London Lions travel schedule not our concern as Kipper Nichols and Sheffield Sharks look to upset British Basketball League champions

Bennett Koch, Jordan Ratinho, Marcus Delpeche, Devearl Ramsey and others all sorted their returns to Sheffield during the summer, allowing them ample time to prepare for the 2023-24 British Basketball League season.

But Ohio native Nichols appeared the odd man out when Sharks tipped off the season in Newcastle on September 14.

He still didn’t have a club, but when Sharks head coach Atiba Lyons released Zach Walton after less than a month in Sheffield, the reliable Nichols was his first call.

"Every summer the process is the same, you vet what’s going on, you weigh your options, correspond with your agent,” said Nichols of his late arrival.

"But I’m here now and that’s all the matters. The team called me and we got things figured out.

"I love it here, I love the people, I love the organisation. It’s a family here so when the call came in it was a no-brainer.”

And Nichols has certainly picked up where he left off last season.

Statistically, his third year with the Sharks was his best, averaging 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. Through six games since joining before the second fixture of the season, Nichols is shooting 11.7 points per game – which is second on the team - and 4.3 rebounds.

Moreover, the team is performing well, resounding wins over Newcastle Eagles and Caledonia Gladiators in front of four-figure crowds at the new Canon Medical Arena, scoring an average of 91 points, moving them to a 4-3 record.

"We got a great group of guys this year, they all play the game the right way, nobody’s perfect, but they do a great job on both ends of the floor communicating,” said Nichols.

"It makes it a lot easier for us as a team.

"As much as this new arena is a privilege and I definitely feel fortunate to be here, it has little to do with us being at home and more to do with the shift that we made in terms of the way we play, they way were were able to mesh as a team, gaining a certain amount of synergy on the offensive end that allowed us to have this recent success.

"We’re gelling really well right now.”

They will have to be at their best to slow tonight's opponents, London Lions, the defending league and play-off champions who have won eight of eight to start the season.

They only lost four of 36 games last regular season, but two of those were to the Sharks, and they come in to this third-ever Sharks game at the Canon Medical Arena on Friday night (7.30) having played in Riga in European competition on Wednesday night, and in the league against Newcastle on Monday, when they needed overtime to beat the Eagles.

Nichols said: "They’ve got going on what they’ve got going on, we just worry about how we prepare day in and day out.

"We believe in ourselves as a team and the processes we have in place to win games. ”