Sharks plan Trophy raid on Plymouth

BBL Trophy

Friday 3rd January 2020

Plymouth Raiders v B. Braun Sheffield Sharks

The New Year begins with the fourth competition of the season as the BBL Trophy gets underway. The B. Braun Sharks make the lengthy journey down to Plymouth to kick off the bracket, knowing that they will travel to Newcastle Eagles or Dunfermline Reign should they be successful.

What to expect

A prime asset of the Raiders is their experienced Coach, Paul James. Previously he pulled the strings at Worcester Wolves and is aiming to build a similar dynasty down in Devon. The Raiders are currently 0-4 in the league but with the exception of their opening game, they have all been relatively close affairs. Their last outing saw them go down by 68-75 in the South West derby against Bristol Flyers. Influential point guard Josh Wilcher led the scoring with 20 points and is known for his high assist ratio and extremely accurate shooting. Another key to the Raiders is forward Rashad Hassan, veteran of several teams in the league and currently averaging 16 points per game and a healthy 9 rebounds to boot. Sam Daniels is a recent recruit to Plymouth and he too has been extremely effective with 20.3 points per game so far. The Plymouth Pavilions always provides a partisan crowd and coupled with the lengthy journey, is never an easy place to go to. Friday will be no different!

Shark Watch

The Sharks were electric in last weekend’s 76-99 take down of Newcastle Eagles and carried on in the same vein at 31-14 at the end of the first quarter of the curtailed game against Leicester. When you are in that kind of form, you just want the games to come thick and fast and for that reason, Friday can’t come soon enough for the Sharks. Bennett Koch deservedly earned All Star Five honours for his 25 point haul in the North East and even had occasion to record the first 3 point score of his entire career! Connor Cashaw flirted with a triple double for his 19 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists and looked on fire during the ten minutes play against the Riders. But above all, these were team displays and more of the same is required if the Sharks are to set off on another silverware journey in a competition that has been good to them in recent years. The road to Glasgow begins here!

Last time out

B. Braun Sharks (Alexander 13 McKnight 12 Williams 11) 56 Plymouth Raiders (Nicholas 26 Wilcher 23 Hassan 20) 85

Fans Corner

Once again, the BBL YouTube page is the place to be this Friday if you want to see your B. Braun Sharks take on Plymouth Raiders in the BBL Trophy at 7.30pm. Don’t forget, your Sharks captain Mike Tuck is just three points away from joining the ‘4000 Club.’ Let’s see if we can get #Tuck4k trending or we can have a #MikeTuckAppreciationDay – Mike is eighth on the All Time BBL Scoring list – some achievement indeed! Let’s get 2020 underway in the right manner! With a Sharks win!

Next home game

B. Braun Sharks v London Lions, Sunday 19th January 2020, Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, 4.00pm Tip Off

Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/b-braun-sheffield-sharks-v-london-lions-tickets-78636230081

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Andy Chubb