Callum Jones wants Manchester Giants to defend as a ‘gang’ in tonight’s BBL clash away at Sheffield Sharks.
The Giants ended their run of six defeats with victory at London Lions last week before postponement of last Sunday’s Plymouth Raiders game halted their charge.
Guard Jones believes uniting defensively and developing a gang mentality can lead to a Giants winning run in the coming weeks.
“Staying together defensively is key,” Jones said.
“We definitely need to gang rebound because we are such a small team, a lot of other teams seem to want to try and beat us up inside.
“We can look to take that away by forcing them into outside shots, we just have to make sure we are rebounding the basketball.”
The Giants will have a tough task as they reunite their Trans-Pennine rivalry with the Sharks however.
The teams met less than a month ago in the BBL Cup First Round, and Sharks prevailed 82-77 as part of Yorick Williams’ sides six-game losing run.
Sharks’ impressive record against the Giants stretches back further, and they have won 12 of the 14 meetings between the teams since Giants returned to the BBL in 2012.
The Manchester side will be buoyed by their 90-82 victory against the Lions last time out in which Stefan Gill starred with 16 points.
After that display, Gill now just needs five more field goals to reach 500 in the BBL Championship.
Jones believes that if the likes of Gill play as a strong attacking unit Giants have the talent to end their recent hoodoo against the Sheffield side.
“Offensively, it’s just a case of sharing the ball,” Jones stated.
“We have guys that are really talented so nobody needs to take more than 13, 14 shots a game.
“We never really have that, we just need to trust each other, share the ball, and just keep growing.”
Image courtesy of Jack Hinds Photography, with thanks.
