Six Game extravaganza in the BBL tonight

The main focus will inevitably be at the EIS in Sheffield, where the hometown Sharks play host to Esh Group Eagles Newcastle in the last four of the Cup and with the visitors looking to make it to a third successive Final at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.

Sharks are out for revenge, having lost heavily in the league to their rivals and also to make up for last year’s semi-final loss to the Eagles in the same competition.

Tonight also sees five BBL Championship fixtures, with Glasgow Rocks needing to temporarily put the euphoria of their last-GASP Cup quarter-final win to the back of their minds when they get back to league action with an Emirates Arena double against Durham Wildcats tonight and Worcester Wolves on Sunday.

But that is easier said than done, with Great Britain captain and man of the moment, Kieron Achara having taken centre stage all week as his ‘prayer shot’ dropped and became a big focus for national and social media.

He revealed, “My family, friends, fans, and rival fans have all been very supportive and appreciate the entertainment value of the shot. It would have been a great game to watch regardless of the outcome.

“I believe we are improving every day and competing with teams like the Riders is a testament to how good we can actually become.

“We have a long way to go to win some silverware, but I know we are on the right track.”

Rocks face a Wildcats team tonight who are completely unpredictable, having lost to Leeds Force, only to triumph against London Lions 24 hours later.

“We are trying to build some consistency now,” said Wildcats’ play-caller, Lee Davie.

“We have shown flashes of what we can be, but now it is about trying to build on the positives, keep moving forward and try and put consecutive good games together over a two or three-week period.”

Having lost at Durham, it’s another trip north for Lions who are yet to really catch fire and live up to their pre-season billing. They face Leeds Force in Yorkshire this evening, with the hosts eager to continue their progression.

“The key is remaining thirsty for further improvements, both individually and as a team, as well as being willing to push through the difficulties that will inevitable come to be successful in this league,” said Force head coach, Matt Newby, who also praised the in-form forward duo of Will Hall and Branimir Mikulic.

“They are both good calibre players and offer match-up problems for opposition forwards. I think they are on track for strong seasons in terms of output and further developing their individual games.

“I also don’t think about building from this point as a team, as we have been developing throughout the course of the season.

“I think the (Wildcats) result reflects that – it endorses the way we train and prepare and the work rate of our players.”

While Force got their second league success of the campaign last weekend, so did Surrey United – behind the hot-hand of Kirk Crecco. And, the guard is looking forward to building on this win when United entertain Cheshire tonight and then face Riders on the road tomorrow.

He said, “The victory at Bristol will hopefully give us the momentum we need heading into these back-to-back games.

“It is difficult to get into a rhythm with so many road games, but fortunately we will play in front of the awesome fans we have at Surrey Sports Park.

“Our fan base has shown us tremendous faith and loyalty in sticking it out with us, despite some of our early growing pains.

“Hopefully we will be able to reward them with a pair of wins this weekend.”

Having lost to United, Andreas Kapoulas and his Flyers team could barely have asked for a more difficult double-header in their quest to bounce back – especially without the injured Doug Herring to call upon.

They go to Wolves this evening with the hosts no doubt eager to hit back in the light of their Cup quarter-final exit, with Flyers then entertaining the high-flying Eagles tomorrow.

“We’ve got to go out and put in a strong defensive performance in both games and that’s going to be the focus this weekend,” was the simple rallying call from Kapoulas.

One team no doubt keener than most to hit the hardwood will be Leicester Riders, as they look to move on from their gut-wrenching loss to Rocks and effectively giving up their grip on the BBL Cup.

“Our team this season has shown competitive fight in every game and that is something we expect, but we just didn’t play well enough throughout both parts of the game,” said Rob Paternostro in respect of last week’s dramatic loss to Rocks.

“A big problem for us is just finishing plays around the basket. We had a lot of open looks.”

While Riders will play against their former favourite Drew Sullivan and London Lions on Sunday, Paternostro is eager to focus on playing Surrey United tomorrow tonight – having already beaten them convincingly at Loughborough earlier in the campaign.

He said, “They have a talented offensive team that when they get it going, are very tough to defend. You have to make sure that you are not allow them any easy baskets and they have no comfort level.

“They have had a tough schedule so far with a lot of road games, but they seem to be improving each week.”

Finally, Plymouth University Raiders will provide the venue for this weekend’s BBLTV clash when they lock horns against Sharks on Sunday at the Pavilions, but before they can contemplate this, they must firstly try to get back on a winning track at home to Manchester Giants tonight.

Enjoy the games!

Story – BBL