WHO IS MUM SUPPORTING IN THE BIG GAME?

BBL SEASON 2009/10 DATELINE 18 10 09 PO TEAM PL WON LOST POINTS 1 SHEFFIELD SHARKS 6 5 1 10 2 NEWCASTLE EAGLES 5 4 1 8

WHO WILL MUM BE SUPPORTING? FIND OUT HERE

READ THE PREVIEW HERE

REFEREEING MASTERCLASS pt 1

From the beginning of an official’s career, it is constantly stated that when 10 players are moving at speed within the parameters of a basketball court, CONTACT IS INEVITABLE, but not all contact is illegal. Determining what is legal and illegal contact is part of the official’s development and knowledge building process. The ability to recognise and judge the consequences of contact further determines which officials will progress to higher levels.

FORMER TOP REFEREE ALAN RICHARDSON IS HOSTING A
REFEREE MASTERCLASS ON
mikeshaft.com

READ pt 1 HERE

BIG WINS FOR EAGLES, CAPITAL AND PIRATES

The Newcastle Eagles recovered from their first defeat of the 9/10 season to beat the Everton Tigers 98-81 at the MetroRadio Arena on Sunday, in what was a clash of last season's top two teams in the BBL Championship.

Darius Defoe scored 26 points on the night, including twelve in a row in a third quarter spell that put the game beyond the Tigers. Joe Chapman added two three-pointers to Defoe's scores to make it 77-57 and there was no way back for the visitors.

Meanwhile, there were wins for two of the teams nearer the bottom of the BBL Championship.

The PAWS London Capital scored their first win of the season and heaped misery on the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, beating them by 85-82. That was the Riders' second defeat in consecutive nights and leaves them in mid-table with three wins and three defeats.

Ibrahim Gariba was the hero for the Capital with 30 points, including 6 crucial points in the final minute.

Finally, the Essex Pirates recorded their first road win in the BBL, beating the Worthing Thunder 82-88 on the South Coast. Taner Adu scored 29 points, while Alan Metcalfe made 21. It was a run of 10-0 at the start of the third quarter and 6-0 at the start of the fourth that did the damage.

BUT THE SHARKS OWN THE WEEKEND

The Sheffield Sharks had a fantastic weekend holding on to the top spot in the BBL Championship after 2 big wins. On Friday the Sharks defeated the Glasgow Rocks at the EISS to take their record to 5 and 1, before making the long trip to Worthing for their BBL Cup encounter. The Sharks escaped the south coast with a nailbiting 1 point victory.

GREAT WEEKEND FOR SHARKS, EAGLES 1st LOSS

In a busy night of action in the BBL Championship and BBL Cup, the major winners were Sheffield Sharks.

The Sharks snatched a 92-93 win at Worthing Thunder in the first round of the cup to set up a second round tie against Everton Tigers in the Steel City and then they saw their nearest rivals in the league both lose to leave them clear at the top.

The previously unbeaten Newcastle Eagles went down 102-98 at Guildford Heat after overtime. Heat's Aaron Drakeford forced the extra period by sinking one of two free throws with five seconds left in regulation.

Drakeford was again the main man in overtime as his drive and bucket put his team ahead for good at 99-98 with, again, just five seconds remaining.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were crushed 67-89 at home by Marshall MK Lions. Playing without the suspended Tack Minor the Riders were on the receiving end of a 13-31 first quarter from which they could not recover.

Cheshire Jets took advantage of the defeats for Riders and Eagles by winning the north-west derby 101-92 against Everton Tigers. The Jets used a big third quarter to take control of the match and move into second place in the BBL.

Joining Sheffield in the second round of the cup are Worcester Wolves and Airwaves Plymouth Raiders. The Wolves will meet Leicester after winning 71-78 at Essex Pirates, while Raiders will host MK Lions after seeing off London Capital 85-80.

BIG RESULTS ACROSS BBL CHAMPIONSHIP & CUP

Sheffield Sharks defeat Worthing Thunder ... Cheshire Jets defeat Everton Tigers ... Guildford Heat defeat Newcastle Eagles (Eagles now and 1) ...
Plymouth Raiders defeat London Capital ... Worcester Wolves defeat Essex Pirates ... Leicester Riders whupped by MK Lions

MORE TO FOLLOW

SHARKS DEFEAT ROCKS TO STAY TOP OF BBL. 5&1

Sheffield Sharks kept themselves on top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a hard-fought 85-75 victory over the Glasgow Rocks at the EISS, Sheffield on Friday evening.

