There is a clash of basketball styles when the Guildford Heat and Worcester Wolves meet in the BBL Trophy semi-final at Ponds Forge on Saturday.

While Heat’s game is a more Europeans-style, the Wolves play up-tempo basketball, and Guildford coach Paul James is aware of the danger the midlands side pose to his team, “We’ve played them once, and they gave us one hell of a scare. We were 56-50 up at half-time, and I was just hoping that they would run out of the steam and they wouldn’t be able to keep shooting like that. In the end, it was a good defensive display that did it for us, but they have some great weapons in Anthony Paez, James Life and Skouson Harker, and they are the kind of team that you take lightly at your own peril. They turned Newcastle over in the league, and it’s going to be a tough test for us.”

That game in the midlands saw Heat win 108-79, and Wolves player-coach Skouson Harker knows his side face a tough task against the league champions, “Obviously they are very deep compared to us, and that is an advantage for them. It can work both ways, however, as sometimes players have trouble knowing their exact roles in deep squads. Hopefully they won’t have worked it out by Saturday!

“Tony Dorsey really hurt us last time, he hit 27 on us, so we’ll need to stop him. Mike Martin’s also tough to stop when he gets going, but they aren’t the kind of team that you know you can stop one or two players, and win the game. We’ll have to play very well to win the game. It will be the biggest game that I’ve coached, and I’m hoping that we’ll step up and give our best.”

While Heat still have a chance of retaining their league title, Wolves have produced a fine turnaround since losing ten of their first eleven games, and Harker knows that the signing of American guard James Life has provided the spark for the midlands club to reach Saturday’s semi-final, “Since we signed James I don’t think he’d had an off-night before we played Plymouth last week. That’s a bit frightening as a coach because no one can play well every night. He’s been phenomenal since he signed for us, he’s hit the big shots, and he’s helped us make the turnaround that’s taken us from the bottom of the table to a semi-final and being in the battle for a play-off spot.”

Old Trophy rivals the Newcastle Eagles and BiG Storage Cheshire Jets meet at Ponds Forge on Saturday with a place in the BBL Trophy final at stake.

Jets beat the Eagles in the 2001 final to commence a dynasty in the competition that saw them win it four times in a row, whilst Eagles ended the Cheshire side’s domination of the Trophy with a 92-87 overtime win in the 2005 semi-final.

Eagles went on to lift their first piece of silverware that year by hammering Brighton to lift the Trophy, and player-coach Fab Flournoy has fond memories of that, “For me it will always be special, because it all began in Brighton. We’d gone out of the Cup against Chester, and we bounced back to win the Trophy. We still have guys on the team who won the Trophy that year, and it’s still important to us. What we need to remember is how hungry we were that year as the situation Jets are in is very similar to where we were a few years ago.  I look at them a see a mirror reflection of where we were five years ago with their desire and how they are putting everything in to it. We need to be able to match that intensity which is what will make today’s game special.”

Having returned as Jets’ coach last week Paul Smith is looking forward to the Trophy semi-final, but expects a tough test against the league-leading Eagles, “We’re up against our old nemesis, and it’s just like when I was coach before. I don’t know as much about them as last time, but there is a lot of continuity there, and they have a lot of key players. But Fab [Flournoy] is their main man. He’s the leader of the team, and can play pretty much every position and guard almost anyone. He does all that, and coaches the team as well. It’s really hard to play and coach, and it’s unlikely that we’ll go down that route again, but Fab’s the exception – he’s a real inspiration to his team.”

With former coach TJ Walker having left the Northgate Arena club this week, Smith knows that his side go into today’s game short on numbers with only seven fit players,  “We’ll go with what we’ve got for this week, as there just isn’t time to get anyone in. But we will look to replace TJ. We’re not sure how long Marc Pratt’s going to be out of action, and it’s risky to be running with just seven players. It only takes one more injury, and we’d be in trouble.”

Worcester Wolves will aim to complete a perfect BBL Trophy group stage record when they host their neighbours, the Team Birmingham Panthers, on Friday evening.

Wolves have already sealed a place in the Trophy semi-finals, but player-coach Skouson Harker is still looking forward to the game, “It’s the kind of game that is a coach’s dream at this stage of the season.  It counts for nothing, but it’s a great chance to try out some different line-ups before the semi-finals, and to get Ivan Brosko involved in our plays.

“It won’t be easy, though; we had a close game against them at the NIA.  They played very well and made a lot of shots.  Nigel [Lloyd] slowed the game down a lot, and although it was high-scoring, we didn’t get up as many shots as I would like.”

With his side already eliminated from the competition, Panthers coach Nigel Lloyd intends to use the game as a chance to give assistant coach Paul Douglas the chance to gain some experience, “It’s a bit of a non-event for us, so Dougy is going to coach the game, and work on his coaching skills.  We’ve only got a short bench, so everyone plays anyway, but it makes sense to give Dougy the chance to gain some experience.  We’ll still play hard, it’s against a side who are our local rivals, and we want to win.”

