Friday 01 February 2013 – Manchester Giants vs Worcester Wolves

The race for a place in the BBL Championship play-offs continues at Wright Robinson College on Friday evening as Manchester Giants host Worcester Wolves.

The Giants are in a five-way battle for one of the final two post-season places, and go into the game in 11th place with a 7-14 record, while Wolves will still have their eye on a top four finish and are currently sixth with ten wins from 19 games.
The teams met in the opening fortnight of the season, with Wolves taking the Championship points thanks to a 92-80 victory and can seal the season series with a road win on Friday evening.

Giants’ coach Jeff Jones is ready for a difficult game on Friday evening: “Worcester have had a mixed season looking at their results. They had issues early with getting players in and then they had some injury trouble, but they have a very strong squad and when we played them early we struggled to compete. It will be another tough game for us. We will need to do a better job handling their size and try to stop them controlling the boards.

“They have picked up Kai Williams who is a really good player and gives them another scorer and Prezzie-Blue is there who does a really good job of leading the team. All in all they are a very talented and deep squad who will present a challenge for us.”

Jones knows that his side will have to play better than when they last met the Wolves: “Last time we never got off the bus until the fourth quarter. We performed poorly and will need to be ready from the start of the game if we are going to have a chance. Being at home should help us.”

Wolves’ coach Paul James is impressed with BBL new-boys Manchester: “The Giants have a lot of good British talent on their roster. They have players who can score in many different ways if you allow them to play with freedom. They have way too much talent to single out any one player.

“It was a long time ago when we first played them. They have made a few changes since then and it looks like for the better given how competitive they have been, and in particular the last few games. We really need to make sure that whatever we decide to do as a team, we stick to it and do it well.”

Worcester saw their top-four hopes take a knock last week with a loss against Surrey Heat, and James was clearly upset with the loss: “Well we certainly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We had several opportunities to secure the win in the last minute of regulation and did not take them, allowing the Heat to throw up a Hail-Mary three at the buzzer which banked in and tied the game. There was only one team in the game from this point! On a positive note Carlos Fernandez had his best game of the season whilst standing in at point for Prezzie-Blue. Alex Owumi had a solid game ending up with 30 points.”

Wolves are also giving early-notice to their fans that the match against London Lions, that was recently lost to the severe weather, has now been re-arranged for Saturday 16 February (tip off 7pm). This means that the club’s next two home matches at the University of Worcester will be on consecutive nights, with the Wolves also hosting the Mersey Tigers on Friday 15 February (tip off 7.30pm).