A tight opening to the game saw both sides trading baskets throughout the majority of the quarter, but it was Jessie Sapp's triple at the end of the period that proved the difference as the Rocks held a slender two-point lead 15-17 at the end of the opening ten minutes.

The second quarter saw the Rocks continue to hold their slender advantage, but thIs quarter belonged to Todd Cauthorn.

At the end of the first quarter Todd had 0 points and 1 rebound but, looking like the Todd Cauthorn of old he would end the half with 15 points, and 6 rebounds.

The home side held their advantage for the remainder of the period, and despite the visitors netting five of the final eight points in the half, the Sharks led 42-38 going into the break.

In the second half the visitors tied the game up at 45-45 off the back of a 7-3 start to the half, but a 6-0 response from the Sharks gave them the lead back at 51-45 before the Rocks tied the game once again at 55-55.

The Sharks bagged the next four points to lead 59-55, but a three-point-play from Rocks player/coach Sterling Davis trimmed the deficit to just a single point at 59-58 going into the final stanza. In the final period, a Mike Cook three-pointer instigated a 9-3 tear for the Sharks to take the score out 68-61. The Rocks got the deficit back to just four points at 70-66, but the Sharks broke the game open with a 10-3 burst to take the score out to 80-69 with 2:03 remaining in the game.

The Rocks tried valiantly to get themselves back into the game, but they could not find a way past some stout Sharks defence and the home side ran out eventual winners. Mike Cook led all scorers with 22 points for the Sharks while Mike Copeland led the scoring for the Rocks with 20 points personal.

This win keeps the Sheffield Sharks at the top of the BBL Championship with a 5 and 1 record and takes their current win streak to 5.

SHARKS AND ROCKS ABOUT TO GET IT ON AGAIN

This weekend is jam packed full of BBL Championship action, as well as the first few opening round cup games for this season. All of the BBL's thirteen sides take to the court looking for early season wins in either of these competitions. Several sides face double headers, and one of these is the Sheffield Sharks, who before facing a tough Worthing Thunder on the road, take on a talented Glasgow Rocks team at the EIS, Sheffield tonight.

As well as comfortably holding the all time head to head between the two sides at 36-14, the last game between the sides on 17th April this year was a four point Sharks victory at the EISS, avenging their five point loss to the Rocks at Kelvin Hall back in January. Both sides have always been respected within the British game, and both can head into the game confident that they will have successful seasons in the league, as Sheffield currently sit top of the BBL Championship table with four wins from five games, the Rocks have won two games out of the four they have played recently, being agonisingly edged out in single digit losses to Worthing and Newcastle recently.

Player coach Sterling Davis commented on the upcoming Sharks game and his side's performance in their win against the Worcester Wolves: 'I have mixed emotions about last weekend; on one side, we made way too many mistakes with the ball and defensively we were struggling; on the other side, we came out of a tough situation with a win and at the end of the day that's what its about. Excluding the fact that they are are top of the league right now, Sheffield have everything. They have a well balanced team with big presences on both the inside and the outside. We will have to be ready.'

His equivalent at Sheffield, Atiba Lyons is pleased with how is team is coming together, but admitted that American big man Matt Gorman probably would not suit up this weekend: 'I am very pleased with how the team is shaping up. We are fitting together nicely. The bonus is that Matt Gorman hasn't even played a game. He probably won't be ready for this weekend, and I don't want to rush him back to action too quickly.'

On the Rocks, Lyons said the following: 'The Rocks have retained a quality core from previous years with (Rob) Yanders, Sterling (Davis) and (Gareth) Murray. Returning three starters is a huge advantage in the BBL. The addition of American guard Jesse Sapp makes them very dynamic and an explosive scoring team.'

JAMES JONES STARS AS TIGERS GET IT DONE

EVERTON TIGERS GET FIRST WIN

After another exciting weekend in the BBL Championship, the weekend ended with victories for the Cheshire Jets, Everton Tigers and Marshall MK Lions on Sunday evening.

Everton Tigers began the action on Sunday afternoon and ended up with their first victory of the season with a hard-fought 85-79 victory over Guildford Heat at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. In a game where the lead changed hands on ten separate occasions, it was Kevin Bell who gave the Tigers the lead in the closing stages with four points in quick succession to take the score out to 83-79 within the last minute. The Heat tried valiantly to get themselves back into the game, but James Jones secured the victory for the Tigers from the foul-line.

Cheshire Jets moved themselves into fourth position in the Championship table thanks to an impressive 97-72 victory over struggling Airwaves Plymouth Raiders at the Northgate Arena. The game was tight for the first three periods with the score at 62-52 going into the final stanza, but Chez Marks bagged eight points at the start of the final quarter to help the Jets into a 10-0 start to the period and give them a 20-point advantage at 72-52 after 90 seconds of the quarter.

