Post by blueskies99 on Oct 8, 2023 19:28:35 GMT
Oct 8, 2023 17:05:35 GMT SB said:
Great day in the history of the Sharks and feels like it could be the start of a resurgence for this once great organisation.The new Arena is great. It is bigger than I thought and was packed full of 2,500 people. If Sharks can get anywhere close to that weekly then it could become a fortress. It was loud too.
One biggish stand on one side and then a slightly smaller one on the other but it looked very professional. Looks great from the outside and there was a real buzz in the lengthy queues pre game.
Facilities inside bit basic but they did have beer and there's so much room, they can grow and develop these things.
Court feels close to the stands and it felt like a proper event. There was still a few of the old cheesy songs chucked in which was disappointing as most of the rest of the music was good. They had a proper cheer squad and Mike Shaft had another guy with him who did a good job of whipping up the crowd. In the 1st q it felt like the 4th and there was a real energy all around.
Massive credit to the Sharks organisation. Hope they can grow and get back in a few years to being one of the top sides again.
Today the energy carried on the court as they routed a lacklustre and limp Eagkes side. Ramsey scored the first hoop in the Canon Medical Arena and Sharks never looked back.
The eventual margin was 30 but easily could have been more.. 40+. Sharks let Eagles get a few easy scores late on when they took out some key players. Eagles weirdly kept their main guys on right to the end but made no difference really.
Sharks went to Koch early who set the tone but everyone played their part with Ramsey, Pipkins and Nichols all excellent all night. Ramsey did a bit of everything and was the best guard on the court. Austin and Johnson only played when the game was done after previously turning it over and faoling to stop penetration all night.
Sharks played great d. They stifled Eagles forcing them into tough shots but at the other end found some offence after struggling in this area previously.
The lead was 23 at the half and 28 I think after 3 and the game was done probably by mid 2nd q.
For Eagles only Defoe came out with much credit as he kept battling. Green is athletic but disappointing most of the game as he tried to do too much one on one. Indeed all the Eagles were guilty if that and Sharks funnelled them where they wanted them to go for tough shots.
People will point at Whitfield or lack of inside game but I actually thought most of the big signings looked poor and were slow to move their feet on defence and too much dribbling at the other end. They took ages to get into any kind of offence.
At the other end, the Sharks played as a team and moved it inside and outside. Koch was a constant menace who did whatever he wanted. The scoring was spread round. The defence was exceptional all game.
2nd half Nicholls and Eytle Rock took over. The latter looks a great find and looks a star in the making. He can really shoot but can handle the ball, plays d and has a nice mid range. He looks a real player. Stewart hit two treys but no lateral speed and looks the weak link. Allen was better tonight and played well v Johnson.
Overall Sharks looked deep and hungry so will be annoyed to lose 2 close games in the South West and probably should be 4-2 or 5-1 rather than 3-3 but have played 5 games on the road of 6. Hopefully either lots of home games to come they can go in a run. Heard loads tip Sharks to finish last. I actually think they will be closer to the top than last. Outside of London there's little in the rest really but Sharks defencecwill get them a lot of wins.
Eagles looked lost tonight and a long way off thus all star team that on paper should see them beating most teams. Paul Blake sat stunned at the end and looked bewildering up at the scoreboard as his players trooped off. Make no mistake they were lucky it wasn't even more lopsided. I think if Sharks had carried on applying the pressure it could have been about 90-50 by the end!
