Super League Basketball Cup Finals - Sheffield Sharks and Sheffield Hatters - video Dailymotion

Yorkshire Post

Nick Westby looks ahead to Finals Day in the Super League basketball Cup as Sheffield Sharks and Sheffield Hatters attempt to lift silverware at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena

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00:00Sharks go in on a nine-game win streak, doing very well in the league. They're in a big

00:16old title fight with London Lions and Leicester Riders. They do go in as favourites. Form

00:22book out the window, as I'm told. The press day earlier this week, and as we know in a

00:28lot of sports, Form does go out of the window on a cup final. It's a one-off occasion. I

00:33do like the Sharks' chances, though, the way they're playing. Prentice Nixon is absolutely

00:38on fire at the minute. Ricky McGill's come in for Rodney Chapman, and has made a massive

00:45instant impact. They've got scoring all over the court, and they've also got two great

00:50players in Jordan Retina and Jamel Anderson behind them, who are very unselfish, very

00:56happy to share the defensive load and get the ball in the hands of the playmakers. McGill,

01:01Nixon and Donovan Clay, who's a big man, big power forward for them, who's really helped

01:09change the way they play in the absence of Bennett Cook. So, I do fancy the Sharks' chances.

01:16Some danger men on the Surrey side. Mervyn James, in particular, is very free-scoring,

01:24and anyone can get hot on any day in the sport of basketball. If you're knocking down

01:29the shots, you can cause a real problem for your opponents. So, they've got to be guarded

01:33against that, Sharks, but they are favourites, and if they were to not win this, they would

01:38be kicking themselves, I should imagine.

01:40Okay, and what can we expect from the Hatters in their game against the Wolves?

01:44Well, they're going as marginal underdogs in this one. I mean, historically, Hatters

01:49are the absolute powerhouse of British women's basketball. I've been since the 60s. They

01:54were the trailblazers. Oakland Wolves, probably a name new to a lot of people in women's basketball,

02:00really, or just coming into it, because they've taken a few players from the London Lions.

02:04London Lions won the Euro Cup last year, which was a historic achievement, but then they were

02:10the first casualty of the summer's financial meltdown at the league, and Oakland's have

02:17benefited from a couple of players from that. They've also recruited very well, and they've

02:21got, I think it's 11-1 record in the league, compared to Sheffield Hatters, who have an

02:2711-2 record. One of those defeats coming to the Oakland Wolves, they weren't very consistent,

02:34says Vanessa Ellis, in that performance that day. The Hatters have got a couple of injuries

02:42as well, concerns going in. So, I think they're going in with an underdog mentality, despite

02:48their history and their status in the game. But I think I will put it past them. I think they've

02:55got a strong five they can put out, and Vanessa Ellis may just put that strong five out and ride

03:00it as long as she can, just with a few changes, and see how that puts her, what kind of position

03:07that puts the Hatters in. But it'll be an interesting day, and hopefully we can get a

03:11Sheffield-Yorkshire trophy double. That would be very nice.

Super League Basketball Cup Finals - Sheffield Sharks and Sheffield Hatters

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