PREVIEW: All to play for on final weekend of regular season

BBL Championship

Regular season and the intense schedule of April comes to an end this weekend. First up, the Manchester Giants, the side the Sharks registered two wins against at the start of the league campaign, are the visitors to Ponds Forge on Friday evening. Then the Sharks wrap up the regular season on the road in Surrey against the Scorchers who are sadly the wooden-spoonists for 2021-22.

One win will see the Sharks confirmed as runners-up in the BBL Championship!

Friday – Sharks v Giants – Ponds Forge – 7.30pm

Tickets – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/b-braun-sheffield-sharks-v-manchester-giants-bbl-championship-tickets-256032960477

Ones To Watch

Geno Artison – Top scored with 15 in the recent uncharacteristic heavy loss to Bristol. Shoots at 48% from the field and averages 9.2 for the season.

Dan Clark – The Great Britain international has been fundamental in a terrific campaign for the red rose outfit. Hugely influential all over the court with 12.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 blocks, shooting 52% from inside the arc.

Martaveous McKnight – Took a mid-season break from the Giants but now back for the run-in. Clutch shooter who is close to 40% from beyond the arc.

Jamell Anderson – Fellow GB international with Clark and vastly experienced from his time and many awards at Leicester Riders. Averages 30 minutes per game with the Giants and picks 1.6 pockets to boot as well.

Last Meeting

November 5^th 2021 – Manchester Giants (Anderson 23 McKnight 18 Clark / Armstrong 12) 88 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Williams 18 Nichols 17 Ratinho 17) 89

Sunday – Scorchers v Sharks – Surrey Sports Park – 2pm

Watch – www.bblplayer.co.uk

Ones To Watch

Jules Dang Akodo – Former Cheshire man who led the Surrey scoring with 18 in last Sunday’s 81-104 defeat at the hands of Newcastle Eagles. Weighed in with 6 assists to boot as well.

Tayo Ogedengbe – Veteran Scorchers skipper, who posted 16 against the Eagles. Averaging 12 points with 4.1 rebounds from 31 minutes action in the 2021-22 season.

Devin Thomas – Forward with a neat three point shot who ripped down 9 boards against the Tynesiders.

Sol Rolls-Tyson – Former Shark who has returned to the Scorchers late in the season. Limited impact so far but much admired from his previous spell on the South Yorkshire hardwood.

Last Meeting

February 25^th 2022 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Glasgow Jr 19 Johnson 17 Delpeche 9) 77 Surrey Scorchers (Davis Jr 19 Thomas 17 Hamrick 14) 66

Shark Bites

The last five games against the Giants show an even match-up. Manchester have won three to the Sharks two, although the Sharks won the first two games of regular season, both against the Giants.

The Giants convert more than half of their shots from inside the arc and have made more than a thousand points inside the paint this season.

The Sharks are 5-0 in the last five games against the Scorchers.

Bench points may be key in the Surrey match-up. The Sharks have more than 200 additional points from their bench men than the Scorchers in ‘21-’22.

SharkNation

Yorkshire versus Lancashire, white rose against red rose, bread cake against balm cake, Henderson’s relish against Lancashire sauce. It’s our final home game of regular season on Friday and there’s plenty at stake when our rivals from over the Pennines, Manchester Giants are in town! We need the Tank full to overflowing because a win for your Sharks will see us claim a runners-up finish in the BBL Championship. As ever, the link for tickets is elsewhere on this page. Then we conclude regular season on the road at Surrey Scorchers. If you can’t make it down to Guildford, then the BBL Player is your friend for a 2pm tip off. We’re building up to the playoffs and we’d love to take our sixth man with us!  It’s time to #FearTheFin !

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Adam Bates