The Raiders could not get themselves back into the game, and the Jets were able to hold on and secure the comfortable victory.

In the other BBL Championship game of the evening, the MK Lions picked up a comfortable 90-80 victory over the Worthing Thunder at the Bletchley Leisure Centre. The Lions led for the majority of the game and despite a resilient effort from Thunder's Ryan Bratton with 28 points personal, the Lions held on for the comfortabe victory and moved themselves into joint sixth position in the table at the end of the evening's action.

READ THE MIKE SHAFT BLOG WITH PHOTOS HERE

SHARKS WIN ON THE ROAD TO GO TOP OF BBL

SATURDAY'S GAME RESULTS - 10 10 09
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 99 - 65 Essex Pirates
PAWS London Capital 67 - 78 Sheffield Sharks
Worcester Wolves 87 - 93 Glasgow Rocks

Sheffield Sharks are the new leaders of the BBL after winning their fourth consecutive match to move two points clear of reigning champions Newcastle Eagles.

Former Pittsburgh University star Mike Cook (pictured above) was once again Sharks leading scorer as his 26-point haul helped his new club to a 67-78 victory at winless PAWS London Capital.

The Sharks were made to work hard for the points as Capital trailed by just two 47-49 deep into the third. However, a 10-2 finish to the period gave player-coach Atiba Lyons' team a 10-point lead which they simply refused to relinquish.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders continued their strong start to the season with a comfortable 99-65 over Essex Pirates.

Coach Rob Paternostro was boosted by the performance of his bench players who were on court during a decisive run in the second quarter which blew the game open.

During the second quarter a 24-7 run sent Riders out to a 45-23 lead. Leicester spread the scoring round with buckets for Adam Williams, Tony Windless, Barry Lamble, Tack Minor, LaTaryl Williams, Aaron Westbrooks, Isaac Westbrooks and Jason Johnson. Pirates battled bravely but couldn't mount any serious challenge to get back in touch.

Glasgow Rocks secured a hard fought road win with an 87-93 victory at Worcester Wolves. The result moves Rocks back to 2 and 2 in the standings, but leaves Wolves still searching for their first points of the season as they go 0 and 4.

Rocks blew an 11-point lead (60-71), which Worcester pulled back to 73-73 midway through the quarter. But they soon re-established their authority as Jessie Sapp hit seven from the line and a Gareth Murray three gave them enough breathing room to take the win.

SHARKS DESTROY SAD JETS TO GO JOINT TOP

Sheffield Sharks 79 (24, 40, 67) (Cook 21, Toney 18, Lawson 16)
Cheshire Jets 62 (20, 33, 44) (Myers 17, Phifer 12, Gayle/O'Reilly 8)

The EIS Sheffield hosted the first of this weekend's BBL games, as the Sheffield Sharks took on the Cheshire Jets on their home court. The game went one way then the other through the opening exchanges, and it remained close at 13-12 midway through the first quarter, when the Sharks went on a 9-2 run, with three triples from Perry Lawson (pictured above). The Jets responded well however, with a 6-0 run of their own, to leave the score at 24-20 at the end of the first. The Jet's big man Phifer was killing the Sharks in the paint.

The second quarter's first points were scored by the Jets' Colin O'Reilly, as he drilled a three ball to take the scores to 24-23.

However, six points from the Sharks' Tafari Toney (pictured right), secured a 32-25 lead for the Sharks, and the sides then traded baskets to close out the half, as the home side went into the locker rooms, 40-33 to the better.

The third quarter proved decisive in the game, as the Sharks came out firin'.

Toney started a 17-0 blast, which included three pointers from Mike Cook, Ryan Patton and player-coach Atiba Lyons.

The Jets' first points of the penultimate period saw the scoreline go to 57-35, as Shawn Myers hit both free throws. The sides exchanged scores then until another long bomb from Lawson took the Sharks 67-44 up at the end of the third.

Toney made sure his side stayed ahead in the fourth, as he scored again to stretch the Sharks lead to 25 points at 69-44. Although six strong points from Shawn Myers took the Jets to within 20 points, an 11-5 run by the Jets towards the end meant the scoreboard read 76-61, the closest the visitors would get. The Sharks were led again by Mike Cook, who had 21 points personal, Tafari Toney, who scored at key moments to take his tally to 18, and Perry Lawson, who's formidable long range shooting earned him 16 points, and an MVP nod.

