Wildcats coach happy with BBL progress

The coach of the BBL’s newest team, Durham Wildcats, says he is happy with how his side are adapting to life in the top flight.

Dave Elderkin has taken the north east side from the EBL to be competitive in the professional league, and despite picking up just one win so far, they have come close in several other games.

He said: “I think we’re through phase one – I believe the guys now think they are a genuine BBL outfit, they should because they are. Twice we’ve been 10 points up on a serious contender, twice we’ve lost – we need to make sure we know how to play and what to use when we next get into that position.”

Several EBL clubs will be monitoring the Wildcats’ progress closely, none more so than London Leopards, who recently revealed their intention to apply for a place in the BBL from next season.

Elderkin added: “Five of the games we’ve lost have been by five points or less, so we are competitive. Naturally, none of us in the Wildcats lair are happy with the losses but there are positives.”

This weekend, Durham come up against Sheffield, who curbed a run of five straight losses with a last gasp win over Worcester last time out, but the Wildcats will be ready.

Elderkin added: “I’ve seen Sheffield on TV, we need to handle their size in the same way we handled Plymouths, we know all about Nate [Reinking] and they have other guys who can hit the three. Tim Lewis [Sharks assistant coach] has seen us play almost as much as I have, there’ll be no surprises for the Sharks.”