Panthers picked up their fourth league victory of the season on Saturday night when they won an overtime thriller against PAWS London Capital, 79-71, leaving coach Lloyd a happy man, “I’m a lot happier than I was on Friday night, and it’s good for the guys as well.  If you can’t be happy when you win, you’re never going to be happy.  We played well for the first three quarters, but Buck [Steve Bucknall] switched their defence around in the fourth period and they were more aggressive on offence.  They wore us down, and had a chance to win; but we regained our composure in overtime, and I was really pleased with how we played.

“They hadn’t seen us play before, so they didn’t know what we run, and we stole the win. The next two games are at their place, so it was important we got this one.”

The sides have split their four meetings this season, with Panthers holding the head-to-head decider in the BBL Championship, and Wolves having won the BBL Trophy encounter at the NIA 95-91 a fortnight ago.

A tight game saw Wolves hold narrow leads at the end of each quarter, and they went into the final period 73-72 ahead.  Birmingham fought throughout the fourth quarter, but with less than two minutes left trailed 85-88 and Worcester kept their lead thanks to a flurry of free throws at the close.

The Marshall MK Lions will look to collect the victory they need to qualify for the BBL Trophy semi-finals when they travel to the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday.

Having beaten Riders 95-63 last Friday, Lions missed out on sealing a place in the semi-finals when they lost 70-67 at Kularoos Plymouth Raiders on Saturday, and coach Vince Macaulay was disappointed with his side’s display, “To be honest, we should have blown them out.  There’s been a couple of times where that’s happened, and it’s something I have to fix.  We only scored one field goal in the third period and we added five free-throws in that quarter, but we still had a chance to win the game.”

The Lions were thrown a lifeline on Sunday when BiG Storage Cheshire Jets defeated Plymouth, and Macaulay is determined that his side will take advantage of the second chance they have been given, “We’re having a lot of do or die games this season, and we’re excited to have the chance of qualifying.  We have to make sure there are no slip-ups this time.  Obviously they can’t qualify, but I’m sure Martin Ford will have them fired up for the game. 

“Full credit to Jets for winning the game against Raiders when they had only an outside chance of qualifying, and I would like Leicester to do exactly the same, and try to win the game. 

“Carlos White looked very good for them, and he’ll only get better.  They probably lack a bit of leadership, and he’ll bring that to them.  It will take him time to adjust to the BBL, but he’s a big bonus for them.”

With Riders unable to progress in the Trophy, and facing the following weekend off, coach Martin Ford is looking to build towards the rest of the league campaign, “We’ve got nine practices before the league games resume, and we’re going to try to do some extra work.  This weekend’s games are like a mini pre-season for us, and we want to win both games.  We need to keep improving, and I thought that we were a little better on Saturday.  I think we turned the corner mentally, even though we left it too late.  We got to within five or six against Lions, but Brown hit a couple of threes against us and we never recovered.  We need to get some more mental toughness, in those situations some of our players try to do too much themselves rather than believe in the rest of the team.  It’s only human nature to want to win it yourself, but the players need to believe more in each other.”

Ford is looking for English guard/forward Darren Mills to step up against the Lions, “Darren spoke to me about getting more court time, because at the moment he’s a fantastic court player, but he probably tries too hard in game situations.  I want him to be a defensive stopper, and we’ll use him as that against Terrell Brown.  He needs to be better on defense, and then he can be a role player on offense, and pick up a few cheap baskets by going to the offensive glass.”

The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets will look to break the trend in games against the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders when they host them in a potentially key BBL Trophy game on Sunday evening.

All of the three games between the teams have resulted in away victories this season, and if the Marshall MK Lions fail to win against Riders on Saturday evening, the Jets can grab a place in the last four – where they would face Newcastle Eagles – with a victory on Sunday.

Jets kept their Trophy hopes alive last week by beating Riders and the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, and director of coaching Paul Smith was delighted with how they played, “We’re getting a bit of form and the ball is bouncing our way,” he said.

The 96-91 win at Riders was achieved despite Jets having to play the final four minutes with only four men after Matt Otten and James Hamilton fouled out and Marc Pratt suffered a dislocated shoulder.

“It wasn’t easy,” admitted Smith, “and it was probably the longest four minutes of my life.  With one guard and three forwards it was hard getting the ball up the floor.  Fortunately we had enough in the bank to get the win.”

Smith is looking for the Jets to continue their good form when they face a Riders team who are already eliminated from the competition, ”We’ve been playing more as a team recently, and we’ve had better ball movement.  It doesn’t take a genius to work out that we have two main scorers, but other guys can step up, and we need to get the ball into whoever has the hot hand.”

