Wolves quietly going about their business

Despite seven consecutive wins and only one defeat all season, the Wolves are still bubbling under in the consciousness of BBL Fans.

Even though Sheffield have started slowly nobody will rule them out of the equation and Newcastle are obvious front runners. The Riders are comparable to the Wolves this season but they are definitely being thought of more highly right now because of the Sullivan factor. Creon Raftopoulos spoke with Talkbasket.net this week and when rounding up his season so far he ommitted to mention the Wolves once and heaped praise on others. This after the Wolves had beaten his side three times in a month.

The other team that many expect to be there or there abouts in the Championship are tonight’s opponents for Worcester the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders. Having met each other twice already this season it’s 1-1 with a win each in their BBL Trophy group in October.

Wolves visibly struggled with the demands of back to back games last week, but they also weren’t helped by the tempo of the contest. A strong showing from the Raiders should get the Wolves through on adrenaline alone and enable them to go toe to toe. We will see how well last season’s league MVP Jeremy Bell has integrated, but the key as always is keeping Paul Williams quiet. In the game Wolves took from the Raiders last month on the road, Williams registered a modest 12 points.

Tommy Freeman has had a breakout quarter in each of the last three outings which has threatened to take the game away from the opposition. In the case of the two Tigers’ games it did finish things effectively, but Durham remained tenacious until the final buzzer. Sherrad Prezzie-Blue is a confident  game manager with the ability to score big and Richie Gordon is proving to be tough for any BBL side to handle at both ends of the court.

But for those who still don’t see the Wolves as contenders it is the players that haven’t necessarily hit the headlines that are as big a reason for onlookers to take notice. Watts, Kaslauskas, Callum Jones, Zimnickas and Carlos Fernandez have all made substantial contributions to the score board in recent weeks and it wouldn’t be surprising if any of them posted a 20 point game. Which is exactly what Tin-Tin did last night coming up big in Knowsley.

As Wolves sit joint second in the Championship after three games, someones 100 per cent league record will go tonight. It may not be until the end of December that we know how seriously the rest of the BBL community should take the Wolves as they meet the Riders on December 28. But a win tonight would make a few more start to wonder whether or not the Worcester Wolves are contenders.