Friday 07 March 2014 – Sheffield Sharks vs Worcester Wolves

There have been few low points in a remarkable season for the Worcester Wolves, but this Friday they re-visit the scene of one of them when One Health Sharks Sheffield host Paul James’ side in the first leg of their BBL Trophy semi-final tie, (tip off 7.30pm).

The Wolves were thumped, 83-64, on their last visit to Sheffield, but James felt his side were able to learn something important from that experience.

“That’s the one game we got beat where we didn’t play any sort of team basketball at all,” said James, who this week was named Molten BBL Coach of the Month for February.

“We didn’t share the basketball. It was every man for himself and that was the game where if we look back, there’s no way we can do anything if we play like that.

“We have to play team ball. I think since then we’ve done a great job as we were unbeaten for almost three months.

“We must be doing something right and hopefully we can get back on track on Friday.”

The Sharks will go into this game on the back of a big win over Esh Group Eagles Newcastle last week, who themselves bounced back a few days later, ending the Wolves’ 14-game winning streak .

“We had an extremely slow start and Newcastle did a great job of getting at us early on,” said the Wolves’ play-caller.

“I think we were kind of in shock; 31-18 down, and we never really found a way to recover.”

He added, “Even when we did get back to four points, we just weren’t playing well enough to win that game.

“Disappointing, but all is not lost. There’s eleven other teams in the league who would like to be in the position we are right now, so we’re not stressing about it too much.”

The return-leg of the Trophy tie will take place at the University of Worcester Arena on Wednesday 12 March.