Explosive Prentiss Nixon calls for play-off atmosphere as Sheffield Sharks welcome Newcastle Eagles

A four-game winning streak has moved the Sharks into a position where a six-point win over Newcastle tonight, allied with a victory for Cheshire over Manchester at the same time, would see Sheffield advance to the semi-finals with a group game to spare (Manchester away on Sunday).

But Newcastle also know a victory would keep alive their chances ahead of a final group appointment next weekend, meaning there is plenty to play for on Friday night.

Nixon is the kind of supercharged character who could amp up an atmosphere in a funeral home, but he knows these nights are the special ones, even this early in a season.

“We’re super eager,” said the 27-year-old guard ahead of tonight’s 7.30pm tip-off.

“We’ve got to handle business, they’re going to come out hungry because they’re in the same position.

“It’s two teams fighting for something, it’s going to be intense, it’s going to be physical, we’ve got to keep our heads.

“It has a knockout feel to it. It’s one of those games early in the season that has a play-off type vibe.

“That’s what we’re here for, we’re not here to run away from adversity. You’ve got to go through something hard to win.”

It could be argued Sheffield have already done that, overcoming losing their first two games of the season to charge back into contention in the Trophy.

Sharks’ campaign hinged on that third group match-up in Cheshire when Nixon took the game by the scruff of the neck and lifted Sheffield past the Phoenix with a virtuoso 39 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“I came to the bench at one point and one of the guys said ‘you got it going, you’ve got to keep it going’,” said Nixon.

“At the end of the day I just wanted to do whatever I could to win. We were in a tough spot in a must-win situation and that’s what it took that night to get the win.

“I’d said before the game at some point we’ve got to make a statement, we’ve got to be decisive and show we’re a team that can contend for titles and ever since then we’ve shown we’ve got some pieces.

“But it’s not a one man show, and that’s important; we’ve got 10, 11 guys who can go every night, one night it might be me, one night it might be Jamell (Anderson), the next night someone else.

“Everyone plays a big part in what we do here.”

As explosive as he can be, Nixon is also a team player and allowing others to flourish is a key element of his game.

In the wake of that points blitz in Cheshire, Caledonia Gladiators came to Sheffield to silence Nixon by double-teaming him on defence.

Other players like Jacob Groves and Anderson came to the fore on that occasion to seal an overtime win.

“There’s been others,” Nixon points out. “We go to Caledonia and Jordan Ratinho has a hell of a night, Jake has a hell of a night, and then we come back here and Rodney Chatman has a great night, guys are just doing whatever they can for this team to win basketball games.

“I trust these guys, I trust them with everything I have to go out there and perform.

“I’m still going to go out there and take my shots when I’m open and be aggressive when I can, but at the end of the day if we don’t trust each other we don’t have anything.

“I know these guys can make plays and get open, I know I can get off the ball and let them work.

“Sometimes it’s best if teams are double-teaming me then it means we’re playing 4-on-3 elsewhere, and that’s perfectly fine with me.”