Worthing Thunder boss Dave Titmuss has warned his side that the main threat to them this weekend, is themselves. His side face Cheshire Jets on Saturday evening at Worthing Leisure Centre, and Titmuss said the following on the game: '"The main threat to us is ourselves! If we can cut down on our handling errors, read each other and the opponent a little better on offence, and keep playing with the heart and commitment in the effort areas that we've shown recently, then we can surprise our opponent.'
The former Reading Rockets coach also stressed the impact that losing starters Reggie Bratton, Sherrad Prezzie Blue, and Janis Ivanovskis, will have on his side, although he is pleased with the progress of the latter. He added: '"We will still be without forty percent of our starters, (Reggie) Bratton and (Sherrad) Prezzie-Blue, again this weekend when we play the (Cheshire) Jets and the (Guildford) Heat, and Janis Ivanovskis, who was a BBL All-Star last season, may not suit-up for us until the new year -although he is making good progress.'
Tipping off this weekend is a BBL Championship Clash between the Marshall MK Lions and the Sheffield Sharks at Bletchley Leisure Centre on Friday evening, and whilst he clarified that his side are relatively injury-free, Lions chief Vince Macaulay sees the weekend as a decisive point in the season in terms of league placings at the end of the season: 'Touch wood we all came through last weekend's game healthy, we are having a hard week of practice looking ahead to our two games and Yorick (Williams) is well on his way to regaining fitness' he said: 'Quite clearly the League is very competitive this year, there are quality players everywhere, however the top level teams will break away soon as far as the top five or six.'
On the Sharks game on Friday, Macaulay was keen to stress that although American Mike Cook has lit up the scoreboard for the Northerners so far, it is the whole unit that are the most damaging. He added: 'The Sharks have developed into a core unit of six or seven and they all know their roles on the team, whilst Cook has been the scoring star of the show you have to be aware that it is their collective team effort that has served them well so far.'
The Lions are likely to be a team that fans keep an eye on over the next couple of days, as they also face the Essex Pirates at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre the next evening. Saturday evening also sees the Guildford Heat embark on a double header in a bid to continue their blistering form under new player-coach Chad McKnight – they travel to the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.
Source: www.bbl.org.uk
