Sharks out to fan Phoenix flames – the preview

B. Braun Sheffield Sharks
B. Braun Sheffield Sharks
November 7, 20184:30 PM

BBL Championship

Friday 9th November 2018

DBL Sharks Sheffield v Cheshire Phoenix

The DBL Sharks Sheffield head back to ‘The Tank’ from a successful double road trip seeking to overturn memories of a painful loss just a fortnight ago in the Cup to visitors Cheshire Phoenix. There were signs of a much more unified approach in road wins against Worcester and Surrey which will be vital against an athletic and strong-performing Phoenix outfit.

What to expect

The Sharks were mystifyingly out of sorts as Cheshire took a sizeable 64-93 win in the Cup at the EIS on October 26th. To put that down as the only reason does the ‘Nix a huge injustice however. They came into the Cup game on the back of a midweek fixture with current leaders London Lions, where they only went down by 87-81 and prior to that, defeated London City Royals by 98-86 when the capital side were enjoying a rich vein of form. Daniel Norl has been running the point to great effect for Cheshire and Momcilo Latinovic is as lethal a shooter as you are likely to see in the BBL. Top scoring with 23 in the Cup game was Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan, displaying his exceptional athleticism and he is aided and abetted in this respect by Jimario Rivers and Jordan Session. In fact, the energy displayed by the whole ‘Nix roster for the duration of that game was outstanding and they will be keen to show that they are serious contenders in this fledgling season.

Shark Watch

A tweak to the starting five and two good, solid starts produced dividends over the weekend as the Sharks conquered Worcester by 89-67 and Surrey by 93-83. It seems unfair to single out individuals as the wins were reflective of the Sharks basketball we know and love but 22 points for Dirk Williams on Friday and 38 points across the two games for Chris Alexander were notable. Rob Marsden attacked the boards with gusto in both performances and Mike Tuck was in a particular hot spell on Sunday before his afternoon was curtailed by a blow to the nose. Even crucial moments like the corner three drained just before half time by Marko Backovic show how the whole roster was involved in bringing home the bacon at the weekend. The Cup defeat to Cheshire hurt the whole club and the team will be keen to make amends come Friday evening.

Last time out

DBL Sharks Sheffield (Williams 20, Smith 11, Martin 8) 64 Cheshire Phoenix (Allen-Jordan 23, Latinovic 16, Rivers / Norl 15) 93

Fans Corner

This is your one and only chance to catch the Sharks on home territory in the month of November – don’t miss out! We need some huge appreciation for Dirk Williams, who once again made the BBL All Star Five this week for his monster game against Worcester Wolves. And with your help, we’ve got the little matter of correcting that defeat from a couple of weeks ago. Come on down and see a Sheffield success story!

Tickets

 

Image

 Andy Chubb