Sheffield Sharks and Drake Jeffries switch attention to electric home atmosphere after London Lions defeat

The words of the University of Wyoming graduate will be music to the ears of all involved at the Sheffield Sharks who worked for years to have an arena built for themselves and appear to have hit the nail on the head with their compact but atmospheric new home.

Thirteen months since they moved in and after many high-energy nights, they welcome Bristol Flyers on Sunday (4pm) in their first home appointment of the Super League Basketball Championship season.

Jeffries, a 25-year-old shooting guard who was one of seven new faces signed in the summer, is playing outside the United States for the first time in his career. He said: “The crowds have been good and the atmospheres have been fun. I played on a Division II school out of high school and I would say it would probably compare to that.

“It’s definitely way more electric than high school games from where I’m from, way better than the G League games, which are boring. Some can be fun but most are boring.

"I remember that first game against Newcastle, it was a great atmosphere, the Cheshire game was really loud. It’s been fun.

“Obviously we want to win more games here than we have been doing already, but it’s been enjoyable.”

Therein lies the challenge. Sharks won four and lost four in the season-opening Trophy competition, a record that was not enough to see them advance to the semi-finals.

They began the 32-game regular season against London Lions in the Copper Box on Friday night, losing 92-68 to the defending champions, with Rodney Chatman III scoring 17 points.

Next up is a return home to face the Flyers, who also had a 50-50 record in the South Group of the Trophy, though that was good enough to see them advance to the last four.

“It was upsetting not being able to compete for the Trophy but we knew it would be difficult with our change of roster, losing Makhi (Mitchell), having Nelly (Cummings) for a little bit,” said Jeffries, who scored 14 points against London in a game where they led after the first quarter.

“We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs already so the Trophy wasn’t the biggest thing on our minds.

“Us being able to go and compete to win the SLB Championship is the biggest thing.”

Sunday’s game is Atiba Lyons’ 668th in charge of the club, matching exactly the combined number of games coached by the Sharks’ previous three chiefs.