GLASGOW ROCKS were on course to make history this season, only for the coronavirus crisis to snatch it away from them in the home straight.

The Rocks were sitting top of the British Basketball League (BBL) with only five games to go, only for the global pandemic that has called a halt to almost the entire sporting world to end the BBL prematurely, with it announced earlier this week the 2019-2020 season has been postponed indefinitely.

Glasgow Rocks owner, Duncan Smillie, however, firmly believes his side should be crowned BBL champions, and he will fight to the last for his side to be awarded the league title, which would see the Glasgow side become league winners for the first time in their history.

So rather than the current position which leave everyone in limbo, waiting for the league to be completed at some unspecified time, Smillie wants his side to be confirmed as champions, and he will stop at nothing to ensure it happens.

“Rather than this postponement, I’d prefer for it to be decided that the league is finished early,” said Smillie.

“We’ve completed 75 percent of games so we’re well through the season.

“I’ll be going to war for the players to make sure we get this championship. These guys are professional athletes and this just isn’t right.

“This could have been an historic season – although it might not have been, you just don’t know because there was play-offs to come. We’ve never won this championship and we were in a strong position to go on and win it this season. Unfortunately, now we’ll never know.

“It’s a frustrating position to be in but it would be even more frustrating if the season was to be red-lined. That’s not fair on fans, coaches and especially the players who have devoted their lives to being professional athletes. To have this taken away from them would, I think, be unforgivable.

“Everybody is in survival-mode but that doesn’t make it okay to shaft people.”

The BBL, as with many sports, have, for now anyway, chosen to suspend their league rather than cancel it outright, a decision made by a majority vote by the clubs and the short-term future of Smillie's side is particularly uncertain with the Rocks’ training and match venue, the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, closed until at least the end of April.

But Smillie believes it is far-fetched to suggest any sporting action will be happening in the coming weeks, and he is furious at what he sees as something of a cop-out decision to suspend the league rather then end it now.

“Nobody believes that this season is going to continue. The clubs don’t, the players don’t, the officials don’t so to think otherwise is futile,” he said.

“I believe it’s a financial and political decision. Sport is posturing and is waiting for government to call it.

“Everybody wants to finish the season, of course they do, but lets not kid ourselves here - nobody is going to be playing any sport until the back-end of the summer.”

With no clear guidance coming from the BBL, Smillie has chosen to take the lead himself, and has made his priority getting his players back to their home countries. Suggesting they remain in Scotland while waiting for a decision on the league recommencing was, he says, just not an option for him.

“We as a league need to take responsibility. I’m a big believer in you do the right thing and then you deal with the consequences.

“I think the right thing to do is to call the league, finish it early and that then allows clubs to release players and get players home,” he said.

“So I’ve called it and I’m in the process of getting the players home. This week, we’ve got a player on a flight home to Lithuania, we’ve got one but hopefully three players going back to the States and there’s a couple going back to France.

“You have to put the well-being of your players and coaches first and for me, the right thing to do is to have them back with their families. I don’t want them hanging about for a league that’s postponed indefinitely.”