The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks and PAWS London Capital meet for the first time on Wednesday evening as both sides look to build on encouraging wins last Sunday afternoon.

Rocks travelled to league champions Guildford Heat and shocked the home side with a fine 88-82 victory, while Capital snapped an eight game losing streak with a 72-56 home victory against Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder in their final BBL Trophy group game.

Rocks’ player-coach Sterling Davis was delighted with his side’s victory in Surrey, “We played really well, we made a slow start, but we turned things around pretty quickly and kept going from there. It was a great win, and we’re putting together a nice run of form now.”

Despite London’s only win in the last nine having come against EBL team Worthing, Davis isn’t underestimating the Capital side, “They are a pretty quick team, and they get down the floor quickly. They have a couple of players who can score well. They play up-tempo basketball, and we’re capable of matching that. We just have to pick and choose when we push the ball, and make sure we control the game.”

Although coach Steve Bucknall was pleased with the win against Worthing, he admitted that it was nothing more than he expected, “We expected to win against Worthing and we did. We played hard, and that was good to see, but the reality is that some of our players may be better suited to Worthing’s level. They need to make the transition, we need to be playing with the same confidence and belief when we play against BBL teams.

“When I played, I got excited about playing against the bigger teams, rather than a side below us. But we are still trying to learn, and gain experience. This is a different group of players to the one we had before Christmas, so we’re starting again.

“There’s some good signs with the English players, and I’m excited about Tayo Ogedegebe. I think he could be a fantastic player, and I wish I’d got to work with him earlier in his career.”

The previous night had seen the London side lose 111-101 in an overtime thriller against Everton Tigers in the BBL Championship, and Bucknall was far from happy about his side’s inability to close the game out, “We should have won the game. We had them near the end, and it comes down to brains and experience – they are things you can’t really teach. The game was there to be won on a number of occasions, and the bubble burst in overtime as their class and experience showed. The guys played hard, and there was a definite improvement, but it’s not just about playing hard, it’s about playing smart as well.”

Everton Tigers will aim to seal the regular season series against Sheffield Sharks when they host the Yorkshire side on Friday evening.

The sides previously met in front of a large crowd at Sheffield Arena in mid-December, and 28 points from Calvin Davis helped the visitors to an 81-77 victory.  The teams were close going into the final quarter, with Sheffield 69-68 ahead, and traded baskets through the closing stages before, with the scores level at 75-75, Calvin Davis netted a long three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the lead 75-78.

Having completed their BBL Trophy campaign with a loss at Newcastle last week, Everton had a blank weekend – and the break pleased coach Henry Mooney, “It’s been good to have the break, we were without four key players for the game at Newcastle [Richard Midgley, Delme Herriman, David Aliu, and Tony Robertson] and we’re hopeful that they will all be back for the weekend.  I’ve been watching Sheffield on tape, and we don’t match up that well with them.  They are small and athletic, but we’ll have a game plan to deal with that, and we’re looking forward to the game.

“It’s important to us as we can get the head-to-head decider.  They won one and lost one last weekend, but Worcester are playing well at the moment, so I can see how they might have struggled there.”

Sharks coach Pete Scantlebury believes that Tigers’ experience will give them the advantage against his young team, “They’ve had injury problems lately, but before that they had a good run.  The two guys who hurt us before Christmas were Tony Robertson and Calvin Davis, but they’ve added Richard Midgley now and he will give them an extra offensive threat.  They are an experienced side, and I think the danger is their experience against our novices, but I’m hoping that we will continue to show the improvement we did over the weekend.”

Sharks defeated Team Birmingham Panthers 84-61 on Friday evening, but saw their BBL Trophy dreams come to an end the following day when they lost 84-81 at Worcester Wolves, and Scantlebury was disappointed with his side’s first quarter showing in the latter of those games, “We showed a big improvement, but it’s disappointing that one poor quarter ended our chances in the Trophy.  We were 33-14 down at the end of the first, after they’d scored the final 12 points, and that was mainly down to our turnovers. 

“We were without Atiba [Lyons], but we still played much better.  We got back into the game but once again we blew it at the end.  It’s a shame because the semi-finals are in Sheffield, and reaching a final could have turned the season around.  We’ve now got to look forward to the league, and getting a play-off spot.”

PAWS London Capital will be aiming for a repeat of their early season 69-58 victory at Everton Tigers when the pair meet at the Capital City Academy on Saturday.

In the previous encounter, Capital stormed out to a 20-9 first period lead and, after a tight second quarter, they restricted Everton to just seven points in the third stanza.  Tigers came out fighting in the fourth and looked to get back into the game; they narrowed the gap to six points at 52-58 with 1.42 left before the now retired Wes Miller decided the game.  He netted two consecutive three-pointers to end the Tigers' resistance.

Having seen his side lose an overtime thriller against basement side Team Birmingham Panthers on Saturday, Capital’s coach Steve Bucknall blasted his players, “It was very disappointing for me. I could make excuses about not having enough players, but nor have Birmingham. They have a team of guards, we have a lot of forwards, and we should have been able to do something about them. I don’t know what kind players we have at the moment. We don’t seem to have any pride, they nod their heads and say ‘yeah’ when I talk to them, but it doesn’t seem to sink in.”

