PREVIEW: Sharks hit the road for Patriot game

BBL Championship

Three road games now await the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks, starting with Sunday’s long trip down to Devon to take on the Plymouth City Patriots. After a break of a week, the Sharks match-up against the Patriots and follow that with a double header weekend away at Leicester and Surrey before Coach Lyons and his team return to Ponds Forge for a BBL Cup quarter final against Caledonia Gladiators. The Patriots are 3-4 in the league and two of those wins have come at their Plymouth Pavilions home fortress.

Sunday – Patriots v Sharks – Plymouth Pavilions – 3.00pm

Watch – British Basketball League – YouTube

Ones To Watch

Elvisi Dusha – The Plymouth captain had an exemplary game against Leicester last Sunday but couldn’t lead his side to the win. He led all scorers with 24 points and dished out a familiar 8 assists as the Patriots went down by 79-101.

Antonio Williams – The freescoring guard was another highlight against the Riders with 22 points, shooting 60% from the field and going 9 of 11 from the line. His season average of 18.7 points per game along with 4.7 rebounds and 3 assists underlines his threat.

Rashad Hassan – Vet forward with many years of BBL experience under his belt. 6.3 rebounds per game so far this season to go with 15 points but was kept quiet against the Riders making 4 of his 11 attempts.

Isa Brandon – Son of former Sharks playcaller Jim who has previous spells in Plymouth and Glasgow to his name. Was hot off the boards against his home town team Leicester with 10 rebounds and a block as a short-handed Patriots took the loss.

Last Meeting

April 1^st 2022 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Glasgow Jr 17 Johnson 12 Nichols 9) 71 Plymouth City Patriots (Graham-Bell 18 Simons 16 Williams 7) 61

Shark Bites

The Sharks swept the Patriots 3-0 last season but only averaged 66 points per game in doing so.

The Sharks have won on 4 of their last 6 visits to the Pavilions and claim 42 wins over the Plymouth franchise in the 63 games played in all competitions.

The bench could play a big part in this one – the Sharks have added 192 points as opposed to the Patriots with 106.

13^th November has not proved a lucky date for the Sharks in recent years having lost their last 5 fixtures on this day, all away from home, by an average of more than 16 points.

Channel Banks Jr is heating up from beyond the arc! He is making 39.4% of his three point shots, closely followed by Jordan Ratinho with 38.5%. Elvisi Dusha is the Patriots biggest threat on 36.4% as the Sharks shade the Devonians by 30.3 to 29.7 overall.

SharkNation

What sort of a road team will the Sharks be? Well we get to find out for the next couple of weeks as we travel to Plymouth this Sunday and Leicester and Surrey on the following Friday and Saturday. Don’t forget we are back in the Tank on Sunday November 27^th when Caledonia Gladiators are our visitors in the BBL Cup quarter finals (tickets: B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v Caledonia Gladiators – BBL Cup Quarter Final Tickets, Sun 27 Nov 2022 at 16:00 | Eventbrite). But if you’ve missed us and can’t come on the road with us, head on to the link at the top of the page where you can watch Sunday’s big game with Plymouth live and for free on the BBL YouTube! We are refreshed and ready to go again. We are the Sharks! #KnowOurName #FearTheFin

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Adam Bates