The Jets were led in vain by Shawn Myers with 17, Frank Phifer (12) and Steven Gayle and Colin O'Reilly (8 points each).

Shark's Head Coach Atiba Lyons was most satisfied at the team effort he saw on court this evening: 'It was great to get a contribution from everyone tonight, and to keep a team under eighty points, something we will be trying to do tomorrow at the London game. They are a potential 'banana skin' as they play really hard, and we will have to remain focussed if we want to keep that win tally going up.'

CALVIN DAVIS UNDERGOES MAJOR OPERATION

Following the injury Calvin suffered in the opening game of the season and an initial assessment at Newcastle General Hospital he has gone through a series of x rays and scans to establish the extent of the injury.

The outcome of these is that Cal has a fracture to his ankle with some ligament damage, the decision has been made in consultation with the orthopaedic surgeon to operate on the ankle in order to insert a plate and pins. It is hoped that this will provide the strength required for Cal to resume playing again in the second half of the season.

The operation took place yesterday at Arrowe Park Hospital on The Wirral. Paul Smith said 'I know how frustrated Cal is to have suffered this injury in the opening game particularly with the form he was showing on the practice court and indeed the game against Newcastle up until the time he suffered the injury, but he has remained positive throughout the last 2 weeks and is very focussed on doing everything in his power to be playing again soon.

He is getting the best medical treatment available and our physio's are ready to do their magic on him. I'm sure everyone across basketball in this country will join me in wishing Cal a speedy recovery and we can't wait to see him back on court in the second half of the season.'

BRATTON OR JACKSON IT'S ALL ABOUT REGGIE!

The Newcastle Eagles, have continued to deliver results, as they are one of only two teams who remain unbeaten, having played three games and won all three, and sit in the top spot in the BBL Championship table. After wins over Cheshire Jets and Glasgow Rocks last weekend, they overcame the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 112-105.

After the Eagles stormed to a fifteen point fourth quarter lead, at 94-79, the Riders' Tack Minor led a late charge on the game as he grabbed ten points in a 15-2 tear as the Riders got to within one point at 96- 95. Reggie Jackson then stepped up for the visitors with a deep threeball, and the Eagles then outscored their opponents 12-2 to close out the game.

Newcastle were led by Reggie Jackson, who turned in 30 points, and he was supported by Charles Smith and Lynard Stewart, who had 23 a piece. The Riders meanwhile, were led by the excitable Tack Minor (28), and Bradd Wierzbicki and Jason Johnson bagged 22 each.

Eagles player-coach Fabulous Flournoy, had praise for his opposition, but said that his side did not play as much defence as he would have liked: 'Defensively we let things slip in this game, but it was a cracking basketball game, and they had a bundle of key players. Tack Minor did a wonderful job of pushing the ball up the floor, but Bradd (Wierzbicki) and Jay (Johnson) were both integral parts. People may think, looking at the stats, that it was the 'Tack Minor show', but they are both vital as well.'

The Riders bounced back aptly against the Everton Tigers twenty four hours later, as they came from behind to grab a 98-95 win. After entering the last 1:35 trailing by 89-93, Minor scored a quick four points, to tie the scores at 93 with 32 seconds remaining. With 24 seconds left Bradd Wierzbicki hit a three-pointer that gave the Riders a lead that they held on to. They were led by three double-doubles, as Minor put up a massive 32 points and 14 assists, Jason Johnson bagged 22 points and 11 boards, and Shawn Durant got 16 points and the same in rebounds. Kevin Bell led the Tigers in vain with 23 points.

An eventful Saturday evening of BBL action is completed by a one-sided 100-71 victory for the Sheffield Sharks over the Worcester Wolves, who beat the Worthing Thunder 84-78 on Friday night. The Thunder then went on to seize a nail biting 93-91 over the Glasgow Rocks, who had comfortably dealt with Marshall MK Lions via a 96-78 win on Friday evening. Another tense encounter was the Essex Pirates beginning life in the BBL with a 61-60 win over PAWS London Capital.

The Wolves meanwhile, will want to put this weekend behind them, as after a drubbing at the hands of the Sharks, they ran out of steam against a deep Cheshire Jets side, who were led by Chez Marks (18 points) and Shawn Myers, who scored 10 of his 17 points in the final quarter to dispose of the Wolves 96- 83.

To complete reaction to Sunday's games, the Essex Pirates can be encouraged by their first outings as a BBL side, but couldn't quite come back from a third quarter 19-2 blast by Chad McKnight's Guildford Heat, as they fell 94-76 to the Surrey-based outfit, who are also unbeaten in two games, lying second in the table.

 

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