‘Team first’ says Glasgow as the Sharks press for top-four place
RODNEY Glasgow has called on his Sheffield Sharks team-mates to continue their selfless approach to playing minutes to maintain their strong end to the British Basketball League’s regular season.
Sharks appear to have turned their fortunes around with a threegame win streak that included backto-back victories over Newcastle Eagles which has given them hope of pinching a top-four spot going into the play-offs.
The sprint to the end of the season continues tonight against a Leicester Riders side who currently sit fifth, above the Sharks on games won but having played a game more.
The two could meet as the 4-5 seeds in the first round of the playoffs, which this year is a best-ofthree series with the highest seed having home court advantage for the first and third games, if the decider is needed.
Sharks want fourth spot given they have an 11-3 (win-loss) record on their home court at the Canon Medical Arena as opposed to 4-12 on the road.
Their latest upturn in form, while timely, also proves to captain Glasgow that his team are buying into the bigger picture.
Glasgow has suffered most with reduced minutes, having started the season on the treatment table recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.
Back since December, the 31-yearold point guard from Brooklyn is averaging 16.5 minutes per game from his 16 games so far, but has not gone crying to head coach Atiba Lyons about it.
“I knew what it was going to be for me coming back,” said Glasgow, mindful that Lyons is juggling 11 players who all want minutes on the court.
“Everyone’s happy with how healthy I am and how good I’ve been playing.
“For me personally, it’s making sure I’m leading the right way and not letting minutes affect me because whatever time I get, I get. It’s more important to me that we’re gelling the right way. Any time I come in the game I just want to make sure I make an impact and that I’m an asset and I can do that by sticking to what I do.
“I feel like it’s been a good season, I’ve shot the ball well, I’ve played really well, it’s more so just trying to fit back in because we’ve got so many good players.
“We’ve got 11 guys that can all start.
"If there’s one of us or two of us not happy about playing time, it will affect the team.
“My role is to not let it affect the team, because it’s about the bigger picture. If I’m setting a precedent for that in how I’m responding then the guys should follow that, and to be fair they all have.
“It is hard, though. Everyone wants to compete, everyone wants to play 25-30 minutes a game but that’s not the reality of how it is this year.”
Asked as to why the Sharks had enjoyed an upturn in form after opening the calendar year with just one win in eight games, Glasgow highlighted the impact of January recruit Malek Green and the chemistry of the team.
“We finally are turning a corner, it’s been an up and down season to this point but at least we can say we’re clicking at the right time,” he said.
“Our chemistry has been building, guys now are settling into their roles even more, you can tell that just the way Malek has been playing, he’s been the spark that we needed.
“And the guys are all bought-in to the process, and that’s what you want when you have a talented team. We have so many guys where any one of us can start and play, every game is different, you don’t know is going to play.
“If you’ve got all the guys bought in, I think that’s the main thing. You can see if from the way we play, how we support one another, and the biggest thing now is making sure we execute.
“That is the last step of us moving in the right direction – executing for a full 40-minute game, especially with the play-offs coming up.
“Leicester on Friday night in front of our own fans is going to be a playoff atmosphere and we have to be on point, we have to sharp, we have to execute, we have to make sure our energy is there from the start because Leicester is a good team and one we could potentially meet in the play-offs.”