Despite Riders’ dip in form, Smith expects them to provide the Jets with a tough test at the Northgate Arena on Sunday, “Terrance Woodyard is a great rebounder,  he can shoot the ball well, and he reminds me of Calvin Davis when he was with us.  The new guy, Carlos White, had a good second half, and showed class to step up after a poor first half to score a lot of points, and he’ll be a monster on the boards as the season progresses.”

Marc Pratt is likely to be out of action for between four and eight weeks after suffering his second dislocation of the season.

Riders’ coach Martin Ford is hoping that his team will continue the improvement they showed in the latter stages of the game against Jets when the sides meet again, “We were better in the fourth quarter, but we’d given ourselves too much to do.  It was a good fight-back, even if it was against four players.  We just can’t expect to win games if we go down by 25 against a side with only seven players on their roster.

“Carlos [White] only flew in on Wednesday, but he’s finding his feet, and will really help us.  He’ll loosen up the outside for us.  I was also impressed with Steve Vear over last weekend, he had a few too many turnovers, but a lot of that was players not being ready for the pass.  He’s the kind of point guard that likes to get the ball out early, while Kyle [Greathouse] would run the offence by dribbling up the court, so the other players need to adjust. 

Newly crowned BBL Cup winners, the Marshall MK Lions, will look to progress in another competition when they host the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the BBL Trophy group stage on Friday. 

This is the second of five scheduled meetings between the teams this season, and if it’s as thrilling as the first, the fans are in for a treat.  Lions won that game in the East Midlands by 77-74, but only after fighting back from a 13-point half-time deficit.  Once Leicester had gone 50-33 in front the Lions had back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 24-8 burst which got them to within one (58-57) at the final break.  Runs of 7-0 and 6-0 in the fourth quarter then handed Lions the lead and despite a late 6-0 burst by Riders a Peter Heizer free throw sealed the win for the visitors.  Yorick Williams top scored against his old club with 21 points. 

Coach Vince Macaulay is looking to avoid a post-Cup Final hangover as he looks forward to this game, “It should be a great atmosphere as we show off the Cup, but the Trophy is another important competition for us and we’re looking forward to a big weekend.  It’s important that we don’t take Riders lightly as we need to win the game if we’re to have a chance of qualifying.  We lost our last game in the Trophy, and in Martin Ford they have a great coach, so we’ll be making sure we don’t take our eye off the ball.  

“They have some issues at the moment [the Riders have lost four straight], but he’ll work through that and get them back on track.  They’ve got players such as Chad McKnight, Rod Wellington, and Joel Burns who have been through this kind of thing before, and they will know how to deal with it. 

“When we played them before we dug ourselves into an 18-point hole, and we don’t want to be doing that at home.  We fought back from that, but we need to make sure we’re not in that position again.  They’ve added Steve Vear, who we tried to sign in the summer, and he’ll give them some more options at the point.” 

 Sheffield Sharks face a must-win game against Team Birmingham Panthers when the pair clash in the BBL Trophy on Friday evening. 

Despite Birmingham’s position at the foot of the BBL Championship table and having only an outside chance of qualifying for the Trophy semi-final, Sharks’ coach Pete Scantlebury expects a tough game against the midlands outfit, “They had a close game against Worcester on Sunday and it sounds like they played pretty well, so we’ll take them seriously.  Adam Williams, Dan Sandell, and Lataryl Williams are the three guys who are doing the scoring for them, and they can all hurt you if you let them.  We’re certainly not counting any chickens.” 

Scantlebury hopes that new signing James Whyte will be available for the game after the  British forward signed for the Sharks last week, “James can play the three or the four spot, and help us in some of the areas we need to improve in.  However, we’re without Alto Virgil after he was ejected against Panthers, which will hurt us, so the other guys need to step up.” 

Scantlebury is looking for an improvement from his team following their 95-79 home loss against BiG Storage Cheshire Jets last week, “It was really a case of a poor start,” he said.  “We went 13-0 down, and it was pretty even from there on.  It was the same old story, we fought back from being down, and then threw it away.  That’s why we have to make changes.” 

Birmingham coach Nigel Lloyd expects a difficult game in Yorkshire, but is hoping that his side can build on a good performance against Worcester Wolves at the NIA on Sunday, “Sheffield have played some of their best basketball of the season against us, they play well as a team and it will be tough.  We played well on Sunday, and I was really pleased with how we showed heart and determination.  They represented Birmingham well, and I was proud of them.  We’ve been told that there won’t be any imports coming to the club, so it’s up to the players we’ve got, and it’s a great opportunity for them to gain experience.” 

