Worcester Wolves v Esh Group Eagles Newcastle
Where and when:
University of Worcester Arena, 7.30pm Friday 22 January
Summary:
Worcester Wolves will hope to rediscover their formula to thwarting Esh Group Eagles Newcastle at University of Worcester Arena on Friday.
Eagles return to the Midlands fresh from retaining the BBL Cup in Birmingham last Sunday and face the only team they failed to beat during their run to the quadruple last season.
Wolves were undone at Sport Central back in November, but now Fab Flournoy’s men will be keen to underline the point with a win on the road.
Paul James’ side have lost their previous two games, having won four in a row before that, while Eagles come into this one unbeaten since April and with a BBL Trophy Quarter-Final against Cheshire Phoenix to follow on Sunday.
Last time they met:
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 95 Worcester Wolves 88 (BBL Championship, Sport Central, 20 November 2015)
Form:
Wolves: LWWWWLL
Eagles: WWWWWW
Three Points:
- Perris Blackwell scored 31 points in a losing effort last time these teams met
- Andrew Thomson requires five more field goals to reach 500 in BBL Championship play
- Wolves won all three BBL Championship meetings between these teams last season
What they say:
Wolves forward Pavol Losonsky: “Playing Newcastle is always tough. I don’t think Newcastle winning the BBL Cup Final makes any difference to Friday.
“Coach Fab [Flournoy] will have them ready and well prepared as usual. We really need to learn from our last game against them, go back to film and see what we have done well and also what we need to do better.
“It should be a great game and this game can really gives us some momentum if we can come up with a ‘W’.”
Eagles guard Drew Lasker: “We will do our due diligence on them. They are a totally different team from last year.
“Beating them earlier in the season was great because all we heard last year was that we swept, but couldn’t beat Worcester. So we were really motivated to beat Worcester.
“They are really tough at home so we’ll take a few days, take time to recover and then we’ll get back to business.”
Cheshire Phoenix v Esh Group Eagles Newcastle
Where and when:
Cheshire Oaks Arena, 5.30pm Sunday 24 January
Summary:
After successfully defending one of their four BBL titles, it is on to the next for Esh Group Eagles Newcastle on Sunday.
Fab Flournoy’s all-conquering side travel to Cheshire Phoenix in the BBL Trophy Quarter-Final, with a last-four tie against Worcester Wolves or Glasgow Rocks on offer for the victors.
Eagles eliminated Phoenix from the BBL Cup at the Semi-Final stage back in December, but John Lavery’s side will be confident, having recently ended a barren run with back-to-back wins.
Eagles are in BBL Championship action against Wolves on Friday, before this game.
Last time they met:
Cheshire Phoenix 91 Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 98 (BBL Championship, Cheshire Oaks Arena, 20 December 2015)
Form:
Phoenix: LLLLWW
Eagles: WWWWWW
Three Points:
- Phoenix’s new signing, Quincy Taylor, is expected to make his debut
- These teams have already met four times this season, with Eagles winning all four
- Eagles have been knocked out at this stage of the Trophy in two of the last four seasons
What they say:
Phoenix coach John Lavery: “We’ve got a new guy coming in, a point guard called Quincy Taylor and we hope he’ll add to what we have already got. He hasn’t played yet, so Newcastle will be his first game, but it’s a great game for him to come into.
“You can’t stop everybody on their roster, they’ve got a lot of weapons both inside and outside, so we need to focus on we can do as a team. That’s limiting them to one-shot offences, trying to get them to turn over the ball and getting up and down the floor.”
Eagles forward Scott Martin: “It would be nice to be able to reflect on winning the Cup, however we really can’t do too much of that. With the schedule the way it is we have to move on quickly and focus the next game. Just like any other game we have to go back look and what we did well and not so well and look to improve for the next game.
“It will be a tough game against Cheshire. They are a good team that has played us very tough and because we have played one another so many times, both teams understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well. So it will be an interesting game because of that familiarity with both teams having a good game plan for the other.”
