Guildford return to BBL action after a month out

Guildford Heat return to BBL basketball after nearly a month without a game, and they’ll be looking for revenge against Worcester Wolves on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat have started the season with ten straight losses in all competitions, including three losses against the Wolves. Combined with two losses to Newcastle Eagles in the playoffs last season, their run of 12 straight losses is the longest in their history.

It took overtime for Worcester to win 93-87 in a home BBL Trophy game in early October, and they completed the double in that competition with an 82-75 victory at Surrey Sports Park three weeks later. The sides also met in at Worcester University in the BBL Cup, with Wolves progressing to the quarter-final with an 88-77 victory.

Creon RaftapoulosHeat coach Creon Raftopoulos expects another tough game against the Wolves: “Paul [James] has his team playing real good basketball and I believe they’re off to one of their best starts in their franchise history with us on the other end with a poor start.”

Heat captain Mike Martin is excited about getting back into action after such a long break: “It’s been a while, and we’re looking forward to the game. We’ve got two new additions to the squad, and they’ll help us.”

Despite Heat’s poor start to the season, Wolves coach James isn’t taking anything for granted against the Guildford side: “We have played Guildford three times this season already, but they are very much a different team now. They have changes at least three players two of which have been their Americans. Martin, [Julius] Joseph and [Martelle] McLemore are still going to be key to them, but they now also have [Drew] Lasker who has experience of the league and will make them a more balanced and threatening team.

“I’m sure Guildford are surprised by their poor start, but they have moved quickly to change things up and I’m sure they are going to be a real threat to teams for the remainder of the season.”