Game of the Week: Barking Abbey Leopards v City of Sheffield
6th January 2012In our first Game of the Week preview of 2012 we head to Barking Abbey where Leopards host City of Sheffield Hatters on 7 January in Division 1 Women.
Leopards head coach Mark Clark is serving a one-game suspension and will not be on the bench but he's confident his replacement will step up in his absence:
"Being suspended for the game after the ejection against UWIC is frustrating," he said. "But I am sure [interim head coach] Ricki Broadmore will manage things well and give us the leadership that will give us the opportunity to perform."
Leopards and Hatters have met twice so far this season, once in the league when Sheffield strolled to a comfortable win, but their National Cup tie was much closer. Sheffield won that quarter final game 70-67.
"Obviously we're looking forward to facing Sheffield," said Clark.
"It's always good for us to measure our progress against the best teams and Sheffield's great tradition and the talent they have makes them one of those.
"The two previous games this year show how this game could go. We competed well on the boards in the Cup games and looked after the ball better and came close with the 3 point loss, but we failed to do that in the league game and lost by more than 20."
Barking Abbey are already looking a better team compared to last season, despite losing the services of Division 1 MVP Niamh Dwyer, and they currently lie in fourth place with a 4-3 record.
Bringing in British international Sarah McKay has been a huge benefit. The post player is averaging a double-double (she leads the league in rebounds) and has established herself as the leader of a young team.
"We have a large number of age group internationals who can only get this exposure to an elite level of basketball by playing in Division 1," said Clark, referring to the likes of Harriett Yea, Kashmere Joseph, Shequila Joseph and Chantel Charles. "All of these young players have played better as the season has progressed which must be good for the U18 and U20 national teams as well as our potential success this year."
Sheffield, of course, boast their usual wealth of talent led by British players Stephanie Gandy, Sarah and Helen Naylor and point guard Lisa Hutchinson. Gandy and the Naylor sisters are all amongst the top ten scorers in the league and Clark feels stopping Hutchinson is key:
"We have to make Lisa Hutchinson work hard all game," he said. "She has led the Hatters for many seasons now and if we allow Lisa to control things she is great at getting the ball to the right person. They are well coached and have experience throughout the line up; it is a tough ask for us but one I feel we are getting closer to."