Rocks Prepare for Televised Playoff Game
Sterling Davis is hoping that his SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks
team can build on Sunday's moral boosting victory against
the Guildford Heat when they travel to Marshall MK Lions to
tip-off the BBL Championship Playoffs live in Setanta Sports
2 on Wednesday (7.30pm).
Rocks defeated league runners-up Guildford Heat 94- 76 in
their final regular season game on Sunday afternoon, and Davis
was pleased with the result,
"We played pretty well. There are still some things
to work on before Wednesday, but it was really good to get
the win."
If Rocks had lost that game, they would have dropped to sixth
in the final table, and would have faced a trip to the Kularoos
Plymouth Raiders, but Davis was not overly concerned with
who his team played in the playoffs,
"We didn't have a preference for either side, the only
problem with facing Lions is the quick turnaround in games.
We'll be playing our third game in six days and we don't have
a lot of time to prepare for them.
"However, we'll need to be ready for them. We're travelling
down by bus on Tuesday because we couldn't get the flights,
but we'll have the extra day to get over the journey."
Lions took the season series between the sides, winning 97-94
at Bletchley in October and sealing the head-to-head decider
in late March with an 85-82 victory in an overtime thriller
at Braehead, which was also screened on Setanta Sports. However,
in between those two games, Rocks hammered Lions 89-67 on
their own court as Maurice Hampton led all scorers with 25
points.
That win gives Davis hope that his team can progress to a
fourth successive appearance at the BBL Finals Weekend,
"We're starting with a clean sheet, and we have to understand
that it will be a high intensity game. We've been close to
winning in both the games we lost, and it's tough to play
there. But we have to remember we can beat them. We need to
control the game.
"They have any number of players who can step up and
beat you, not just the starters because they have some real
quality coming off the bench as well."
Davis is still sweating on the fitness of former GB international
Julius Joseph, who had damaged ligaments in his shooting wrist,
"He's day to day at the moment. He didn't play against
the Heat and he's still in pain. We're hopeful he'll play
some part in the game on Wednesday."
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