Jordan Ratinho celebrates double double as Sheffield Sharks stun London Lions in BBL

On a team level, the 25-year-old Californian was as instrumental as ever in helping the Sharks beat bottom club Surrey Scorchers on Friday night and then follow it up by stunning top team London Lions at the Copper Box on Sunday.

And on a personal level, Ratinho racked up 1,000 points in a Sharks jersey against the Scorchers, and then his 100th game for the team in adding a further seven points to his tally when taming the Lions.

"It makes me realise I’ve been here a while," laughed Ratinho when asked about the landmark statistics by The Yorkshire Post. "But it’s a great accomplishment.

"Any time you can put up those kind of numbers at a consistent level is something to be proud of and I hope it shows how much I’ve brought to the organisation, and hopefully I can help the team win.”

Like every player on the Sharks playing staff, Ratinho is yet to enjoy the feeling of winning silverware, something which the club hasn’t experienced since 2016.

Despite a rocky mid-season spell they gave themselves a chance of ending that barren run in the BBL Trophy, only to lose at the semi-final hurdle to Cheshire Phoenix.

With their current run of five straight wins, however, they have put themselves in the conversation as a dark horse to win the end-of-season play-offs, which a month ago they were struggling to qualify for.

Now, though, Atiba Lyons’ men are up to seventh, comfortably inside the top eight and a team every opponent will be wary of, not least London, who despite closing in on the BBL Championship title and spending big on players to compete in European competition, have lost twice to the Sharks in the league this season. They have only lost on one other occasion in the league.

"It was a great win, any time you beat a team that’s top of the table it’s a good win, but it was definitely a culmination of everything we’ve been doing well as a team, so it felt good," said Ratinho, who initially came to the Sharks as a guard but is evolving more into a forward as they continue to transition to a small-ball line-up.

"We’re definitely starting to string wins together, it had been an issue for us, not being able to consistently put wins together.

"London was a bit of a statement in that we’re not just beating up on Surrey (who they beat three times in the last five games). Surrey gave us a close game on Friday but any team can because there’s so much talent.”

This time last year Sharks were building towards a second-place finish behind Friday’s opponents Leicester Riders, only to be bounced in the quarter-finals of the play-offs by the seventh-placed team Glasgow Rocks due to a combination of their own injury problems and Glasgow having momentum.

This year it could be the Sharks who go into the play-offs as a dangerous low seed having reshaped their roster around mid-season guard acquisitions Jalon Pipkins and Devearl Ramsey.

"Anything can happen,” said Ratinho. “We’re showing we have the pedigree to beat any team in the league.”

Ratinho was key down the stretch last year, just as he will be over the coming weeks as he continues to repay the club for their continued faith in him.

"Coach has confidence in me, he really lets you play with freedom,” said Ratinho.

"He lets guys do what they’re good at. That’s helped me, and I’ve definitely grown in my time here. The club have treated me well and it’s been a good spot for me."