It's second place versus ninth on Saturday evening, as Worthing Thunder welcome Newcastle Eagles to Worthing Leisure Centre. The Eagles picked up one of their few losses against the Thunder earlier in the season away from home, their last defeat in all competitions, as they went down 90-104 on the South Coast. Since then, the Thunder also secured a valuable win against Jelson Homes Leicester Riders, 90-87 on Saturday 20th December, and saw in the New Year with a 104-94 defeat of BBL Cup finalists, Cheshire Jets, as they move further towards their goal of being the most improved franchise in the league by the end of the season.
Fabulous Flournoy, the man in charge on Tyneside, certainly will not be taking anything for granted against the Thunder, and he hails former Worcester Wolves point guard Evaldas Zabas, big man Kadiri Richard, and Finnish International Ville Makalainen, as the men to watch: 'Worthing have already beaten us once and have added (Evaldas) Zabas since' he commented: 'They will be a tough test, particularly on the back of a long coach trip. Worthing are getting excellent production out of their big man, Kadiri Richard and Ville Makaleinen is just an efficient player who does the job for the benefit of the team. They are also extremely well coached' he added.
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The Eagles meet the Thunder, who came up from EBL Division one last season, after a BBL Trophy trip to Reading Rockets on Wednesday. The Rockets were coached to a perfect by current Worthing boss Dave Titmuss last year, and the 63 year old said he was generally satisfied with the individual performances of his imports at the Thunder: 'It difficult to say on an individual basis who is performing, as we are integrating Evaldas (Zabas) into our set up' he said: 'I have been impressed recently with Ville (Makalainen) and Kadiri (Richard), and Reggie (Bratton) has been consistent. In the last couple of games as well, Sherrad (Prezzie-Blue) has been impressive.'
Injury has not been a friend to the Thunder so far this term, and Titmuss admitted that it was still affecting certain players, as well as sickness, ahead of a clash with one of the BBL's top sides:' We have sickness and injury issues - Sam Cricelli is doubtful for the weekend and Reggie (Bratton) has still got a ligament on his heel that we are gradually trying to repair, but it repairs with rest. These are just in- season injuries though, every team has them, and you just have to adjust.'
On the Eagles, Titmuss said: 'The way they play together is key for them. When we beat them at home last time, we were able to, certainly in the second half, break down their team play. However, they are a quality team, and they are where I expected them to be, in second place. Fab (Fabulous Flournoy) is key for them - as a player-coach he is one of the few that seems to be able to play and coach effectively at the same time.'
