JOHNNY B: BACK FROM THE BRINK!!!

Killester Website: So.... John Behan, How are you? Before we get into basketball stuff, tell us what's going on in John's world outside of basketball?

John Behan: Well I just finished college there in June so I'm finally moving into the real world of work.  I got a Bachelor of Science in Business Studies and I took a job in an Accountancy firm, Grant Thornton. It’s basically a three and a half year deal where I work in their audit department and then study and do my exams to become a chartered accountant. Apart from that basketball takes up a lot of my time so I generally just hang out with my girlfriend and my friends which Invariably finds me in ridiculous situations such as Coppers circa 3 a.m.

K.W: That's good to hear. So tell us, what did you get up to in the summer? Is it true you are now an international coach?

J.B: Yeah funny as that sounds it was true for a little while. Mark Keenan
asked me in January if I was interested in being his Assistant with
the U20 Irish Squad. At the time I thought he was talking about the
U20 Killester team and wasn't sure if I’d have the time being in my
final year of college but when I found out it was the National Team it
was too good an opportunity to turn down. We went to the European
Championships in Warsaw and did really well. We had a great bunch of
guys and they'd played great basketball over there so I was really
proud to be involved. I really owe Mark Keenan for giving me the
chance to take part. After that I went traveling with an old
Killester legend Padraig O'Donoghue. We went to Amsterdam and then to Berlin and Norway. It was a great laugh. Since then I've just been
trying to get fit again for the beginning of the season.

K.W: Now can you clear something up for us? What exactly was your injury over the past year? There were a lot of different stories going around...

J.B: Ha-ha. There were some great stories going around, one of my friends rang me up one day wondering if I’d had surgery on my rear end because it was too big and was causing me problems. Brilliant. While my derrière is rather voluptuous, it wasn’t the source of my problems. It's kind of a long story but basically I’ve always had trouble with my back since I took a big growth spurt when I was 15/16. I ended up with an underdeveloped core meaning when I came under stress my core gave way and put a let of pressure on my back.  I played with the Irish U20 team in 2005 straight after a hectic National League season and I picked up an ankle injury the week before the tournament. I played in the European Championships anyway and because the favouring of my ankle I developed tendonitis in my knee and then it was straight back in to another club season. All this wear and tear really put a
lot of pressure on my back as well and so it caused me a lot of problems throughout the year. It was very frustrating as some days I’d be fine and then others I found my mobility was limited. The final straw was when I was at a concert in Croke Park and my back got so bad that I ended up lying down on the grass for the last hour. There were 40 and 50 year olds dancing around me and I couldn't even stand up. I
kind of realised that this just wasn't right and I began to see a specialist. So basically it was a combination of a lot of things and I just needed to give my body a rest and then work on developing my body to a point where I could play at a sustainable level. Sorry I know that’s a very long explanation but it was kind of complicated. I hope that makes some sort of sense.

K.W: Ok! so thanks for clearing that up, now would you like to fill us in on the road to recovery for you? I mean after playing so much basketball through your life... It must have been hard to miss an entire season?

J.B: Yes it was very difficult. I had been considering taking some time off basketball anyway or dropping down a couple of divisions with my final year in college but it’s harder when you don't have the choice. For the first 5 months I was told to do absolutely nothing except for these really tedious exercises a few times a day. That was probably the worst because I was away in Chicago and obviously put on some weight, which I wasn't used to. Little things like walking into a gym when other people are training and not being able to were difficult. Or when I did start to play a bit again I was limited to once a week so you couldn't play at the level you wanted. I think the first game I played back I turned the ball over about 20 times...it was bad! But then I started to get my fitness back and play a bit more so that was exciting. Overall I think it was the right decision and hopefully will allow me to play for a good few more years to come.

K.W: The season you missed being a very successful one, that must have hurt but can you tell us where you were for that great comeback and win against Ballina in the league playoff? and what your lasting memory from that day is?

J.B: It didn't hurt that much to be honest, I was more delighted that the lads did so well. I would have loved to have been a part of the team obviously but I think it would have been harder if I started the year and then got injured. At least I knew I wasn't going to play. I traveled down to Limerick for the Ballina game with Pete Doyle and Mark Grennell and a few others. There were a good few of us there in the end and it was an incredible game. The standard of basketball was really high and the end of it was just so exciting. My lasting memory is when our second American got fouled out and we went with a small line up and then all of a sudden we just started hitting shots from all over the place. We were all going nuts in the crowd. It was a great win and a great moment for Killester.

K.W: Now after the game against UCD Marian, you are officially back. Tell us what that mean's to you? How did it feel?

J.B: It was a great feeling to be back playing again at National League level. It was great to get the win as well. I really enjoy the camaraderie of it all. We have a really good atmosphere about our team and it's fun to be around. I really enjoy playing against other players that I respect too and challenging myself against them. Overall it went pretty well.

K.W: Speaking of UCD Marian, a few of those guys were on your U20 Irish team over the past summer right? How was it to find yourself playing against them?