The Panthers still have their injury problems, however, “Rob Paternostro is still struggling with injury, but he’s a warrior and he’ll keep on fighting for us.  He could have sat down against Worcester last weekend, but he wanted to keep going.  We’ve given him a couple of days off, and we’ll get him some treatment.”

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders v BiG Storage Cheshire Jets

Saturday 19 January 2008   John Sandford Centre   7.30

Two sides with an outside chance of progressing in the BBL Trophy meet at the John Sandford Centre on Saturday when Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders host BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.

Jets will be looking to continue the trend in games between the teams this season, with both meetings seeing the away side go home with a victory.  The teams met at the Northgate Arena in mid-November and 26 points from Terrence Woodyard helped Riders win 93-86.  It was Woodyard who won the game for them as, with 4.30 remaining, he broke open what had been a tight match with five consecutive points. After making a basket, he stole the ball and connected on a long three-pointer to give the Riders a 77-83 lead before Mindaugas Janiska kept his cool to make 4/4 from the line to ensure that the Jets could get no closer.

The last meeting in Leicester saw a dominant first half performance seal the victory for the Jets, as they never looked back following 6-0 and 8-0 bursts in the opening period, and effectively had the game sewn up at 51-30 going into the locker room.  Shawn Myers led all scorers netting 25 points for the Jets.

Although they sit third in the group with a 1-2 record, Jets’ coach TJ Walker is still hopeful of reaching the semi-finals of a competition that the team won on four consecutive occasions between 2001-2004, “We need a little help from other teams, and I haven’t yet sat down and worked out what’s got to happen, but the main thing is to win in Leicester on Saturday.  We’ve played them a few times, and they are a tough team who are well coached.  Martin Ford has them playing hard, and they can beat anyone on any given night.”

Jets recorded a 95-79 BBL Championship victory at Sheffield Sharks on Friday, and Walker was delighted with his side’s performance, “We played some really good basketball.  We’ve been playing some excellent defence since James [Hamilton] came back, and that’s been our key, we’re scoring more and a lot of our points have come off good defence.”

Riders’ coach Martin Ford knows that his side face a tough test after losing their last four games, but singled out Russell Jordan for praise after the last meeting between the sides, “Without a doubt Shawn Myers and Jayson Obazuaye are their key players, but Russell Jordan did a fantastic job against Shawn last time we played against them, even though he’s smaller.”

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders  vs. Marshall MK Lions

Saturday 19 January 2008    Plymouth Pavilions 7.30pm

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders and Marshall MK Lions clash in a key BBL Trophy Group One game on Saturday, with the winners likely to be favourites for a place in the semi-finals.

Hosts Plymouth are the current holders of the Trophy, and the city will stage the final in March, but they have found playing Lions hard going this season, with three away defeats against a side who lifted the BBL Cup on Sunday.

Head Coach Gary Stronach isn’t underestimating the task ahead for his team,  “It’s a massive weekend for us.  Lions played a tremendous game against Newcastle and they’ll want more success after winning the Cup.  They’ve had our number in all three games they’ve played against us, and we’re going to need to make some adjustments.  We need to key in on Yorick [Williams] and stop the big men.  But you’ve also got to make sure you limit Kevin Griffin and contain Terrell Brown, and then there’s the likes of Peter Heizer.

“Hopefully we can come out with a victory, we’re expecting a sell-out.  We’ve had one crowd of 1368 this year, and we can squeeze about 50 more in.  It’s going to be a humdinger, we need to get back on track and they’re on a high after the Cup win.  I hope our fans will get their tickets early.”

Vince Macaulay, the Lions’ coach, is also looking forward to the meeting against one of the sides vying with his team for the BBL Championship title and Trophy progression, “We always thought it would come down to us and Plymouth, and we’ve been fortunate to beat them three times at home.  But it’s our first trip down there, and it’s a very tough place to play.  Gary [Stronach] has had issues with injuries and players missing for other reasons, but I’m sure they’ll be back to full strength.  They know they’ll need to win if they are to have a chance of being at home in the final, so it’s going to be a tough task to beat them on their own court.

“Drew Lasker is the one to watch out for, but when they beat Cheshire Anthony Martin and Brody Bishop stepped up to lead them to the win.  They are the kind of players we have to keep off the scoresheet.  If you’re going to beat Plymouth, you have to stop their second string guys from chipping in with five or six points.”

Worcester Wolves vs. Sheffield Sharks

Saturday 19 January 2008     University of Worcester 7.00pm

Worcester Wolves will look to move a step closer to a first semi-final in the top flight when they host the Sheffield Sharks on Saturday.

Victory against the Sharks would seal a place in the last four of the competition for the Wolves, while a loss by three or less points would leave them needing to beat Team Birmingham Panthers to ensure qualification.  If Sharks win by five or more points, they will qualify – providing they beat Panthers on Friday night – while a four point Sharks win would see overall basket difference decide who goes through to the last four.

