Sheffield Sharks starting to click and eager to keep Newcastle Eagles winless, says Jordan Ratinho

Although point guard Ratinho was one of six players the Sharks retained for the 2022/23 season, a further six new faces came in to the team.

Such a split is not uncommon in British basketball, but it was one of the factors that led to the Sharks losing their first four games of the season.

“It was a little bit on both ends, just getting comfortable with each other," explained the 24-year-old Californian.

"We were a little tense, not knowing what each other does, we have had to just let everybody make plays they know they can make within their own game.

“It’s starting to get there, our offence looks better and our defence is getting stronger.”

That was certainly the case the last two games when Sheffield got off the mark with low-scoring wins over Cheshire Phoenix and Newcastle Eagles.

“Coach Atiba (Lyons) always takes pride in having a good defence,” continued Ratinho.

"I know we were one of the lowest points-per-game defences last year and we’re looking to do that again this year, so we’re off to a good start in that department, we just need to put more points on the board which we can start doing Sunday.”

That is when Newcastle make a swift return to Sheffield, the Eagles so often challenging at the top end of the BBL Championship now finding themselves winless at the bottom.

“We know what they do, they know what we do so it’s about making little adjustments, coming in with the same energy we did last time and staying the course,” said Ratinho.

“The energy is definitely picking up and I like what we’re doing.

"Hopefully we can translate that into the game on Sunday.”