Absent Anderson pleased with progress

Sheffield captain Adrian Anderson is pleased with both his own and his team-mates progress on and off the court in recent weeks.

Anderson, 36, has been missing for the past few weeks after needing surgery on a broken hand, but he has been courtside to see the Sharks turn-around their early season dip to put themselves back in the hunt in the top half of the BBL.

He said: “I’m going to have to do a lot of work with the exercise ball, but the operation went really well and the surgeon is pleased with my progress.

“I’ve been to all the games in the last few weeks, and I’m really pleased that the signs of potential that we showed at the start of the season are being fulfilled. We’re moving the ball fluidly instead of it getting stuck in someone’s hands and ending up with a rushed shot. Our defence has really stepped up, and that’s down to our intensity in practice. If you train hard, you play hard and the level of intensity has really stepped up – and that is bearing fruit.”

Anderson was impressed with how the Sharks played in their wins against Lions and Wildcats: “We played really well in both games. MK are very quick in transition, but we slowed that down and when we made it a half-court game they struggled. They can score in bundles, but our defence was tough and we kept Demarius Bolds under wraps which was important.

“We took that performance into Durham, and it was another good display. I’m pleased to go into Christmas with those two wins, but almost a little disappointed that we now have a break as we need to keep the run going.”

Sheffield are next in action on December 30th, when they travel to Kelvin Hall to face Glasgow Rocks.