Sheffield Sharks can take pride at their progress despite unedifying end to British Basketball League season

The pride comes from how they responded to a mid-season slump to drag themselves into an advantageous position in the final British Basketball League regular season table and to two dramatic, uplifting play-off wins over Leicester Riders.

And the progression is obvious off the court. A year ago, and for the best part of a decade, they were playing to around 750 fans at a sports hall they had to rent at Ponds Forge. No match night income to call their own. No real sense of belonging.

Fast forward a year and they are finally into their own state-of-the-art facility that they opened to much fanfare in October, managing to maintain the momentum created and build on it, leading to two rollickingly-good atmospheres in front of 1,600 fans on each of the last two Sunday nights when the sound of horns and cheers bounced off the curved roof of the Canon Medical Arena.

That the arena would eventually echo to the sound of boos on the last of those two occasions covers no one in glory, however.

The same fanbase that roared them to a comeback series victory against Leicester seven days earlier came with an expectation that they would do the same against Cheshire on Sunday. But when baskets failed to fall and Cheshire inched ahead, the minor irritant of refereeing decisions going against them exploded into a heated atmosphere of injustice that neither players, nor coaches, nor fans could drag themselves out of, both parties fuelling the other’s ire. When Sheffield needed cooler heads to prevail, there were none, and this season of progress and pride got an unedifying end it did not deserve.

Head coach Atiba Lyons has already held his hands up and accepted responsibility for his part in it, having been ejected from the court for the second time in three weeks.

“Inexcusable,” was the word he chose to describe his actions.

He felt his players were harshly treated by a team of officials led by Eduard Udyanskyy, but deep down knew the roster he had assembled had met their match in the Phoenix.

“It was a tough environment, Cheshire is a very good team, they shot the ball well tonight and we didn’t,” admitted Lyons.

“We came out for the game full of energy but we missed some chances and when you don’t take advantage you’re not giving yourselves a good chance to win.”

When the air in the arena eventually cools, how will Lyons reflect on this season for the Sharks, one in which they have a new home and a growing fanbase, but remain trophyless stretching back to 2016?

“We did a heck of a job to turn that final third of the season around, there’s a lot to reflect on but I’m really proud of the team,” he said.

“We’re going to be disappointed, we’re going to feel this one. Unfortunately for us we can’t make it all the way this time but we played well and did a great job to get to a semi-final. I think we’ve made progress this year. Coming into this first year in a new arena we didn’t know what to expect, we didn’t know how it was going to go, throughout the whole organisation on and off the court there’s a lot that goes into transitioning from what we were into what we are now and I think the players did a phenomenal job, backroom staff, management. I’m very proud of the season.”

Thoughts that had already begun turning towards next season will now accelerate. Sharks have only one player contracted for next season in captain Rodney Glasgow Jnr but have always been a club that values bringing players back. It will also help in the building of a new fanbase to have familiar faces returning.

Jordan Ratinho, Kipper Nichols, Bennett Koch and Marcus Delpeche have now played multiple years for the club and are as established as imports can become. Jalon Pipkins and Devearl Ramsey have added extra speed to Sheffield’s game since joining midway through last season.

And this season’s mid-year acquisitions, Prentiss Nixon and Malek Green, both became two of their more reliable clutch scorers. But their impact might have caught the eye of other clubs, as might RJ Eytle-Rock who became a Great Britain international squad member in a first season of professional basketball with the Sharks in which he went from bench role player to starting five.

Those who do come back they need to return healthy. Glasgow and Delpeche both arrived in Sheffield last pre-season with serious injuries they took time to shake.

With an attendance that has doubled and matchday income their own - which is a luxury they have never had - Sheffield should in theory have a bigger budget with which to challenge the wealthier teams next season.

And will the way their season flamed out help entice players to come back to Sheffield? Unfinished business and all that.

“It’s all about how we treat players, their experience with us,” said Lyons of their recruitment.

“We try our best to give people the best chance to be successful and the players that have that in them, we don’t need to tell them that. They’ll want to come back because of their competitive spirit.”

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