BIG PERFORMANCES REQUIRED

Words from the Chairman

- Carl Heslop

We draw breath and we are back at the pavilions for another packed house to take on the London lions.

To see us having a sell-out crowd so close after a near sell out in 72 hours is absolutely amazing and would thank everyone for their support which is much appreciated and shows how far the club has come.

The Bristol gave was not the result we wanted but this was without question the best side Bristol have put together for a long time. Faultless three throws and a deep roster is a deadly combination and that combined with us struggling to get into any rhythm in the first quarter put pay to any points coming to the patriots. To score 93 points at home and still not win is tough to take but its defensively where we need to improve.

However, within that 93 points we have to take positives in Rashad Hassan’s performance who turned the clock back to score 32 points and we will need every ounce of this efficiency against London Lions. Ty looked very good and is starting to get into his groove, Jules was effective in his time on the court and with improved performances from James “Tookie” Hawthorne Jr I can see many trying to get that win for the club.

From the second placed team to the leaders in the league there isn’t a harder weekend of games for the club, and it is well known the budget and financial power of the London lions. Despite juggling European competition, they have been blowing teams away by a fair margin and we really need to compete from the first minute to keep ourselves in the game. We don’t have anywhere near the budget of the lions, but we do have players who will want to show that they can match them.

Although there is such disparity in budget in the league it can make games very one sided but what this does bring is a much higher standard roster to the league and Plymouth gets to watch Ex NBA players on display at the Pavilions which was a pipe dream only a few seasons ago. We look forward to the day we are in the same position to bring players of that experience to our club.

Don’t forget we also have a quarter final next week against Derby where we can progress into the semi-final of the Trophy Competition for the first time in our history. As Derby aren’t a BBL side it will be the only time to see them compete against us and I’m sure it will be an amazing atmosphere like it was against St Mirren so make sure you get your tickets.