Rocks entertain rivals in enticing top of the table clash

The Glasgow Rocks will look to continue their winning ways on Sunday with a tough home challenge against early BBL pace setters the Newcastle Eagles.

Unbeaten in the league thus far, the Eagles must start this game as favourites, but Fab and his boys will surely know that they will be in for a tough, physical and exhausting battle against the injury ravaged navy blue.

Star guard E.J. Harrison, considered by many a player and coach as the catalyst of the Rocks team, is expected to sit out yet again following an ankle injury sustained in a defeat to the Cheshire Jets in early November, while player-coach Sterling Davis could be touch and go following an Achilles injury that kept him out of the dramatic come from behind victory over the Prestige Homes Milton Keynes Lions on Friday night.

With his back court partner out of action, 28 year old Mychal Green as stepped up and become the key piece in the Glasgow jigsaw over the last month, averaging 25.8 points per game in clinching the Molten BBL Player of the Month award for November. Green has shown his all round game too, averaging 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists. If the Eagles are to travel back to the north-east with two points, they need to find a way to nullify that particular threat.

It would be dangerous, though, to focus solely on Green, as the likes of Andrew Wedemire and Danny Huffor have shown they too have the ability to cause the Eagles problems, having put in great shifts in recently. Huffor, especially, has often made the big time basket or steal just as the tide was beginning to turn against the Rocks.

For Newcastle, it will mark the end of an exhausting weekend as they take on Leicester in the second leg of their epic BBL Cup battle on Friday night with the game as tight as can be following a 90-90 tie last week. Could the pressure and effort of a game just two days earlier tip the scale in favour of the Rocks?

The Eagles have what many consider to be the strongest squad in the BBL this year, and the fact they have lost just once this season (to the Rocks, in Glasgow, no less) suggests that could be the case. With the likes of Joe Chapman and Paul Gause in the back court, and ex-Tiger Andrew Thomson in the side, few would bet against the Eagles winning silverware this season. The Rocks, though, have beaten the Eagles and will be hungry to taste victory again.

That day, in the BBL Trophy, the Rocks defence hustled, harassed and simply dominated the Eagles attack. This appears to be coach Sterling Davis’ blueprint for success this season and certainly in those games in which they have been able to keep to that defensive formula, they have inevitably come out on top. This was particularly evident the last time the Rocks played in front of their home crowd, where they held Sheffield to just 64 points in an emphatic performance for the SKY cameras.

For the Rocks to be successful they will need to dominate defensively and that means limiting the Eagles second chance points and getting into the faces of the Eagles players, making each shot as difficult as possible. If they stick to that plan, the Rocks could find themselves joint top of the table come 7 p.m on Sunday night.

Key player: It would be too easy to say Mychal Green or Joe Chapman, as they are bound to be the offensive catalysts for their respective sides, but assuming Coach Davis remains with his defence first plan, then DeAundrae Cranston will have as big a role as any individual in this game. As the Rocks’ sole big man, he will need to dominate the defensive boards and limit the Eagles’ second chance points and points in the paint. If he can have a great game, then it reduces the pressure on the offensive side of the ball and will allow Green, Murray et al the chance to flourish.

Prediction: It really is a tough call. With Newcastle playing such an important game on the Friday, they could tire towards the end, but I feel the loss of EJ Harrison may be too much for the Rocks. I hate to say it, but Eagles by 6.