Raphell Thomas-Edwards has made it clear he is ready to take the Bristol Flyers to the next level, after re-signing with the side with the new season on the horizon.
The 19/20 season was Thomas-Edwards' first under the professional banner and he was already turning heads, averaging 8.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG and shooting 40% from the field before the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
Unfinished business
Thomas-Edwards looks forward to the new season, seeing it as an opportunity to improve within himself and with his Bristol Flyers teammates.
"Last year was my first year in the BBL, so I don't have a lot of comparison. The year that I spent here (Bristol), I love the organisation, I love everything about the fans and the city of Bristol is amazing so I wanted to run it back".
"We got cut short so when it comes to unfinished business, we did not get to finish what we were doing to see how far we could have gone. I want to come back and learn a lot from Coach Andreas and to see where I can take Bristol and my own personal career"
Playing under Coach Kapoulas
The 20/21 BBL Season will mark Andreas Kapoulas' seventh season coaching the Bristol Flyers and will be hungrier than ever to push towards a BBL Trophy.
Training will be as hard as ever and Thomas-Edwards feels like he can keep up with the intensity Coach Kapoulas demands.
"With any coach they have their philosophies, I feel like we match because of what I lack in terms of tactics and those are his (Coach Kapoulas) strengths".
"I always work as hard as I can so he does not need to worry about pushing me to work hard".
"In terms of practice, it is always competitive. At this level, no one wants to be the worst player so everyone is going to bring it every single day.
Relationship with the captain
Going into the next season, Bristol Flyers have already resigned some of the best BBL players from the previous season.
This list includes Josh Wilcher, Marcus Delpeche and also team captain Daniel Edozie - who is one of the most emotive players in the BBL.
When it comes to the relationship between player and captain, Thomas-Edwards finds it easy to fit into this Bristol side with Edozie leading the way.
"He (Edozie) is full of energy, he's a season veteran and he always has something positive to say which can help at times."
"He's had a lot of success personally, so it is always encouraging to hear someone like that speaking to you in a certain way so I am looking forward to playing with him again".
The Flyers fans have a lot to look forward to this season, especially if Bristol can improve on last season and take the extra step to fill their trophy cabinet.