Martin Looks to Keep Title Defence Alive
Guildford Heat captain Mike Martin is looking for a repeat
of his side's performance against the Sheffield Sharks when
they take on BBL Championship leaders Newcastle Eagles on
Sunday, looking to keep the defence of their league title
alive.
Led by 23 Danny Gilbert points, Heat defeated the Sharks
92-83 on Wednesday evening, leaving Martin a happy man,
"We played well throughout the game. Our defensive rotation
was very good, and our shot selection was pleasing as well,"
said the Londoner.
While Newcastle strengthened their grip on top spot with
Friday's defeat of the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, Heat are
now third in the table with 18 wins from 25 games.
Heat have won both of their games against Newcastle this
season, defeating them 90-83 in the north east in the opening
weekend of the season before lifting the BBL Trophy with an
86-79 victory at Plymouth in March. Victory against Newcastle
on Sunday afternoon would give Heat the head-to-head decided
if they were to finish level with the Eagles at the end of
the campaign.
Martin is hoping that his side can reproduce the form which
saw them beat Eagles in that final,
"We need to do the same job as we did in the Trophy
final. We need to play sound defence, and not let their big
guns be a factor. Their main factor was Lynard Stewart dominating
inside, so we need to improve there.
"We did a fair job on Charles Smith, so the fact that
he's going to miss the game won't make that much of a difference.
Jeremy Hyatt didn't play well against us, but he was still
carrying an injury, so if we can keep him quiet we will do
okay."
Heat's title hopes were hit a fortnight ago when they lost
twice against sides in the bottom half of a table over a weekend,
away to London Capital and at home to Worcester Wolves. Martin
admitted that avoiding a repeat of those results had been
a major driving force for his side,
"It's been our fuel ever since. We never, ever, want
a repeat of those performances. It was so disheartening, It
wasn't down to one player or the coach, it was a collective
thing. We went into both of those games thinking we were a
lot better than we are. We have to learn from that, and make
sure we turn up for every game."
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