Sheffield Sharks captain Rodney Glasgow learning fast in leading role

Not least in picking up the morale of his team-mates, and the level of their performance, amid an alarming slump in the BBL season.

The 30-year-old guard from Brooklyn succeeded long-standing Sharks captain Mike Tuck in the summer and was given an immediate test of his leadership skills as Sheffield lost their opening four games of the Championship season.

The response was a positive one, Sharks winning seven of their next nine games to climb back above a .500 per cent win-loss record.

But in a season of runs, Sharks then lost five in a row around Christmas to slump to eighth place in the standings.

Glasgow, who was in and out of the team with minor injuries and illness during that time, had to try and boost his players from on the court and off it.

“It’s 100 per cent on me to lift guys,” he said of a role that comes with greater responsibility.

“I always look at myself first before I look at this guy or this team-mate, so when it comes to what’s going wrong with our team, I ask myself how can I channel my energy into them and get them to do what we need them to do.

“I felt like I needed to show more energy, I needed to step out of my comfort zone and get on guys more. They need to be better, and I need to be better.”

Asked for a reason why Sharks had been so streaky, Glasgow added: “I hate excuses, but continuity comes into it, we’ve had guys in and out, had guys sick, injured. There’s not been a lot of fluidity.

“But it’s no excuse, we should still be able to keep the standard.

“It’s been up and down. We’re at a point in the season where we can’t have any more downs.”

Scoring points has been a problem for the Sharks – they averaged fewer than 70 in that five-game span – but snapped out of it with 35 points in the first quarter of their BBL Trophy round-of-16 tie with Thames Valley Cavaliers last Sunday en route to a 98-point haul.

That is the “standard we should be setting ourselves” believes Glasgow as Sharks look to get back on track against Bristol Flyers at Ponds Forge tonight, a game shown live on Sky Sports.

They need to get winning quickly, as the recent poor sequence has threatened what would be a record-extending 28th consecutive play-off appearance come season’s end.

“It’s a long season. You take it game by game but if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, as we showed in the BBL Trophy win, I feel like we should get back to the top four,” said Glasgow, in relation to the top eight qualifying for the play-offs, the top four getting home court advantage in the second leg of the quarter-final.

“It’ll be hard but I believe we can do it, we’ve got the right coaches and the right character to do that.

“Bristol are a well-coached team – but what I’m excited about is the grit that we’ve got, the hunger that I see. If we defend like we do and execute like we can on offence I think we’ll be all right.”

The Sharks yesterday boosted their options with the addition of forward Tyrn Flowers to the roster.

The 25-year-old spent last season with the Ontario Clippers in the G-League, with coach Atiba Lyons ​​​​​​​excited about his arrival.

"He will add some size to the roster,” said Lyons. “But he also has the ability to shoot the ball which will help spread the floor and add to our scoring capabilities.”