PREVIEW: Sibling rivalry on big double header weekend

BBL Championship

Are you ready for the ‘Delpeche Derby’? The B. Braun Sheffield Sharks welcome both the Sky Sports cameras and the Bristol Flyers to Ponds Forge on Friday evening before heading off on the road to Surrey Scorchers on Sunday afternoon for a bumper double header of BBL Championship basketball this weekend.

Friday – Sharks v Flyers – Ponds Forge – 7.30pm

Tickets – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v Bristol Flyers – BBL Championship Tickets, Fri 21 Jan 2022 at 19:30 | Eventbrite

Ones To Watch

Malcolm Delpeche – For the first time in their professional careers, the Delpeche brothers face off against each other on Friday evening. Despite Bristol’s 64-92 loss to Leicester last Friday, Malcolm still managed to rack up 16 points and 9 rebounds, comparable with his season average of 17.5 and 6.8.

Antwain Johnson – The Flyers new signing made his debut against the Riders and immediately made an impact by leading the Bristol scoring with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.

Trejon Jacob – Filling up the statlines to demonstrate his all-round talent, Jacob currently boats season stats of 14.3 points per game with 9.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists and despite a 13 / 8 / 3 effort against Leicester, the Flyers couldn’t repeat their 71-68 Trophy success of a week earlier.

Raphell Thomas-Edwards – The Leicester-born swingman is now in his third season with the Flyers and it was his 18 points that guided Coach Kapoulas’ men to that memorable BBL Trophy win over Thomas-Edwards hometown team, the Riders.

Last Meeting

April 16^th 2021 – Bristol Flyers (Baker 28 Lockett 26 Mockford 14) 91 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Hemsley 30 Ratinho 18 Koch 14) 96

Sunday – Scorchers v Sharks – Surrey Sports Park – 2.00pm

Watch – http://www.bblplayer.co.uk

Ones To Watch

Jules Dang Akodo – experienced Brit guard who has made the switch to the Surrey Sports Park this season. Currently averaging 5 assists per game, a figure he matched in Surrey’s 82-73 loss to Plymouth last Friday.

Stanley Davis Jr – A big 22 point / 11 rebound double-double wasn’t enough to prevent Plymouth from gaining their first Championship win of the season.

Saiquan Jamison – Currently scorching the boards to the tune of 17.4 per game. Played all forty minutes against the Patriots for another double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Lemar Hamrick – Another of the Scorchers American contingent who put up 25 points on 9 of 16 shooting down in Devon to no avail as Surrey fell to 1-6 in the league.

Last Meeting

April 23^rd 2021 – Surrey Scorchers (James 21 Ogedengbe 18 Hicks 14) 78 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Koch 22 Hemsley 16 Ratinho 16) 86

Shark Bites

Fridays game against Bristol is the 21^st encounter between the two sides. The Sharks have won the last 4 meetings between the two clubs and have a 12-8 record overall as well as 8 wins in 10 home fixtures.

The Sharks 3-0 winning campaign against the Flyers in 2020-21 was the first time either team had completed a perfect season against the other.

Like Bristol, the Sharks have won the last 4 games against Surrey and have also won 9 out of the last 10 at Surrey Sports Park.

Atiba Lyons lost his first 4 games as a coach against the Guildford / Surrey franchise but has a 27-8 winning record thereafter.

SharkNation

Who wants to be on TV? Well if you head up to the link at the top of the page you can get your ticket for our big Sky Sports clash against Bristol Flyers this Friday evening! Even better still, you can lend your support to Marcus Delpeche as he tries to steer the Sharks to a win over brother Malcolm’s Bristol Flyers! What’s better than a game of Sharks basketball? Two games of Sharks basketball of course! On Sunday, we travel down to Surrey for our second big game of the weekend – the BBL Player is the place to be for the 2pm tip off. Be loud, be proud and let’s show the national tv cameras what the #SharkNation is all about! Fear The Fin!

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Adam Bates