PREVIEW: Sharks face top two in huge weekend of hoops

BBL Championship

The B. Braun Sheffield Sharks take on the BBL Championship’s top two in a huge weekend of high class basketball action. On Friday night, second-placed Bristol Flyers are the visitors to the Tank for another of those ‘Delpeche Derbies’ in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Then on Sunday, the Sharks head down to the capital to take on the star-studded, league-leading London Lions. BBL weekends don’t come any bigger than this!

Friday – Sharks v Flyers – Ponds Forge – 8.00pm

Tickets – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v Bristol Flyers – BBL Championship Tickets, Fri 20 Jan 2023 at 19:30 | Eventbrite

Ones To Watch

Vincent King – The Flyers suffered an uncharacteristic loss in the BBL Trophy at home to Surrey. Season standout King still led the Bristol offence with 15 points however. Outstanding numbers this campaign with 19 points per game, 6.9 rebounds and 0.9 steals.

Thomas Bell – Wasn’t far behind King with 13 in the 72-78 defeat to the Scorchers. Part of a very cohesive unit at Bristol to which he adds 13.4 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 1 steal and 0.6 blocks.

Malcolm Delpeche – The South West based Delpeche brother shoots at a very healthy 52% for the Flyers this season and likes to hit the offensive glass hard, pulling down 10 offensive rebounds on two occasions this campaign.

Mike Miller – Second season in Bristol for this fan favourite. Dishing out the dimes to the tune of 5.1 assists this year and added 12 points in the Surrey surprise loss.

Last Meeting

December 3^rd 2022 – Bristol Flyers (King 21 Watson-Gayle 12 Bell 12) 72 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Banks 18 Delpeche 17 Glasgow 15) 76

Sunday – Lions v Sharks – Copperbox Arena – 4.00pm

Watch – London Lions vs Sheffield Sharks, BBL Championship – LIVE – YouTube

Ones To Watch

Aaron Best – With a midweek Eurocup game plus a Friday BBL Championship fixture, it’s hard to predict the Lions roster on a nightly basis. One thing for sure is that Aaron Best came to play with 24 points in London’s BBL Trophy win over Worthing last Thursday.

Sam Dekker – The former Toronto Raptor has rapidly become the standout of the league so far this season. Converting 72% of his shots inside the arc for an average of 18.5 points per game, it is to see why!

Kosta Koufos – Another of the Lions NBA alumni, the big man is cleaning up on the boards with 9.4 rebounds per game and 1.3 blocked shots per outing.

Jordan Taylor – A more recent signing for the Lions but with vast European experience. Point Guard who is already handing out 6.7 assists per game in the brief time he has been in the capital.

Last Meeting

October 28^th 2022 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Nichols 22 Nelson 19 Koch 12) 87 London Lions (Zubcic 25 Hruban 20 Best 13) 81

Shark Bites

Friday is the 26^th clash between the Sharks and the Flyers – The Sharks hold a 14-11 advantage in the previous matches.

The Flyers are the only current BBL side who the Sharks have never beaten in the BBL Cup, Trophy or Playoffs. The one and only cup tie was won by Flyers.

Since the Lions moved from Milton Keynes to London, the Sharks have met them 39 times in all competitions home and away. The Sharks have 17 wins to the Lions 22.

Sa’eed Nelson is on a run of 12 consecutive free throws made and is one of five Sharks players to have hit double figures in free throws without a miss at some point this season, the others being Rodney Glasgow, Bennett Koch, Javion Ogunyemi and Kipper Nichols.

SharkNation

Did you enjoy our new look team last weekend in the BBL Trophy? Well the guys will be getting down to some serious BBL Championship action this weekend and you can definitely play your part. We need a packed house at Ponds Forge on Friday and all the noise you can bring as Bristol Flyers and the Sky Sports cameras are in town! Who will win the battle of the Delpeche brothers this time out? Hit the ticket link at the top of the page to find out – don’t forget we tip at the later time of 8pm for this one! Then on Sunday, we head to London to take on the league leaders with their star-studded roster. If you can’t make it to the Copperbox, hit the link above for live and free coverage of the game on YouTube from 4pm on Sunday. It’s a massive weekend and we need our SharkNation along with us. It’s time to #FearTheFin!

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Adam Bates