Nobody felt the pain of a heartbreaking missed opportunity more than Conor Quinn. It was controversial, gut-wrenching and a harsh lesson in what will be required to once again challenge for the All-Ireland Superleague crown.
On Saturday night (6.30pm) in their new home of Newforge Lane, Star start their campaign against Neptune with captain Quinn insisting they have learned from that painful evening when Demons ended their hopes in the Play-Off Quarter-Finals last season.
Leading by three with a second remaining, the Cork side landed what one official declared a two-pointer but was then overruled by two of his fellow referees who declared it a three.
The game went to overtime and Star lost by two, having missed too many free throws. A season that promised so much — when at times they looked like the best in the League — was over.
Quinn, a Star man from his youth, is delighted that new coach Rafi Olmassakian will have many of the majority of those who played last year as well as the return of English professional Max Cooper for his third season and has no doubt a key ingredient for success will be a killer instinct.
“We have to be more ruthless. My opinion about that loss in the Play-Offs last year hasn’t changed. We didn’t take our chances. We have to be able to put teams away and down the stretch in tight games get the job done,” said Quinn, who believes the new format of one 13-team League followed by Top Eight Play-Offs will make the season even more demanding.
“I think the new format will demand from us to be more clinical.
“It was a real tough one to take but I believe that we have all banked that experience and when it comes to dealing with tough situations we’ll be even better.
“I feel that the new 24-game League means that there is even less room for error if you want to finish at the top.
“There’s now three trophies on the line this year — the regular season League, the Cup and the Superleague title at the end of the Play-Offs and we are all very hungry to get some silverware.
“The club means so much to me and my brother Aidan and when you see the effort that goes into making the club what it is it just hurts even more when you don’t deliver a trophy.
“This new format is going to mean a lot more travelling for us because we are no longer in a conference and that is something we have to be ready for.
“Having the core of players that we’ve had for a couple of years now is very important because you’ve seen the sides that have had Superleague success have been those with a settled core.
“That continuity can only be good for us. We have Max Richardson in his third season with us and TC Fields is back for a second year and it’s good to have Max Cooper back after a year away for his third year. These are all guys who feel part of the Star family and that counts for a lot.”
American professional Maurice Jones has joined Belfast Star
As for his own personal performance, Quinn believes he can be an even better leader on the court for Star, who have a new professional in American Maurice Jones.
He added: “Over the past couple of years because of certain injuries I have been working on my strength and that has continued so I feel a lot stronger but without losing my speed but also I feel that with the experience of last year I can bring more to my role as captain.
“I also gained experience from being with the Irish team over the summer. When you’re at that international level there’s always something that you can bring back to the club.
“It’s all about Saturday night now and we need to hit the ground running because it’s always a tough battle against Neptune.”