PREVIEW: Big Pre-Halloween home double header for the Sharks

BBL Championship

The B. Braun Sheffield Sharks play their last couple of home games for a month this weekend and they are not to be missed! On Friday, fresh from Euro Cup action in Gran Canaria, the early front runners London Lions are the visitors to the Tank. Then, on Sunday afternoon, reigning BBL champions Leicester Riders wrap up an intense schedule of home fixtures before the Sharks go on the road.

Friday – Sharks v Lions – Ponds Forge – 7.30pm

Tickets – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/b-braun-sheffield-sharks-v-london-lions-bbl-championship-tickets-398893700797

Ones To Watch

Tomislav Zubcic – Stepped up to the plate last Sunday when the Lions were in battle against Manchester Giants. 22 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and a block made the difference in a close one as the Lions took an 8 point win.

Kosta Koufos – The former NBA man had a spell on the sidelines recently but returned to claim 16 points with 9 rebounds in the 91-83 win over Manchester. Was perfect from the line and shot 70% from the field in just over 17 minutes of action.

Ovie Soko – The Lions captain continued his good form this season to help his side over the line against the Giants. 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal gave him an index of 17 as London took their seventh win of the campaign.

Devon Van Oostrum – Dished the dimes that brought London the win on Sunday. The Sheffield-raised guard handed out 7 assists from the bench, beating starting guards Aaron Best (6) and Luke Nelson (3) as the Lions continued their unbeaten start.

Last Meeting

September 23^rd 2022 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Nichols 19 Glasgow Jr 11 Delpeche 10) 73 London Lions (Dekker 23 Koufos 18 Best 10) 86

Sunday – Sharks v Riders – Ponds Forge – 4.00pm

Tickets – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/b-braun-sheffield-sharks-v-leicester-riders-bbl-championship-tickets-399015304517

Ones To Watch

Patrick Whelan – Made the Great Britain team last season and has carried his good form into this one. Led the Leicester scoring in Sunday’s loss to Caledonia with 22 points as well as pulling down 3 rebounds and dishing out an assist.

Marc Loving – Averaging 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in the current season. Very comfortable above the rim as well as from beyond the arc and contributed 20 points as the Riders went down by 89-81 north of the border.

Zach Jackson – Hard working guard who is comfortable at the two or the three. Confident three point shooter who is averaging 16.5 points and 6 rebounds for the season to date.

Conner Washington – Pass-first GB point guard, who has seen his workload extended recently due to the absence of Derryck Thornton. Dished out 8 assists against Caledonia but didn’t take a single shot against the Scots as the Riders fell to an unprecedented third defeat of campaign so far.

Last Meeting

February 18th 2022 – Leicester Riders (Loving 23 Whelan 17 Crandall 15) 90 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Johnson 25 Nichols 12 Ratinho 12) 77

Shark Bites

London Lions just shade the last five encounters between the two sides taking three wins to the Sharks two.

Neither the Sharks or London break the 30% mark as a team from beyond the arc. Jordan Ratinho and Channel Banks both make 36% ahead of London’s best shooters Luke Nelson and Tomislav Zubcic, who weigh in with 35%.

Leicester have taken all five of the most recent games with the Sharks. The closest game was a 75-73 Riders win back in January 2021.

The Sharks are out-scoring the Riders in the paint by 240 to 160 and are hotter off the offensive boards by 29 to 18 percent.

SharkNation

Your B. Braun Sharks are heating up! Another double header weekend awaits after three terrific wins on the bounce. Want to see if we can add to the wins column? Well, our next home game isn’t until November 27^th in the BBL Cup so we reckon that tickets for this Friday (against London) and Sunday (against Leicester) are a must-have. The ticket links can be found on this page to get your share of Sharks basketball before we head off on the road. Let’s see if Coach Lyons and the guys can put the frighteners on two of the BBL’s heavyweights ahead of Halloween. It’s time to #FearTheFin !

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Adam Bates