Swords Thunder
| Swords Thunder | |
|---|---|
| Leagues | Super League |
| History |
Dublin Thunder 2011–2013 Swords Thunder 2013–present |
| Arena | ALSAA Sports Complex |
| Location | Dublin Airport, Dublin |
| Team colors | Red, black, white |
| Main sponsor | Griffith College |
| Head coach | Dave Baker |
| Championships | 0 |
| Website | SwordsBasketball.com |
Swords Thunder, also known as Griffith Swords Thunder for sponsorship reasons, is an Irish basketball team based in Dublin. The team competes in the Super League and plays its home games at the ALSAA Sports Complex. The team is a division of Swords Basketball Club.
In 2010, Dublin Thunder Basketball Club was founded. In June 2011, Dave Baker was appointed head coach of the club's senior men's representative team. Baker applied for national league status for his team but was unsuccessful as Basketball Ireland requires a team to be at least one full year in basketball at local level. He tried to enter the Dublin league, but it was full, so they entered the European Friendly Basketball League (EFBL), which consisted of 17 teams in two different pools. Between July 2011 and January 2012, they went unbeaten in the EFBL. They also boasted a friendly record of 27–1, having played 28 games against four American colleges, a pro team from the Philippines and five SuperLeague teams. Behind the play of Isaac Westbrooks and Michael Goj, Dublin Thunder won the 2012 Irish Senior Men's National Cup title with an 87–45 win over UCD Marian in the final. For the 2012–13 season, Thunder entered the National League Division 1, with Isaac Westbrooks and Michael Goj continuing on as the leaders.
In 2013, Dublin Thunder Basketball Club linked with Swords Basketball Club to create the Swords Thunder men's basketball team. Swords Thunder subsequently entered into the National League Division 1 for the 2013–14 season. Thunder exploded onto the men's basketball scene in 2014, finishing runners-up in the National League Division 1 in their rookie season and winning the Three Nations Cup title in Lecce, Italy behind the play of National League Division 1 Player of the Year, Alex Zurn. They subsequently earned promotion to the Premier League for the 2014–15 season and again finished as regular season runners-up. In 2015–16, they finished runners-up in the National Cup after losing to Templeogue in the final by three points. A year later, on 28 January 2017, Thunder made history by winning their first Men's National Cup after a 72–51 victory over Killester in the final. They were led by Spanish forward José María Gil Narbón, who had 12 points and eight rebounds in an MVP performance.
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