Sharks looking to join Rocks in the post-season
BBL Championship – Friday 13th April 2012
One Health Sharks Sheffield v Glasgow Rocks
Three games remaining and it appears Sheffield Sharks have all but booked their place in the BBL playoffs. One more win would definitely seal it, although head-to-heads and games remaining amongst those around the South Yorkshire side mean that the deal is as good as done. Glasgow come to town on Friday evening, hoping to cling on to their fifth position and in theory, an easier draw in the end of season shake-up.
Not that the Rocks look over-awed by anything. Their last outing on April 1st was an 85-77 win over Champions-elect Newcastle at the Kelvin Hall. DeAundre Cranston contributed 25 points to that outstanding success, to go with a more than competent season where he contributes 6.9 rebounds per game and a none-too-shabby 0.594 percent field goal ratio. Mychal Green has also proved to be a tremendous acquisition for Coach Sterling Davis, with 18.2 points per game and 4.6 assists for the 6ft 4ins guard. Davis himself is a fierce competitor and will inevitably be looking to outshine his fellow player-coach in Atiba Lyons to steal a march on potential playoff rivals.
The Sharks now have a plethora of Ohioan guard talent at their disposal with the welcome return to the court of Nate Reinking. Seventeen minutes play saw Reinking contribute two trademark three pointers in the 79-73 win over wooden-spoonists Durham last Friday at the EIS. To cap a fine week, Reinking was named in the 21 man Great Britain squad that will commence preparations for the summer Olympics. Fellow Ohioans Ryan Patton and Jimmy Langhurst will continue to fill the majority of time in the backcourt as Reinking continues his comeback from knee injury, but the Sharks will be glad to have Nate’s experience on board as the season rolls on to its climax.
Another Shark revelling in his role is Mike Tuck. The big Canadian registered his fourth BBL Team of the Week placing with 24 points and 9 rebounds against Durham to continue his outstanding run of form. Tuck has been a revelation since switching to centre following the departure of Justin Dobbins but there is clearly more to his game than providing presence under the basket. Shooting ability, especially from distance is one of Tuck’s fortés and hopefully he will get to display his full range against Glasgow. Olu Babalola posted 20 valuable points in the scrappy win over Durham, which broke a losing sequence of three games. The Sharks appear to have had difficulty in coming to terms with a ten man rotation and Coach Lyons must hope that the Durham win will spur his side on to greater things, on the back of a largely disappointing and troubled season.
The game tips off at 7.30pm on Friday at the EIS. For live Tweets follow me (@billybadknees) and I will attempt to bring you the action as it happens.
