Break allowed Eagles to ‘fine-tune’, says coach

NINETEEN days without any BBL action have allowed the Newcastle Eagles to fine-tune their play and focus on their game, says assistant head coach Jack Burgess.

The Eagles return to the Vertu Motors Arena court tonight to face Sheffield Sharks, who have already beaten them twice this season during their disastrous BBL Cup defence.

However, Ian MacLeod’s men have rebounded from that disappointment and went into their prolonged break on the back of two wins in a row.

With the Sky Sports cameras on Tyneside, the Eagles have a real chance to show how much they improved since their difficult start.

Burgess admitted they would rather have kept playing but added that he has seen the virtues of so much time to practise.

“It’s probably not the best scenario but we’ve made it work,” he said. “We’ve been able to integrate Brandon (Peel) into the group a bit more. We’ve also been able to focus on our own game and not worry about the next game looking to build on our two wins.

“This week we’ve gone back to normal and started planning for the Sheffield game. It’s always tough when you play Sheffield. They are one of the better defensive teams in the league. They are a team that has a set gameplan, knows how they want to play and always execute well.”

He added: “We have to focus on ourselves. We’ve had two-and-a-half weeks to work on our game and finetune it. We need to play to our strengths and keep the pace of the game up at all times.”

A sell-out crowd will be there to cheer on the Eagles for the 7.30pm tip-off, something Burgess thinks can make a difference.

He added: “We’ve had some great crowds this season. It’s my first season here but seeing the atmosphere at first-hand at all games it’s been fantastic and it really helps the whole group to have that support behind us.”