When the sides met at Sheffield’s EIS home venue just before Christmas, the fans were treated to a high scoring game, which Wolves eventually won 125-121.  The Wolves led 114-100 before the Sharks trimmed the deficit back to seven points off the back of a 9-2 tear midway through the final quarter to bring the score to 116-109.  A further 7-0 run got the Sharks to within two points at 123-121 with 20 seconds remaining, but James Life sealed the Wolves' victory from the free-throw line.  Life and Anthony Paez led all scorers in the game with 32 points each for the Wolves, while Justice Graham led the Sharks scoring with 26.

Wolves coach Skouson Harker knows the importance of Saturday’s game, “It was like the shoot-out at the O.K. Coral when we went there, and if we can take care of business against Birmingham, it’ll be all or nothing on Saturday.  Four points is a very small margin, and it won’t count for much. 

“Like ourselves, Sheffield are good offensively, and I think it will be the team that plays the best defence who goes through.  We’ve got a lot of confidence at the moment, and if we can impose ourselves on the game, we can progress.

“James [Life] winning the three-point shootout at the NIA has got us a lot of publicity locally, and we’re expecting a big crowd for the game.”

As well as Life’s success in Sunday’s shoot-out, Wolves also picked up their second victory of the BBL Trophy campaign with a 95-91 win against Birmingham Panthers at the NIA, but Harker was keeping the win in perspective, “We didn’t play that well, and we don’t match-up with them particularly well.  They are a team of guards, and we should take the initiative, but they did a good job in their home city and applied themselves well.  It was a nip and tuck game, and they made a lot of their shots.  But we ground out the win, and we’re getting good at doing that.”

Sharks’ coach Pete Scantlebury knows what his side have to do win the game, “We need to stop their transition game, we gave them far too many easy baskets last time.  We did a pretty good job offensively, but we allowed them to shoot the ball well.  So we need to give them less room, and make it tougher to score. 

“James Life is probably their key player, but over all we need to tighten up defensively.” 

Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder vs. Poujoulat Heat Guildford

Saturday 19 January 2008    Worthing Leisure Centre    8.00pm

The Guildford Heat will look to complete a perfect BBL Trophy group stage record when they travel to Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder on Saturday.  The game will see the champions of the EBL and BBL clash, but Heat made short work of the south coast side when they met a fortnight ago as they romped to a 118-69 victory.

Guildford stamped their authority on the game in the opening exchanges, and a 17-2 burst took the score out to 24-8 midway through the opening period.  They continued to stretch their lead, and a 12-2 tear in the second took the score out to 49-25 to effectively wrap up the game.  Jon Nottley led all scorers in the game with 28 points for the Heat, while Cleve Woodfork led the Worthing scorers with 16.

It will be the third successive season that the sides have met in the competition, with Heat winning on each previous occasion.  The 2005/6 campaign saw Paul James’ side win 91-78 at home, while the following campaign saw the Heat return from the south coast with a 107-88 victory.

“We’ve already qualified for the semi-finals, but winning is a habit and we want to keep on playing well,” said Heat’s Coach Paul James.  “We’ll work on a few things for the second half of the season, but we’ll respect them like any other team, and play accordingly.  We’ll start the normal guys, and go from there.  We travel to Turkey the next day, so it’ll be good to get everyone some decent minutes.”

Heat will be looking to build on their 89-72 victory against Kularoos Plymouth Raiders on Saturday, leaving James a delighted man, “I was really pleased with how we played.  It was a good win in an important game, both because we want to keep going in the right direction, but also because we sealed the head-to-head.”

Thunder go into the game looking for their first victory of 2008 – following an unprecedented three successive losses.  They suffered a shock loss at Sheffield Arrows the day before their game in Guildford, before going down 104-89 against Manchester Magic last week.  

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets v Kularoos Plymouth Raiders

Sunday 20 January 2008   Northgate Centre     5.30pm

The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets’ player-coach TJ Walker is expecting a tough test when his side meet holders Kularoos Plymouth Raiders in a key BBL Trophy group game on Sunday,

“It’s a difficult one for us.  Gary [Stronach] is doing a great job with them,” he said.  “They always play hard, they are great defensively, and we’ll have to be ready to play. 

“Drew Lasker has been the key for them since he got there.  He’s one of those guys who can score big numbers on any night, and he hit 39 on us earlier in the season, so we’ll have to key in on him.  Brody Bishop also played well against us, and we’ll have to keep him off the three point line.”

Jets go into the weekend with an outside chance of reaching the semi-finals of the competition, and if the results go their way on Saturday night, Walker could make a surprise early return from a knee injury for Sunday’s game, “I’m doing well, and I’m running okay on it.  If we’re in with a chance on Sunday, I’ll consider it, but it’s more likely that I’ll be back on February 3rd when we play Rocks.”

