The Magic of the Cup! Cheshire Phoenix previewed

BBL Cup

Friday 26^th October 2018

DBL Sharks Sheffield v Cheshire Phoenix – EIS Sheffield – 7.30pm

The DBL Sharks Sheffield hit the silverware trail by welcoming current BBL Cup holders Cheshire Phoenix to ‘The Tank’ on Friday night. The two sides met three weeks ago in the league when the Sharks came out winners by 61-78 at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. However, the ‘Nix come into the game on the back of a solid 98-86 win over much-fancied London City Royals and of course, will be keen to retain the title they won last season.

What to expect

The London win was guided by Momcilo Latinovic for the ‘Nix with 27 points. He was equally impressive in his previous spell at London Lions and is clearly one to watch. Jordan Session was also very effective in the Royals win with 23 points and there has been a decent start to the campaign for Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan, who is contributing 15.5 points per game with 7.5 rebounds and 4 assists. The ‘Nix have recently dispensed with the services of point guard Ashton Khan and have welcomed Disraeli Lufadeju on to the roster in the backcourt. Of course, former Shark Sol Rolls-Tyson is also a member of the Cheshire squad and will be returning to the EIS for the first time since his departure over the summer. At times mercurial, at others highly-threatening, Cheshire will be keen to make progress in the competition where Coach Ben Thomas brought them so much success in 2017-18.

Shark Watch

Last week’s win over Glasgow saw the Sharks hand debuts to Anthony Collins and Leslee Smith. Collins managed to dish out seven assists despite having limited practice time since his arrival from the US and Smith saw his evening curtailed earlier than expected with a slight niggle after a promising start. Both will have benefitted from a further week of assimilation into the squad. Last Friday saw outstanding performances from Chris Alexander (28) and Matthew Don (25), earning them both a place in the weekly BBL All Star Five. Don’s performance was particularly pleasing with some thrilling three point shooting and hopefully signalled a breakout display for the London-born forward.

Last time out

Cheshire Phoenix (Khan 17, Latinovic 15, Allen-Jordan 12) 61 DBL Sharks Sheffield (Williams 22, Marsden 16, Tuck / Don 11) 78

Fans Corner

Everyone likes a bit of silverware right? Well in that case we need you to get down to ‘The Tank’ this Friday to help us out against the ‘Nix. You were in fine voice against the Rocks so we need a repeat! It’s also half-term for many of you so why not give the kids a pre-halloween treat by joining the SharkNation. You could even try our new song to the tune of ‘Baby Shark’ : ‘Matthew Don, do do do do do do, Matthew Don, do do do do do do.’ Think it will catch on?

Tickets

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Andy Chubb