Turning to the prospect of facing the Tigers, who have now found their feet in the BBL with three league wins on the bounce, Bucknall added, “Everton will be tough on Saturday, but all of our games are tough.  We have to prepare mentally for the game.  The players need to take responsibility, I’ll take the blame when it’s my fault, but the players have to look at what they aren’t doing.”

With Capital having lost their last seven games, Tigers coach Henry Mooney is determined that his team will pile on the misery for the London club, “They’ve lost several players, including Wes Miller which is a big loss for them, so we need to make sure we can go down there and win the game.  They lost at Birmingham on Saturday – so it’s a must-win for us. 

“It was disappointing to go out of the Trophy, but things are looking positive for next season.  We’ve re-signed five players for next season, and that’s good for us as it brings some stability and will give them confidence.  I think with a couple of additions we can win something next year, and that will help us achieve our aim of playing in Europe by year three.

“We’re hoping to play some games at the Arena in Liverpool, and also stage a tournament in October which could include an NBA team.”

Chris Haslam, Tony Robertson and John Simpson have committed themselves to the Tigers until April 2010, while Great Britain international guard Richard Midgley and forward Delme Herriman have agreed one-year extensions.

There’s a repeat of last season’s BBL Cup final when Guildford Heat host SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks.

Rocks will go into the game with mixed emotions following an extraordinary game against old rivals Newcastle Eagles last Sunday, eventually winning 100-78.  They needed to beat the Eagles by 24 points in order to progress themselves, and with 27 seconds remaining they were doing just that until former Rock Charles Smith saw his team through with a pair of free-throws.  Despite the disappointment of going out of the competition, Davis was pleased with the battling qualities his team showed, “We came a lot closer than most people thought we would.  We believed we could do it, and I think we proved a lot of doubters wrong.  We played well in the first half even though we had some breakdowns, and we were still leading at half-time.  They brought it back down to eight, but we did really well in the fourth period, we stuck at it, and showed a lot of heart.”

Davis is hoping that his side can build on that win when they travel to the reigning league champions, “I hope we can continue to do what we did well on Sunday.  Everyone’s fit and healthy, we’ll work hard in practice and show the same mentality at Guildford.”

The Rocks’ player-coach knows that his side face a difficult test in Surrey, “Tony Dorsey is playing pretty good for them at the moment, but because we haven’t played them yet this season, I need to sit down and watch some tape.  I saw a few minutes of their BBL Cup semi-final, but we’ll do a lot of work with the video this week.”

Heat also had a mixed week as they wrapped up the qualifying stages of two competitions.  A 99-77 win at Worthing Thunder gave them a perfect record in the BBL Trophy group stage, and they will now meet Worcester Wolves in the semi-final at Ponds Forge on Saturday February 2; while on Tuesday evening monster performances from Mike Martin (28 points and 15 rebounds) and Tony Dorsey (21 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) could not prevent them losing 92-73 at Turk Telekom Ankara in the ULEB Cup.

Guildford enjoyed the best of the four league meetings between the two sides last season, winning the head-to-head league series 3-1, and also took the BBL Cup against the Rocks. 

However, Rocks gained revenge in the play-off semi-finals, winning 78-71, as Sterling Davis led them to victory with 14 points in a game where they survived a late comeback from the Heat having led 61-48 at the final break.

These teams can barely be separated in BBL action over the last couple of seasons.  The all-time head-to-head has them tied at 5-5 and in the last two seasons there have been three one-point games between the sides, with the Rocks taking two of those.

The Kularoos Plymouth Raiders and Worcester Wolves meet for the first time since the opening weekend of the season in BBL Championship action on Sunday.

Raiders’ coach Gary Stronach is expecting a clash of two different basketball styles on Sunday afternoon, “Wolves are an in-form team, they’ve beaten Newcastle and Sheffield recently, and they are playing some up-tempo basketball.  James Life and Anthony Paez are pushing the ball well, and they’re playing a ‘run-and-gun’ style.  It’s going to be interesting, as we aren’t that kind of team.  We need to try to slow them down, and take them out of their rhythm.

“I saw them play Birmingham at the NIA, and Life certainly has some pedigree.  He went to UMASS and he’s putting some good numbers up, I think he scored 47 against Jets and he’s more than capable of scoring in the high 20s on any night.  My main concern is their running game, but they are strong in all positions.  Sean Durant was impressive against us at the start of the season, and it’s going to be a tough match-up.”

Plymouth saw their BBL Trophy defence all but ended with a surprise loss at the BiG Cheshire Jets on Sunday, and Stronach was clearly distraught at the loss, “It was a pretty horrendous day, and we just didn’t play.  I’m not taking anything from Cheshire, Jayson [Obazuaye] got going and once he was in the groove, we couldn’t knock him out of it and he dropped 23 points on us.  But with the exception of one or two players, they all played below their individual ability and it obviously affected the team.

