situation was less than harmonious. What neither of them knew, or
perhaps even suspected, was how much worse it would get for the Meadowbank-based outfit.

A change of coach, a revolving door of players, plus a 17 game losing streak which was the worst in the three year history of the capital franchise, have all combined to make this the season from hell for the Rocks and their vocal band of supporters. 

Berry, the six-foot American who is one of only four survivors from that original roster, was watching his team fall apart almost before his eyes. Then boss Greg Lockridge, recruited last summer to replace the popular Jim Brandon, lasted only three months before his inevitable dismissal but left many obstacles in his wake for current coach Iain Maclean to overcome.

An ultra-abrasive approach on the sidelines and unorthodox approach to motivation which led since-returned Scottish international Ross Szifris to walk out, complaining of "oppression and intimidation", were one thing. Yet ongoing allegations surrounding Lockridge's off-court
misbehaviour proved equally distracting for a group of recruits who, in certain quarters, were simply out of their depth. 

Berry, the team's captain, refused to buckle amid the commotion. The Rocks may have won only once since Maclean assumed the reins but their mis-matched parts have ceased to deliver constant embarrassment. Nevertheless the Virginia-born playmaker believes that the pathway to failure was pre-destined from the outset.

"I recall when we had our first team meeting and I looked at the players who had been recruited. I realised we wouldn't be one of the top teams in the league like last year. I mentioned that to  somebody, I won't say who, and got a row for it. But it turned out to be true. 

"At my first meeting with (Lockridge), he was smoking a cigarette and something told me then that this was a strange situation. But I was willing to deal with it, even though deep down I knew from the start it wasn't going to work."

That Berry should have turned first to Chambers to provide a much-needed infusion is little surprise. The pair first became acquainted in their early teens before eventually teaming up at Christopher Newport University, forming a partnership which Chambers was keen to re-ignite over here.

"There wasn't that much of a sell," he relates. "It's Ted's third year here so I figured that this must be a good situation, not in terms of winning perhaps, but in the way the players are treated off the court.

"When they first started their season, I was still at home but Ted called me a few times after practice sessions, relating how the coach was really getting on guys. But when I came, and I saw it myself, it was bizarre. It wasn't so much the yelling part because I'd had coaches before who liked to use that means of motivation. It was just the other things that had nothing to do with basketball and that surprised me."

The two played one season together in college, having first met when on opposing sides in high school.

"I'd known him since we were 15 years old," recalls Berry. "In my senior year in college, he transferred from Hampton University and we became even closer. When I knew he was trying to transfer out, I wanted him to play with me so I got the coaches to talk to him."

Adds Chambers:  "We made it to the Sweet 16 that year, we were both in the top ten in scoring and it was one of the best years in school history. One thing about our team which was good, and we talk about it still, was that from the outside, we looked like a one-two punch. It looked like we did everything. But we had a lot of role players on our teams, guys who accepted their roles for the good of the team. So that made things easier for Ted and myself. "

There have been only infrequent glimpses of what Chambers calls their prior "one-two punch" at Meadowbank this term. Berry, the Rocks' top scorer with 19 points per game, has often been forced to play out of position, his magic dulled by the spell of conformity. Likewise, Chambers has only afforded sporadic glimpses of his potential, a 28 points and ten rebounds contribution in the Scots' February loss to Leopards his most notable performance amid a campaign of unreserved
mediocrity.

"The low point has just been the losing. I've played organised basketball since I was in fifth grade and I've never lost this much in my life," confesses Chambers, who has previously endured tours of duty
in settings such as Honduras and Iceland. 

"I go into every game, whether it's against London Towers or Brighton, and I think we're going to win ... it takes a toll when you lose over and over. 

"When you're playing overseas as an American, you're either going to be the hero or the goat. The one thing about a team sport is that you can have all the great individuals you like. But if there is no chemistry among the components, you're still perceived as a loser."

A rare bright point arrived recently when Edinburgh picked up a victory over reigning champions Manchester Giants. The combination between Chambers and Berry was stoked back into life, the passes and inter-play undergoing a renaissance which delivered welcome, if short-lived, relief for their side.

"At that moment it was a huge weight off our shoulders but we came right back and had that crushing loss against Chester which brought us back to reality," Berry explains. "We're a team which, at best, is trying to compete against these other teams. Against Manchester, that was the best we are going to play and then we turned around a few days later and played the worst we could do."

With only two months left in the BBL's regular season, neither Berry or Chambers expect to be twinning up once the play-offs commence. "We're playing not to finish last," concedes the former. "You don't want to end up with a 3-33 record because that looks and sounds terrible. Even though we're not going to the play-offs, we can at least show that we finished strong."

However with a fresh outlook, a greater abundance of the all-important sponsorship monies, and a new and highly lucrative television deal in the works with cable giants NTL, at least there is some cause for optimism at Meadowbank. There will be none of the uncertainty of last summer we are promised. The Rocks will return stronger in the autumn, reinforced by the troughs of adversity.

Berry hopes to be back then. Chambers is less sure. But the Edinburgh branch of Christopher Newport's Old Boys Club share a common hope that between now and April, there can be a move from Rock Bottom to … well, somewhere better off. 

"Of course you want to help build something for next year," Berry affirms. "They're trying to build a solid organisation here and for these people, and the fans, they deserve a good team. So you want to
give them something to work with, to make people aware that there can be a good basketball team in Edinburgh."

He grins. "And we know, it can't get any worse."

A version of this article appeared in the Sunday Herald

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