Raiders’ coach Gary Stronach is not underestimating the challenge posed by Walker’s team, “Jets are tough to play against.  They helped us by beating Milton Keynes, but you need to be wary of any team that can beat the Lions.  I’m not sure if TJ [Walker] will be back, but even if he isn’t it will be a difficult game. 

“We managed to sneak it by three at home, although we were without a couple of players. But we’re not the kind of team who makes excuses; we should be at full strength, and if we’re not we have to get on with.  It’s a long trip, it’s a tough place to play at, but we’ve got to be ready to go and pick up the win.”

The Raiders will enter the weekend looking to bounce back after an 89-72 loss at the Guildford Heat on Saturday, “They tore us apart,” admitted Stronach.  “They were a step ahead of us on everything, defence and offence, but to be honest 17 points flattered us.  We could have been absolutely hammered, but we had a bit of a run in the fourth period to make it look better than it was.  Hats off to PJ and his team, I don’t know if the ULEB Cup has helped them that much, but I think they would have comfortably beaten any team in the BBL on Saturday.

“We were without Drew Lasker and Gaylon Moore, and Terrance Durham only played 25 minutes, but there’s no excuses. We have to suck it up, take it on the chin and move on.”

SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks  v Newcastle Eagles

Sunday 20 January 2008    Braehead Arena    5.00pm

Arguably the biggest rivalry in British basketball continues on Sunday when the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks and Newcastle Eagles clash for the fifth time this season on Sunday, with a place in the BBL Trophy semi-final at stake.

When the sides met at Newcastle a fortnight ago, the home-town Eagles recorded a 113-89 victory to take control of the group.

Olu Babalola, Andrew Bridge, and Jeremt Hyatt were influential as they scored 21 points each for the Eagles.   Player/coach Sterling Davis led from the front with 19 points in vain for the Rocks.

With both sides having won their pair of games against Everton Tigers, qualification will come down to the head-to-head games between Rocks and Eagles, leaving the home side needing to win by 24 to progress.  That is not beyond the Rocks, and they will take heart from a 19-point victory over the Eagles on 2nd December.

It’s a situation that leaves Rocks’ coach Sterling Davis knowing that his side have a mountain to climb, “It’s kind of hard knowing that we’ll have to win by so many, but we’re not writing it off.  If we have to win by 24, that’s what we’ve got to aim to do that.  We need to make some adjustments from last time, especially offensively.  We also need to play some tougher defence and change some of the match-ups.  It will be tough, but we’ll go for it, everyone’s fit and we’re looking forward to a good game.”

Rocks bounced back from that heavy loss to hammer Everton Tigers 90-70 on Merseyside on Friday, and coach Davis was a happy man after the win, “We played well, we came out strongly, and built on a good start.”

The Eagles set up this favourable situation by beating the Everton Tigers 89-73 on Tuesday evening, getting Sunday’s BBL Cup Final defeat out of their system, and advancing in this competition is now top priority for Coach Fab Flournoy, “The key thing for me is how we bounce back after our BBL Cup final defeat against Milton Keynes, both mentally and physically.  It won’t be an easy game, because they never are against the Rocks.  People think we won easily against them last time, but we didn’t.  They missed a couple of key shots and a couple of defensive assignments, and we took advantage. 

“We have to win our pool to advance to the semi-finals, and to do that we have to beat Rocks.  We’re down at the moment, but I don’t plan on staying down for long.” 

While Eagles hold the advantage in the Trophy this season, the sides have split the two BBL Championship games – each winning on their own court – while Newcastle also recorded a 75-69 victory in the BBL Cup semi-final.

Everton Tigers will hope it is third time lucky when they host SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks in the BBL Trophy on Friday night. Henry Mooney’s side have lost both of their two Trophy games this season, but still have an outside chance of qualifying if they can win their remaining two games.

It will be the fourth meeting between the sides this season, with the Rocks having won all three games. In their BBL Championship clash at Braehead, the lead changed hands five times in the final quarter, but it was Tony Robertson who leveled the game for Everton with 12 seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime. In the extra period, Rocks' Maurice Hampton took control netting six points in a 9-2 run to give the Rocks the 80-74 victory.

When Rocks made the return journey they had a much easier time as they romped to a 99-77 win thanks to a strong second half performance. A tight match, which Rocks had shaded 23-29 and 47-51 after the first two quarters, was blown apart in the third. Tigers tried to get back into the match but a Rob Yanders three with 2.25 left pushed the score out to 91-72 and there was no way back. Bilal Clarance led all scorers for Rocks with 19-points, while Tony Robinson scored 14 for Everton.

