Lyons’ summer more a basketball busman’s holiday

Atiba Lyons’ season as head coach of Sheffield Sharks may have finished a number of weeks ago, but the man at the helm of the 2013 BBL Trophy champions will still have basketball on his mind speaking at the start of the off-season.

Speaking on their official website, Lyons began by summing up his season: “I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the season. It started so slow and troubled. The finish was really something considering we had Micah Williams out and so many of the young players stepped up to the role.”

Relaxation is often difficult to come by for a BBL coach relax after eight intense months travelling the length and breadth of the UK, but has plenty to keep him occupied: “My plan for the summer is to relax early on and see some family. I have a few of my nephews and nieces graduating. Then, from there, trying to resign the large majority of the team from this past season. After that, seeing what is needed for the team and recruiting accordingly.

“I think we left ourselves room to improve,” he went on to say, “I want to continue on creating a strong defensive minded club from the Juniors to the Senior men. I am trying to add to the current roster to fight for a top four finish. That is the goal!”

The likes of Marko Backovic, Marcus Welsh and Eddy Brownell did in fact make their way through the ranks of the Junior Sharks to join the full squad for the playoffs: “I would love to keep feeding the Junior Sharks up through the ranks into the Senior team. I feel we have a nice crop of young talent and for them to get some experience in a professional environment is key to their development. The way we do it at the Sharks is the call up is on merit and performance. The Juniors called up may change depending on performance. I think that puts more prestige for the players on the bench.”

Despite all of this forethought, Lyons has said part of his time away will be filled initially by being “glued” to the NBA Playoffs.

As the summer for the Sheffield supporters has already begun, Lyons rounded off by issuing a call for them to secure their 2013-14 season tickets as soon as possible: “Fans should invest because we will be a fast, explosive, young team that work together and work hard. The plan is to win more games next year to add more excitement!”