Wolves back in the hunt
Damian
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After an excellent win on the road in the BBL Trophy the Wolves still have a chance of making the last four of the competition. Richie Gordon is the early pace setter with the stats men as he racked up a double double yesterday to give him the third best points per game average in the BBL this season.
The team who will go on to the next stage of the Trophy will be determined by how Worcester and Plymouth fair against the Heat. The Raiders play the Heat first and if they fail to win the game, the door will be open for the Wolves to take the semi-final spot when they meet the Heat in Guildford.
Coach James was naturally very happy with the effort from his side Sunday, particularly after the day they had in the front court against the Raiders at home last week. James tried a new starting five bringing in Carlos Fernandez and Kaslauskas who replaced Watts and Zimnickas. The Worcester Director of Basketball felt this gave the team better options in the rotation and gave the starting five a better shape. It would also have given Carlos Fernandez more court minutes, something that the Wolves should have afforded him last weekend as his brief spells on the court improved the home side’s game. Fernandez doubled his time on the court (from last week) in this outing for Worcester.
All that said however, Wolves and Coach James have a new focus for this week, and that is a trip to Glasgow on Friday to play the Rocks in a BBL Championship opener for both sides. The Glasgow team beat the Eagles in the Trophy on Sunday but it was a Newcastle side that had already qualified for the semi-finals. Apart from that reverse fixture though, the Rocks have not lost since opening day beating Durham twice as well as the Eagles.
Worcester’s American imports led the scoring Sunday with Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (19) and Tommy Freeman (21) supporting Gordon with the numbers. After all the pre-season talk, Worcester are showing that they have the potential to be a top eight side this season, and a win on the road in Glasgow would get their championship ambitions off to a great start.