Last week’s Trophy game north of the border, saw the Rocks run out 86-79 winners in a game they never trailed in. Rocks enjoyed their biggest lead of the game at 78-58 with five minutes remaining. A combination of David Aliu and Tony Miller valiantly attempted to get the visitors back into the game, but could not close the deficit fully as the Rocks ran out eventual winners. Moritz Wohlers led all scorers in the game with 21 points for the Rocks, while Calvin Davis led the Tigers scoring with 18.

Having seen his side lose on Sunday, Tigers’ coach Henry Mooney is looking for a much better performance when the teams meet again this week, “We didn’t play well, and we couldn’t hit a shot. It was freezing in there, and there’s not a proper scoreboard, but we were very poor. I think we were something like 9 of 29 from the field and from behind the arc. Our offence keys our defence, which is probably the wrong way around, so if we don’t score we don’t play good defence.

Team Birmingham Panthers and Worcester Wolves clash at the NIA on Sunday lunchtime with BBL Trophy points at stake. The midlands rivals are the warm-up act for the BBL Cup final, but the game is still a key one, as a victory for Wolves would put them in pole position to qualify for the semi-finals.

The struggling Panthers have recorded two of their three victories so far this season against Skouson Harker’s team. Those games were both remarkable in their own right as Dan Sandell notched an amazing 38 points in the first win and the second saw a tense overtime game settled by Sandell once more with a pair of late free-throws.

Wolves gained revenge at home in December, as a strong second period helped them to a 95-72 victory, with Birmingham-born point guard Michael Gayle having a career night with 21 points.

While Panthers’ have an uphill task to reach the semi-final following a 78-61 loss at Sheffield Sharks in their opening game in the competition, coach Nigel Lloyd is looking forward to playing at the NIA, “It gives us the chance to go back to playing at the highest level. We’re lucky in a way that we get to be part of a finals day, because we aren’t going to qualify for a final this year. It gives the young players the chance to be part of a big occasion and the opportunity to watch two of the top teams in the country.”

Lloyd know that his side face a tough test against an in-form Wolves’ side, “Wolves are playing unbelievably well at the moment. I’ve spoken to both Fab [Flournoy] and Scants [Peter Scantlebury] and they said that they are forcing teams to play the way they want them to. They just want to run and gun, and get as many shots up as possible.”

Having lost those two games early in the season, Wolves’ coach Skouson Harker is hoping that his new-look roster can put those defeats behind them and stake a claim for a BBL Trophy semi-final spot, “When we lost to them before we were going through a transitional stage. The roster was changing and we weren’t settled. We didn’t execute well and we didn’t have enough momentum. But we’ve spent a lot of time getting the balance of the team right, and now we are a lot more stable.

“They shot the ball very well against us in those two wins, and we need to work out a way to close them down. We need to impose our will on the game, but we also need to be adaptable against sides who play with a different style.

Wolves go into the game on the back of a mixed weekend which saw them hammered 123-90 at Everton Tigers before bouncing back to win 100-93 against league leaders Newcastle Eagles.

“We were good during the first quarter on Friday, and we were leading by 17, but then we just switched off” said Harker. “On Saturday we were outstanding, and it’s probably the biggest win this franchise has had in eight years. We played some really good defence, and everything stemmed from that. They were well organised, but we extended our defence and mixed it up a bit. Hopefully we can build on the win.”

Old rivals Newcastle Eagles and SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks clash for the fourth time this season on Friday when they meet in the BBL Trophy group stage.

The sides’ first two meetings this year came in the BBL Championship, with the home side winning on each occasion. The first meeting between the teams this season saw Eagles win a double-overtime classic 117-110. The return at Braehead Arena proved to be much more one-sided as Rocks ended the Eagles nine game unbeaten run with a stunning 92-73 victory.

The teams also met in the BBL Cup semi-final at the K2 Arena in Crawley, with Eagles winning a hard-fought battle 75-69. A tight game throughout saw Eagles open the final period with an 8-4 run to lead 67-60, but five points from Julius Joseph bought the Rocks back to within two points.  Both teams traded baskets throughout the closing stages, but it was the Eagles who remained strong, and sealed their place in the Final from the foul-line.  Charles Smith led all scorers in the game with 20 points for the Eagles, while Maurice Hampton led the Rocks scoring with 15.

Eagles’ coach Fab Flournoy is looking forward to another titanic meeting between the two northern rivals, “As usual it’ll be another classic battle. I can’t say enough about how well they’ve done, especially over last couple of years. We’ve met in the league and cup this season, and now we’ll play them in the trophy again. The two teams have a lot of the same characteristics. We’ve both got a lot of experience, and we’ve both been there before.

“There’s no animosity between the teams, but we bring out the best in each other. They’ll be disappointed to have lost the cup game, and the games between us go to and fro – the side who lost last time often wins the next game, so we’ll be looking to make sure that happens. Both sides will want to do well in the Trophy, and I’m sure it’ll be an explosive game whether it’s high or low scoring, it’s always intense.”

