dateline Tuesday 2nd February 2010

The Molten BBL Player of the Month goes to Sheffield Sharks Centre Tafari 'Tap' Toney, whilst the coach's equivalent goes to his former boss, Fabulous Flournoy of the Newcastle Eagles.

Player-coach Flournoy has led his side to an 8-0 record during the month of February, as they have recorded victories over PAWS London Capital, Reading Rockets, Guildford Heat, Worthing Thunder, Worcester Wolves, Marshall MK Lions, Essex Pirates and Everton Tigers.

Beating Worthing in the Quarter Finals of the BBL Trophy is definitely a highlight, as the Eagles met arch rivals, the Tigers, last Sunday in the first leg of an exciting BBL Trophy Semi Final.

Flournoy commented: "It is a huge honour to have won the Coach of the Month award, but it's not me that deserves praise, it is the players that should get the praise for this award. We said back in January that we needed a run of wins, and credit to the guys for building this winning momentum, that we must keep going."

Toney, a Team GB squad member in his second BBL season, has had his quality rewarded, as he continues to have a break out year in this league.

The 6'8'' hustle man, scored 91 points in four games over the month of February, as well as providing defensive steel and rebounding energy for the league leading Sheffield Sharks.

He averaged an impressive 22.75 points per game in the month, and Sharks player-coach Atiba Lyons, sees him as crucial to the Sharks title assault.

Lyons emphasised though, that it was not just his starting Centre's ability to put the ball in the basket that is impressive: "Tafari is having a great season with us and is very consistent night in, night out" he said: "He has shown great improvement and can still improve a whole lot more. The good thing for him is that he is at a young age doing a lot, and still has a lot of time to build on his game."

He added: "Tafari is absolutely key to our success as a team, especially his consistency defensively, in that even if he is having an off scoring night, he will still give you defensive energy and grab a lot of rebounds. He is also a great 'team' guy, and he brings a lot of intangibles to the team that he doesn't always get credit for."

The Eagles and the Sharks will come up against each other in one of the BBL games of the season this coming Sunday afternoon at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, the home of the Newcastle eagles Eagles. Many people are describing this as the Championship decider...Only time will tell!

SEE THE mikeshaft.com 2010 RUN-IN HERE