by Vlad Ionasc
Cheshire Phoenix will aim to win their fourth consecutive game in all competitions when they’ll host the Bristol Flyers at the EPSV later today.
The Flyers suffered a four-point loss against the Plymouth City Patriots on Friday night however they managed to defeat the Nix by 76-to-68 in the first meeting of the season between the two sides back on November 6th.
The Nix have won eight out of their last 10 games in all competitions while the Flyers have also enjoyed a similar spell of form, having picked up seven wins in their last 10 games.
The Flyers are 5th in the BBL Championship table while the Nix are 4th, however they have played five more games than today’s visitors.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Sunday 13th February, 2022
Tip-off: 5:30 p.m.
Competition: BBL Championship
Where: EPSV
How to watch: Tickets available on the door / BBL Player
FLYERS SCOUTING REPORT
The Flyers have a 12-9 record in all competitions.
Andreas Kapoulas’ men have picked up six wins in 10 away games in all competitions.
Bristol crashed out of the BBL Cup after a 90-95 loss against the Glasgow Rocks in the Quarter-Final stage of the competition.
The Flyers eliminated the Leicester Riders and Derby Trailblazers in the first two rounds of the BBL Trophy and will face the London Lions in the Semi-Final.
Bristol has the least potent offence in the league, at just 68.1 points-per-game on 61.9 field-goals attempts.
The Flyers attempt and make the lowest number of three-pointers in the league. (19.1 attempts / 5.7 makes).
Kapoulas’ side also ranks dead last in free-throws attempted & made. (12.9 attempts / 8.4 makes).
The Flyers average the second most offensive rebounds per game (10.4) only behind the Surrey Scorchers (11.3).
The visitors average just 16.5 assists on 13 turnovers per contest.
Malcolm Delpeche leads the Flyers in scoring with 16.6 points-per-game, while Marcus Evans is their main facilitator at 6.3 assists per night. Trejon Jacob is Bristol’s top rebounder (9.3) and also ranks third league-wide in boards.
Evans ranks fourth league-wide in steals with 1.9 per game while Jacob is seventh in the BBL with 1.8.
Delpeche ranks 6th league-wide in blocks with 1.2 rejections per contest.
KEY PLAYERS
Bristol Flyers: Trejon Jacob — The American forward leads the Flyers in rebounds (9.3) and ranks second in points (14.2), assists (3.3) and three-point percentage (37%). Jacob supplied his team with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the first game against the Nix and most recently dropped 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists in Friday night’s loss against the Patriots.
Cheshire Phoenix: Larry Austin Jr — Phoenix’s guard wasn’t on the roster the last time Ben Thomas’ men squared off against the Flyers. He is currently averaging 13.5 points and 4.5 assists per game in the BBL Championship and will be key to Cheshire obtaining points inside the paint as well as making the Bristol defence collapse in order to create open looks for shooters like Levi Bradley and Namon Wright.
COACH’S CORNER
Ben Thomas: “Today’s game against the Flyers is really important as the head-to-head is at stake so it’s really a must-win for us!
“We want to build on the good form that we’re currently enjoying right now and today’s game provides us with the perfect opportunity to do just that! We have prepared well all week and identified Bristol’s strengths and weaknesses so as long as we execute the game-plan I’m confident that we can get the result we all want!”
NEXT HOME GAME
The Nix are next in action at the EPSV against the Plymouth City Patriots (5:30 p.m. tip-off) in the BBL Championship on the 20th of February. Tickets are now on sale!