Having seen his side lose against the Eagles in the BBL Cup semi-final, Rocks’ coach Sterling Davis knows the improvement they will have to make if they are to start their Trophy campaign with a victory, “We need to work on our shooting. We shot the ball pretty badly, especially from the three point line, but we weren’t good inside the paint either. You will always have games like that, but our defensive intensity wasn’t where it should have been. We need to be more aggressive, put more pressure on them and stop them being comfortable.”

Rocks are sweating on the fitness of Danish guard Bilal Clarence, “Bilal sprained his ankle in practice on Saturday, but we’ve got all week to work on that, and we hope he’ll be ready for Friday” said Davis.

The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks will hope to continue their good form against Everton Tigers when they open their home BBL Trophy campaign against the Merseyside club on Sunday.

The teams have met twice this season, with Sterling Davis’ side winning on both occasions – albeit in contrasting games. In the meeting at Braehead, the lead changed hands five times in the final quarter, and Davis put the Rocks 70-68 in front with 34 seconds remaining, but it was Tony Robertson who levelled the game for Everton with 12 seconds remaining, and send the game into overtime.  In the extra period, the Rocks' Maurice Hampton took control netting six points in a 9-2 run to give the Rocks the 80-74 victory.

When Rocks made the return journey they had a much easier time as they romped to a 99-77 win thanks to a strong second half performance. A tight match, which Rocks had shaded 23-29 and 47-51 after the first two quarters, was blown apart in the third. The visitors took the stanza 23-11 to open up a 16-point lead. Tigers tried to get back into the match but a Rob Yanders three with 2.25 left pushed the score out to 91-72 and there was no way back. Bilal Clarance led all scorers for Rocks with 19-points, while Tony Robinson scored 14 for Everton.

Despite their good record against the Tigers, Rocks coach Sterling Davis won’t be taking the Everton team lightly, “They are a good team, and when they have a fully fit roster, they are a tough team to play against. Chris Haslam is key player for them, and the addition of Richard Midgley is a big plus for them. They also have a great two-guard in Tony Robinson, and they have a couple of other weapons we need to watch out for.”

Henry Mooney is looking for a much better performance than the meeting at the Greenbank Academy, “It was one of those games where we didn’t turn up. They were quick and played good basketball, but everything they threw up seemed to go in. Yet  we were without Calvin Davis, and it was before we’d signed Richard Midgley, so we were unlucky to lose, and we are definitely capable of winning.

“We’ve got nothing to lose, they’ll have a big crowd, but if we can go in there with confidence and isolate their outside game, we can get the win. We can still qualify from the group, we only lost by five against Newcastle, and if we win out three remaining games, we should go through.”

The BBL Trophy makes an early start on Saturday when EBL Division One champions Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder host PAWS London Capital. Thunder were a late invitee into the competition, and Saturday’s game sees them start their third straight year in the BBL Trophy.  With Capital having stepped up from the EBL in the close season, the two teams are old rivals.  Incredibly they met in all three semi-finals of the EBL competitions last season, with Worthing progressing on each occasion.

London coach Steve Bucknall admits to having little knowledge of the Thunder line-up, but he expects his side to start their trophy campaign with a victory, “With no disrespect to Worthing, we need the win, and as they are in a lower league than us, we should get it.”

Capital had a difficult weekend last week, losing narrowly at home against Kularoos Plymouth Raiders (73-71) and Marshall MK Lions (78-73), and coach Bucknall was a disappointed man, “It was like being punched by Tyson and Mohammed Ali, it really was a double whammy.  It was a tough weekend, I thought we played well in both games, but we’re lacking a player to step up a take charge at the key moments.  We’re competing well, but we don’t have a leader who takes the big shot when necessary.  I was that kind of player, Guildford have Tony Dorsey, and Jets have Shawn Myers. If you want to win things, you have to have someone who can do that.”

Worthing assistant coach Rob Newson expects the London side to provide tough opposition, "Capital have settled well in the BBL and have been proving themselves worthy members by beating established teams like the Sheffield Sharks.  The signing of Harvey Van Stein adds some inside presence to go with their stand-out shooters Sam Bradley and Wes Miller.  They also have the likes of Santa Ataha, Pierre Henry-Fontaine and Ibrahim Gariba that we know from their time in the EBL, so it's a great opportunity for us to let everybody know that we can compete with these teams and I feel like we have a great chance to win this game.

“We will have to get out to their scorers, and shut them down in transition. We will also work hard this week on our offensive rhythm and getting different shots for different players on the floor. It promises to be a great game!”

Worthing come into the game on the back of a 13 game winning streak which stretches back to their last meeting with Capital last season.