“It’s beyond disappointing, we’d done so well against Milton Keynes the night before.  It wasn’t tiredness, we’re a fit team, but we just didn’t play well and they gained confidence as the game went on.  We only had one run in the whole game, and you won’t win games like that.  They are a good team, and they’ve found some form recently.

“I need to pick the guys up now, and we have to aim for a good play-off spot. I think we are good enough to finish in the top four, but I’m sure a lot of other sides feel that way about themselves.”

Wolves’ coach Skouson Harker knows that his side will face a tough game in the West Country, “I was thinking we might have them in the Trophy semi-final, but they seem to be out of it.  They will be upset that they didn’t get through, and Gary [Stronach] will have them motivated this week.  They’ll be wanting to move on and focus on the next thing, which is a place in the play-offs.

“They’ve got good balance and a deep roster.  Drew Lasker is definitely their key player, I know he’s been injured but he’s the kind of guy who will be back.  He’s a good player, and difficult to guard.  DeAntoine Beasley is probably having his best season in the BBL, he’s putting up some good numbers and rebounds well.  Terrance Durham is another tough player, and Gaylon Moore is one of my favourite players in the league.  He does everything quietly, but he’s always a danger.”

That game at Worcester in September saw Raiders win 85-79, thanks partly to 17 DeAntoine Beasley points.  An 18-2 run put Raiders 48-37 up at half-time, before Wolves leveled things at the final break, 58-58.  Raiders edged in front early in the fourth quarter and were handed a gift when Wolves’ coach Skouson Harker was called for a technical foul.  From the resulting free throws Alistair Gall made both and then sank a three-pointer from the ensuing possession as Plymouth opened up a 66-75 lead.  Wolves got it back to 72-75 but Raiders maintained their composure from the charity stripe to seal the win.

Following their loss against Wolves, Eagles’ captain Andrew Bridge is looking forward to his team getting back to winning ways when they host the Riders on Friday, “We’re looking forward to getting back on the court on Friday, and the other two times we’ve lost this season, the reaction has been really positive. It was pleasing for me as captain that we’ve come out and played with a chip on our shoulder. If we do that, losing last week is no big deal, but if we don’t it’s a problem. Everyone loses games, we just didn’t expect to lose that one. The most important thing is that we bounce back”.

Stronach goes into the game sweating on the fitness of several players. Gaylon Moore and Ali Gall both missed last Saturday’s hammering of Leicester Riders, and the Raiders coach admitted that his side are struggling physically, “We have a number of guys who we’ll have to wrap up in cotton wool. We’re not quite at the point of having to register me as a player, but it’s tough going at the moment.”

Worcester Wolves will be looking to repeat their first ever away victory in the BBL when they travel to Everton Tigers on Friday evening.  Wolves went winless on the road in their first BBL Championship campaign, but their trip to Merseyside on the last day of November saw them pick up a 92-79 victory.

Skouson Harker’s men turned in a superb fourth quarter effort to pull away from the Tigers.  After leading 66-70 at the end of the first three quarters the Wolves opened the final stanza with a 14-2 burst to go ahead 84-68.  From then on there was no way back for Everton even with a Delme Herriman four-point play late in the match. Worcester’s James Life led all-scorers with 29.

Tigers’ coach Henry Mooney is hoping for revenge for that Wolves victory, but knows it will be a tough game, “Wolves are a good team, but we should have beaten them last time.  They played well, but we’re working on ways of stopping Anthony Paez and James Life, and if we do that we can win the game.  Harker’s a good player, and Durant did well in the last quarter, but if we can build on the way we played against Newcastle, we should get the win.”

The Tigers come into this game on the back of a BBL Trophy defeat to the Newcastle Eagles, “We didn’t prepare well for the Newcastle game.  We allowed the Americans to go home for a short break, and their plane was delayed on the way back, so they missed practice.  All we had was a bit of a shoot-around and a walk-through on Friday morning.  Despite that, the first and fourth periods saw us play our best basketball of the season, and if we can play like that on a regular basis, we will do well.

“Richard Midgley is an excellent signing for us, but I was a bit worried how Tony Miller would react to dropping out of the starting line-up, but he’s come back with a great attitude.  He’s fighting for his minutes, and he played really well against Eagles, and has been lighting it up in practice.  Competition for playing time is really good, and the players know they’ll have to work hard for their minutes.”

One player the Wolves won’t have to face is forward Luke Lloyd, who has left the club after his brief spell, as Mooney explained: “It was a mutual decision, and we are working on getting another big, physical kid in. We believe we have someone who is just coming off a knee injury, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Flournoy will hope to have new signing Bryan Defares available for the game, especially as several of his roster are still struggling with injury, “We are nursing a few injuries, and it’s our first double-header for a while. Jeremy [Hyatt] played in his first game for a month against Everton, and he was sore after it. Both Andrew Bridge and me are suffering with knocks as well. They aren’t major injuries, but we are struggling a bit. I gave them New Year’s Eve and Day off, and hopefully a few days’ rest will have helped us.”