Fletcher looks on bright side of defeats

THE Eagles have suffered three consecutive pre-season defeats but Rahmon Fletcher is looking at the positives.

Their 89-76 reverse at Sheffield on Friday came on the back of two losses in Belgium.

Mercurial point guard Fletcher has returned to Newcastle for his second spell after a year in Slovakia and is keen to pick up where he left off after three superb years in The BBL with the Eagles.

“I think we’re making progress. Belgium was our first time together and that first game there was rough. The second one we made huge steps in the direction we wanted too and against Sheffield I think we could have been a bit better defensively but the stats were a lot better than I thought.

“We forced 21 turnovers and only gave up seven. The first five minutes was really crucial to us and we have to start better than that. We’ll take a look at the game and I know we’ll learn from it.”

The Eagles certainly do need to look at the early going when they were down at one stage 16-2 before clicking in to gear. .

They were without two major players in the vastly experienced Drew Lasker and Kai Williams both of whom were nursing minor knocks.

Newcastle will now conclude their pre-season programme with two home games at Sport Central tomorrow against Team USA Select and on Wednesday with a return fixture against Sheffield.

“I’m very excited to get back and play in front of our home fans,” said Fletcher.

“I think that’s going to give us a better advantage than playing on the road. It’s nice to be able to travel to games under your own steam after sleeping in your own bed and arriving at your own pace.”

“The biggest focus for us in these next two games will be our defence. Offence will come as I think we’re talented enough to make the right strides on offence. But our focus has to be on our defence.”