Where:
English Institute of
Sport - Sheffield ,Coleridge Road,
Sheffield, S9 5DA.
When: Saturday 6th March 2010
Tip Off: 6:15pm
Competition: EBL Division One
By Adam Manning
Play-off hopefuls Coventry
Crusaders will be trying to steer clear of a relegation battle this
Saturday evening them they travel to basement side Sheffield Arrows who
have a 2-14 league record.
A victory for Crusaders
would be their first in six games, and would see them pull six points
clear of bottom spot and four behind London Mets who currently occupy
that highly contested eighth play-off position.
Boss Scott Neely is
boosted by the return of Kane Hudson, who has missed the last seven
games from an ankle injury, and is “ready to get some minutes this
Saturday”.
Hudson’s return is a
welcome and effective one for the manager, who says his physical
presence will play a part in restricting Sheffield’s “feisty” offense,
particularly that of Sebastian Chitagu, who executed 40 points at
Taunton last weekend to take his gamely average to 20.8 points.
“We have missed Kane's
consistent hustle, strength, and versatility on defence in being able to
guard various players” explained Neely. “Offensively he was giving us a
boost as well by shooting the ball well and taking the ball strong to
the basket. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off”.
Neely believes the key to
the club doing the first ever double over Sheffield and prolonging their
seven game barren spell are combinations of mentality and composure.
He said: “I expect
Sheffield to be very hungry for a win! We need to be focussed and sharp
and seek to be the aggressor at both ends of the court. They do have a
dangerous team that can shoot the ball well from outside and are very
feisty inside”.
“We shouldn’t settle for a
good shot, but need to be taking great shots by seeking the best option
throughout the match whilst improving the team’s defensive
intelligence.”
And Crusaders’ 6`9’’ power
forward Matt Smith, who is expected to compete with the league’s fifth
top rebounder Osemwegie Eboigbe around both baskets this Saturday,
echoed his manager’s calls for the team to stay level headed in the
game.
“For Sheffield we’ve got
to come out for forty minutes and really try to blow them out with big
confidence that we’re going to win” Smith said. “We need to help each
other by talking, and a lot of that has to do with more training
sessions and feeling comfortable with each other, that’s what defence is
all about and it’s where we’re trying to get to”.
He also claimed that
Crusaders could use the 104-89 victory over Arrows at the Coventry
Sports Centre back in December as a spring board to start their late
play-off push.
“We’ve already beaten
Sheffield so we should have the mind set of ‘we can beat these guys
because we already have’” enthused the American target man, who has
averaged 15.8 pts in his seven games for Crusaders since a January
switch across the Atlantic.
“It’s going to be a huge
game as there’s only six left. If we can just get one win, the
confidence builds. I know we still have some games against top teams in
the league, but if we can rattle Sheffield and then the Leopards who are
just ahead of us, we can work our way up and get in the groove”.
A nine man squad is
expected to travel to South Yorkshire as Joe Francombe is the only
absentee for Saturday’s game due to other commitments.
Crusaders team
expected to face Sheffield:
5 John Olinger (c) (guard); 7 Matt Smith (power
forward),
9 Dan Taylor (guard/forward); 10 Simon Payne
(guard/forward);
11 Stephen Danso (guard); 12 Dave Edden (forward); 14
Kane Hudson (guartd);
13 Ryann Samuel
(forward); 15 Ben Timms (centre/forward).
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