Gunjina hungry for yet another bite at Sharks
EAGLES BID TO BUILD ON WORCESTER WIN
NEWCASTLE Eagles face another huge test on their own court tonight with the visit of fierce rivals Sheffield Sharks, writes JEFF KING.
The Sharks defeated the Eagles the last time they visited Sport Central when they ended the home side’s BBL Trophy interest at the quarter-final stage.
In the Championship, though, it has been a different story as Newcastle have won both encounters this season, and they will be hoping to make it a clean sweep of the series to further cement their second place in the league standings.
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle returned to home comfort on Tuesday night with a thrilling and important win over Worcester Wolves.
Croatian forward Jure Gunjina reflected on both Tuesday’s win and looked forward to tonight’s game with a message for his team-mates to build on what they hopefully started with the win over Worcester.
“It was a great win for sure especially after we had three road losses,” he said. “It was probably the toughest week of the season with all the guys being out, our coach being out and his assistant too.
“We bounced back very nicely and hopefully we can continue that way tonight.”
Although Gunjina mentioned how tough a week it had been with those three defeats away from home, he probably had as good a week as he’s had in an Eagles vest, upping his minutes, points and rebounds.
“I’m just trying to do my best every game as possible and this is the case of my getting more minutes with other guys being injured,” he said.
“I’ve been practising that way the last couple of months and it just turned in to a positive way to get it going.
“In basketball having seven guys in the rotation for 40 minutes is really tough. It’s hard to get everyone on the same page. We had a lot of guys having to play a lot of different positions. “It’s been tough, but I think we’ve just about managed it now.” With Fab Flournoy (pictured below) returning to the sidelines but along with Darius Defoe still not fit enough to return to the playing ranks, it’s going to be another tough night for a short-handed home side. “I don’t think there are any real easy teams to play against in this league,” added Gunjina. “We just have to continue at the same pace talking to each other on the court, off the court and just trying to be together and try to get a win again. With the Sharks coming out on top in the last encounter it could be seen as a revenge mission, but Gunjina does not see it that way. “You could say we owe them, but every game is for yourself and every one is different.
“This is the BBL Championship and we’ll be trying to get that win to stay in second place, so we can go from a better starting position in the play-offs.
“I think we have to stop Alexander as he’s their biggest scorer, but I don’t really think we should be worried about the other teams because we have enough talent to win.
“We have to take care of ourselves and not be too concerned about them and focus on getting that win.”
England’s basketball team, which included Eagles player Drew Lasker, slumped to a shock 65-78 defeat by Scotland in their opening game at the Commonwealth Games yesterday.
It was Scotland’s first win over the old enemy in 35 years, with the England team also featuring former Eagles players Orlan Jackman and Andy Thomson.