Sheffield Sharks enter "must-win" territory after making major roster change

Lyons made the difficult decision to cut rookie forward Jalen DeLoach this week, insisting it was a move made primarily because “something had to change” as opposed to anything negative towards the 23-year-old American.

Going in to Friday night’s trip to Bristol Flyers, Sharks have lost four of five games to start the year, including a defeat at the first hurdle of their Super League Basketball Cup defence against the Phoenix last month.

With the London Lions having already won the Trophy and setting a blistering pace at the top of the league, Sharks realistically only have play-off seeding and the play-off trophy to aim for now this season.

And with three defeats on the spin at a Canon Medical Arena that has previously been a fortress for the Sharks since it opened in October 2023, the time to start putting things right has come.

Lyons said: “It’s a must-win situation for us now, we have to start getting back on the right side of these games or we’re going to run out of chances to pull it back up.

“It’s two tough games, two teams that are very aggressive offensively.

“It's definitely a good weekend to challenge us and see how this roster change has helped us.”

Last season, Sharks peaked in February and March, going on an 11-game winning streak that encompassed the SLB Cup final win, a first piece of silverware for nine years.

Lyons is confident they still have time this term to find a rhythm and hit their straps.

“We’ve had different seasons where we’ve peaked at different times, that tends to be how it goes,” he said.

“I’d like to think our best basketball hasn’t been reached yet, I think we definitely have a lot more to show on the court.”