Rodney Glasgow adapting on the fly to steer Sheffield Sharks from point guard

A point guard sets the tone, sets the tempo of the offence. It is a highly-skilled position which can take years of learning.

Eight BBL Cup games into the 2021-22 season, Sheffield Sharks head coach Atiba Lyons had seen enough to decide that in Lucien Christofis, he had a point guard that didn’t fit the offence he wanted to run. So on the eve of the start of the BBL Championship, Christofis was cut and a 29-year-old veteran of six years in professional basketball was quickly drafted in.

“I was home, I turned down two or three offers just waiting for the right situation,” Rodney Glasgow tells The Yorkshire Post.

“Coach Atiba called me and wanted me to come here. He told me how he wanted the team to play, I’d heard good things about the Sharks, so I was eager to get the deal done and get here as soon as possible.”

Glasgow, who had spent the previous season playing in Iceland, already knew about the BBL and of playing against the Sharks from his time with the Newcastle Eagles in the campaign that was curtailed by Covid.

“I actually wanted to stay here after Newcastle, wanted to stay in the BBL, it was just a better offer from Iceland,” he says. “The BBL was getting better with each passing year. It’s a league that’s going in the right direction.”

Sharks are now heading in the right direction with three wins from their first five league games thanks in part to the impact of Glasgow.

“As a point guard you have to adjust on the fly, you’ve got to pick things up quicker, work a little harder to make sure you get all the play-sets down, the familiarity, who wants the ball. This is my seventh year as a pro now, I understand how it works. It’s hard that first week but instinct takes over.”

It certainly did in his second game with the team when he scored a buzzer-beater to edge Sheffield past Manchester.

“Coach drew up a play and it came down to me being available. I just tried to make the play.

“It was very satisfying. Firstly I want to get the win, but I’m not afraid of being in those moments, I don’t get nervous in those situations. For coach to trust me in that situation says a lot.”

Sharks will look to Glasgow to inspire them tonight against Plymouth City Patriots at Ponds Forge, and in the return in Devon on Wednesday night. He says: “Plymouth can scare you in many ways and if you’re not focused in the first quarter it can be tough, so with these back-to-back games it’s important we set the tone.”