by Vlad Ionasc
Cheshire Phoenix will look to get back to winning ways this evening as they begin their double-header weekend with a trip to Guildford where they’ll take on Creon Raftopoulos’ Surrey Scorchers.
The Scorchers come into the game on the back of a 44-point blowout loss at the hands of the Sheffield Sharks.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Saturday, 12th Decemeber, 2020
Tip-off: 6 p.m.
Competition: BBL Championship
Where: Surrey Sports Park
How to watch: BBL Player
The BBL Player is the new one-stop-shop for all BBL action as you can watch every club and every game (excluding Bristol’s home games) live and on-demand for £19.99 per month. Alternatively, single-game passes are priced at £4.99.
Because of how the BBL is structured, all the money from the BBL Player goes directly to the clubs, so make sure to select the Cheshire Phoenix as your ‘club to support’ when registering, as all the revenue will help carry the club through this incredibly difficult period of financial insecurity.
SCORCHERS SCOUTING REPORT
The last time the Scorchers and Phonix met was on the 20th December 2019! The hosts clinched a tight 89-88 win almost a year ago, but a lot has changed since then!
Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Henry Wilkins, James Hawthorne, Devontavius Payne, Adrian Kiyunu, and TrayVonn Wright all left the Scorchers during the off-season.
However, Raftopoulos did retain the services of Tayo Ogedengbe, Lovell Cook, Skyler White, and Caylin Raftopoulos.
Surrey also bolstered their roster with the additions of Connor Cashaw, Martelle McLemore, Evan Walshe, and Emondre Rickman.
The Scorchers won three games (two were 20-0 forfeits vs. Bristol) in the group stage of the BBL Cup and qualified for the Quarter-Final stage, where they’ll take on the Manchester Giants.
Raftopoulos’ side hasn’t had the best start to the regular season, as they lost by double-digits against the Riders on their home floor before getting decimated by the Sharks in Sheffield.
KEY PLAYERS
Surrey Scorchers: Ryan Richards – The experienced 6-foot-11 Brit will be tasked with slowing down Phoenix’s Jimbo Lull. Richards has faced off against centers of Lull’s size and quality on plenty of occasions during his storied career, so he knows exactly what to expect come Saturday evening. The battle of the bigs will definitely be the one to watch.
Cheshire Phoenix: Mike McCall Jr – This is McCall’s chance to leave his disappointing performance against the Bristol Flyers in the rearview mirror. Scorchers’ backcourt is considerably weaker than Phoenix’s and they really lack a true floor-general. McCall’s current 7.5-to-1 assist/turnover ratio is impressive, but he will be need to increase his scoring output, exploit Surrey’s shaky backcourt, and perform better than he did last Sunday.
COACH’S CORNER
Ben Thomas: “We’ve got a chance to improve to a winning record in the league again tonight and it’s against a very tough team.
“Surrey are a dangerous team, especially on their home court, they have multiple players who can score.
“But tonight is about us! We’ve been working hard this week to put things right since the Bristol game and I’m hoping for a real team performance!”
NEXT HOME GAME
The Nix will welcome the star-studded London Lions to the EPSV on the 13th of December! A very limited number of fans will be in attendance.
GO PHOENIX!