Sharks hoping to continue run of form
One Health Sharks Sheffield at Glasgow Rocks
Friday 30th December at Kelvin Hall
One Health Sharks Sheffield will look to end 2011 on a high with a visit to third-placed Glasgow Rocks on Friday night.
The Sharks come into the game following a brief Christmas break, having won the previous four matches on the bounce. Coach Atiba Lyons will be mindful of the Sharks first post-Christmas game last season when the side looked weary from a hectic festive period and suffered a colossal 79-112 defeat at the hands of Newcastle Eagles.
Adding to the difficulty of the task will be the absence of talismanic Guard Jimmy Langhurst, who is back home in the States sorting out his Visa, with a return pencilled in for 10th January. Langhurst currently leads the BBL in three point field goal percentage, shooting 0.520 and is near perfect from the free throw line with a percentage of 0.939. Veteran Guard Nate Reinking will find himself with a different partner in the backcourt, Sheffield Hallam student Zac Gachette probably being favourite for a starting position.
The Sharks will again look to a big game from Forward Justin Dobbins. Dobbins currently rates fourth in the BBL rebounding averages with 10.1 rebounds per game and has spent the Christmas break in Yorkshire keeping up with the gym work. Fellow forwards Olu Babalola and Mike Tuck have seen an upturn in performance recently and the Sharks will hope for more of the same on their visit to the Kelvin Hall.
Glasgow on the other hand will be looking to rectify recent losses to Worcester and Plymouth that have seen them fall to 6-5 and a third position in the BBL table. Mychal Green remains the key player for the Rocks; his 20.1 points per game and 4.6 assists ranking him at fourth and fifth in the BBL respectively. Rocks Coach Sterling Davis is only too aware of the threat possessed by Sheffield and will hope to rally his team to the performance levels they displayed early in the season.
Tip-off is at 7.30pm.
