Sheffield Sharks cruise to victory, now they just need fans courtside at Ponds Forge

The sports hall at Ponds Forge would not necessarily have been packed to the rafters, but it isn’t too far a stretch to suggest it would have been bouncing as Kipper Nichols and Antwon Lillard led a demonstration of dunking as Sharks put in their most complete performance of the early season.

Sport has had a long time to get used to life without fans. This is basketball in its second month. Two thirds of a year passed without any action, so for the 11 teams that make up the BBL to be on the court at all is a reason to celebrate.

Competition has also resumed in the Women’s BBL and the national leagues below; all thanks to hours of hard work behind the scenes and a Government bailout that at least offers leagues, associations and clubs an insurance policy moving forward.

Sharks are back in business partly due to the hope that the return of fans at some stage this season can offset the losses.

That bailout will help, but even that comes with its challenges. The Government pledged £4m to basketball, £3m of that to the elite tier, but it is not as simple as merely £3m divided 11 ways and spend as you wish.

Each club, Sharks among them, have to apply for a slice of the money, justifying how much income has been lost through lack of gate receipts and gameday revenue. The money is, after all, from the public purse.

While clubs await the money and the return of fans, life moves on.

Sharks are planning for the return of fans whenever Sheffield moves back into Tier 2. It will not be the full 940 that Ponds Forge permits – Sharks traditionally hit capacity when the likes of Leicester Riders and Newcastle Eagles are in town – but it might be 200 in the first phase with the club, like all sporting institutions, bound by Public Health England’s understandable restrictions concerning social distancing.

Even that sparse a crowd would have been on their feet to acclaim a slam dunk from Lillard for the first points of the game.

Nichols, like Lillard a summer recruit from America, showed his own prowess above the rim and it was their scoring, allied with the work of guards Nicholas Lewis and recent acquisition Jeremy Hemsley, plus the rebounding of homegrown Rob Marsden at both ends of the court, that stood out.

Captain Mike Tuck had spoken in the build-up of his team’s need to make the slow starts that had contributed to them exiting the BBL Cup at the pool stage a thing of the past, and they responded in style, Tuck contributing six points himself and Hemsley draining a three-pointer on the buzzer as Sharks took a 55-30 lead into half-time.

Bristol, who had played the night before so could be forgiven for heavy legs, showed signs of life in the third quarter but the platform Sheffield had built was too high and Atiba Lyons’s side pulled away in the final quarter to seal an 87-62 victory.

Lillard led the scoring with 19 points, Hemsley added 18 and Nichols 17. Jodhe Campbell contributed 10 points from the bench.

As if to epitomise just how strong the Sharks performance, they missed just one of 15 free-throw attempts; Lewis scoring all five of his attempts from the line.

“We were keyed in today, it was a good performance,” said head coach Lyons.

“It was solid all round. End of the second, first half of the third was probably our weakest phase, they did a good job of adjusting at half-time.

“But we did enough to respond and balance the ship.”

The win was Sheffield’s third in four games across two competitions over the last 11 days, and gives them a 2-2 record in the Championship.

Lyons added: “We’re much stronger as a unit, we’re still a young team in terms of experience but also playing together, so it’s going to take time to get that cohesion.

“We know we have the ability but in the BBL you’ve got to bring it every night and play smart.”

Hopefully soon, they will do so in front of fans.

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