Sheffield Sharks still finding their form heading into British Basketball League play-offs

Sharks are still in a race for fourth place in the British Basketball League and the home-court advantage that will offer in the play-off quarter-final. Victory against bottom club Plymouth City Patriots at the Canon Medical Arena on Saturday night will lock up fourth after Leicester Riders – along with Newcastle Eagles their rivals for the position – suffered a shock 94-89 loss to Manchester Giants on Friday night.

But no matter where Sharks finish, a team that has been bolstered by the arrival of free-scoring small forward Malek Green since February, is still finding its feet.

Lyons said: "We’re focused, we’re going through some stuff, we’re still finding our best form, but we’ve been a lot better since January. “We didn’t have a pre-season with this team so we’re still growing our offence and how we play the game.

"But they’re definitely hungry and they want to play. It’s a good atmosphere this late in the season."

The manner of the performance in beating Caledonia Gladiators last Friday and then nearly backing that up by defeating Cheshire Phoenix two days later gave Lyons heart.

"We did a good job, it was a good shift in mentality to get a win against a team like Caledonia and the things that didn’t go right offensively are fixable,” said the head coach.

"And we made a good job of pushing it and making a game of it against Cheshire. You don’t want to have to try and coach that effort and energy in that fashion this late in a season so to see them keep fighting has been great.”

Saturday’s game might yet see more minutes for Sharks big man Marcus Delpeche, as he finds his way back in after a long lay-off with an ankle fracture. His form has enabled Bennett Koch – arguably the most consistent performer of the season – to taper his minutes heading into the post-season.

"It’s been a long time since Marcus has reached the form he hit in previous seasons overcoming a very difficulty fracture,” said Lyons. “Bennett had played the most amount of minutes he’s ever played for us. So Marcus coming back to form takes the pressure off Bennett.”

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