Raiders @ Sharks: BBL Championship preview
BBL Championship Preview
Friday 23rd November 2012
One Health Sharks Sheffield v UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders
Forget watching Z-list celebs munching on insects in the jungle, forget taking out a second mortgage to see the latest Bond flick at an over-priced multiplex and certainly forget lining the pockets of the overpaid prima donnas that make up the English football leagues. The place you really need to be this week is the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield for the best value ticket in town as the Sheffield Sharks take on the Plymouth Raiders in the British Basketball League Championship.
Plymouth come into the game on the back of a 108-98 win over the London Lions giving them fourth position in the table with a won six, lost three record.
What can you expect from the Devon-based men in green? The leading rebounder in the league Matthew Schneck brings his impressive quota of 11.9 rebounds per game (as well as 15.6 points per game) to town ably supported by an array of forward talent. Twenty nine points from Cork-born Colin O’Reilly was key to Plymouth’s win over London and fellow forward, 6’ 8” Javarris Barnett wasn’t too far behind with twenty four. Not that Plymouth’s game is solely built around athletic big men. Former league Most Valuable Player, Jeremy Bell is currently ranked second in points per game with a healthy average of 21.4, hotly pursued by team-mate Michael Ojo, who claims third spot with 20.3. Rightly tipped as silverware challengers this season, the Raiders are always an entertaining team to watch and Friday will prove to be no exception.
The Sharks haven’t had the greatest of starts to the 2012/2013 league season but a place in the semi-finals of the BBL Cup gives a clue as to the potential of Coach Atiba Lyons’ men. A 78-70 defeat to the London Lions was Sharks’ last outing; shooting guard Micah Williams leading the scoring with twenty points. Tennessee-born Williams’ shooting has been a shining light for Sheffield this year as his points average of 19.3 confirms and he is keen to continue that hot run of form against the Raiders: “The game against Plymouth is going to be a great game! Plymouth has a good team and after last week’s let down we are hungry to bounce back,” explained Micah, speaking to UKAmericanSportsFans.com.
The Sharks will also welcome new forward Demetrius Jemison to their home court for the first time. Jemison played limited minutes against the Lions but has now had a further week in practice to add support to Sharks’ big guys, skipper Mike Tuck and Olu Babalola.
So the high-flyers of Plymouth against the Cup semi-finalists from Sheffield. The last outing between the two sides at the EIS resulted in a thrilling 102-99 win for Sheffield in the dying embers of the game. Tickets are priced at just £8 or £25 for a family ticket and are available at www.sharksbasketball.co.uk (click on the ‘Shop’ link) until 24 hours before tip-off.
A final rallying call comes again from Sharks’ guard Micah Williams, ‘We need all of the fans support to have our back and come out and cheer loud and support the Sharks!’ Friday night, 7.30pm at the English Institute of Sport, Micah says you need to be there!