J.B: It was great actually. There were a good few there like Neil Baynes and Peter Finn but also Barry Drumm and Matt Kelly who didn't make the final squad but were there until the end of training. I thought Neil Baynes did well when he came in and Barry Drumm as well. From my point of view I don’t find it hard to play against people I know because at the end of the day were all going out there to try and win the game. They have some very good young players there though and if they can manage to keep them there and get them more experience I think they'll do really well.

K.W: Now continuing in the same vain, this is a two part’er...(1) After working with Coach Keenan with the Irish U20's, how do you find the transition to now being coached by "Coach of the Year” Mark Keenan? and.....
(2) Robbie Clarke was also on that team, how is it now being a team mate?

J.B: It wasn't that difficult at all really. I had Mark as a coach before
I was a coach with him so I suppose that made it easier. The only
thing that was weird was in the first couple of games during the
timeouts I felt like I should say something but I got used to that
really quickly.
Again with Robbie I played with him before I coached him on that team so it wasn't difficult at all. It was probably harder to go the other way to be honest because being the coach you have to try and forget that you know the person and just be the same with everyone. Robbie’s a very intelligent player too, which makes it easy to play with him.

K.W: Now John we might change the pace a bit....

K.W: You’re a Newcastle United fan correct? ...  So tell us... How much does that hurt you every Saturday? To get your hopes up week after week and to have them dashed!

J.B: Ouch...coming from a Liverpool fan I think that’s quite rich. It has been a tough few years though. Mid table mediocrity is really annoying because once you get to xmas you know your not going down and your not going to get in to Europe so you just wait the rest of the season out. I think we have the fans and the money, just made terrible decisions with managers and players. I was in a bar in America when they appointed Graham Souness and I nearly cried, "another round anyone?"  Hopefully now with Big Sam things will be better, maybe not that much this year but next year when he gets a few players in.

K.W: Who is your favourite coach to have ever played for? Now take your time on this one... You don’t want to offend anyone!

J.B: It was probably Padraig O'Donaghue in the All Star game of the Seacoast Basketball Festival in New Hampshire. He kept telling us to do tricks and was abusing the referees. It was hilarious. Ah no I’ve been really lucky and had some great coaches. I had Jonathan Grennell underage (although I think all of his success was down to Jimmy Behan's groundwork...no bias there I swear). I had Jerome Westbrook’s in school and National League with Killester and then Sasa Punosevac and Mark Keenan. I'm gonna sit on the fence on this one. I will say though that the worst experience I had was when Mark Grennell coached and instituted a "water makes you weak" policy and no sitting during timeouts...that was tough!!

K.W: Along the same lines.... Who is your favourite player to have ever played with?

J.B: My favourite player to play with is Isaac Westbrook’s. We've been playing together since we were kids and always had a really good understanding. He's an excellent passer and always gets you the ball in the right place, which for a selfish gunner like me is great ha-ha. I think he's a great player and can do everything. He's in Spain at the moment tearing it up so hopefully he’ll do well and make a good career for himself.

K.W: I'm going to throw a bit of Soccer AM at you here, we shall do a section called "teammates"???

Best Trainer? - Probably Tomas Varga. He’s always really positive  and works really hard in all the drills we do.

Worst Trainer? - It's probably a tie between Michael Goj and Robbie Clarke. Both are prone to the odd daydream or two. Michael always forgets to listen to the instructions and Robbie just has that laid back style. Both of them bring it in the games though which is the main thing.

Best Sense of Style? - This is a tough one but I'm going to say Paddy Kelly. He has a lot of nice casual clothes anyway from his travels. He's also added the gum shield this year, which although he stole it from Damo Sealy (I think its the same actual gum shield), it gives him a few extra style points to take the title.

Worst Sense of Style? - Were a fairly stylish bunch but I suppose I’ll   single out John Lambert for his insistence on wearing earrings. I bet Dara McKeown has some deadly wellies and dungarees from his farming roots in Meath but I’ve no physical evidence as of yet.

Best taste in Music? - I’m going to assume that Michael Bonaparte has good taste in music due to his Caribbean routes. It’s early in the season so I may regret that.

Worst taste in Music? - Jerome Westbrook’s, anyone who's endured    Jerome singing gospel songs on the way home in the car will agree with me.

Smartest guy in the changing room? - Jonny Grennell is a fairly smart bloke...he sells bonds or something and orders Ian Barrett around. But just to clarify to annoy Jonny I did outperform him in college...

Thickest guy in the changing room? - It depends on the criteria, because seriously there are a lot of guys who would qualify in our changing room! Ha-ha! Although I tend to forget a lot of things and wear the wrong gear so I guess that makes me the thickest.      

and................

 Longest in the shower? - It’s a three-way tie between Jerome, Ed Randolph and Michael Bonaparte. We were down in Neptune playing a friendly and they were in there for about 20 mins talking about soap and all sorts of things. It was very traumatic.


I would like to thank John for taking the time out to chat!
Stay tuned for more from players and ex-players a like....