As the team switches from league competition to the first round of the BBL Trophy, Head Coach Lee Davie is making defence the primary focus in training for his players. The Durham Wildcats will face the Worcester Wolves this Sunday, a team whose second-best scoring offense in the league has helped them to a second place position in BBL Championship.
For the BBL Trophy, however, the standings will be reset to 0-0 and the Wildcats want to use a victory in this competition over a quality Worcester side as a boost for the remainder of the season. Durham will host Worcester on Sunday 18th January at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre with tipoff set for 4:00pm.
While the Wolves average 85.26 points per game against Durham’s ninth-best 76.89, the Wildcats have an advantage is scoring percentage. Davie’s squad scores on 54.03 percent of their shots, a mark which makes Durham one of the most efficient shooting teams in the BBL. Worcester has a 49.34 shooting percentage.
This normally would generate more wins for a club, but for the 7-12 Durham Wildcats, the inability to gain defensive stops has made it difficult for the team to come away with more victories. With this in mind, Durham will emphasise defence more than ever for this weekend.
“We have had issues on the defensive end that we need to improve upon,” Davie said. “That’s the focus all week long. We have made adjustments based on the need to generate more stops. Looking throughout the league we are the second-best shooting team in the league but we are not getting many offensive opportunities. Defensively we are not getting a lot of stops to get those extra possessions.”
Leading the attack for Worcester’s prolific offense is Robert Thurman. The 6’10 American centre averages 18.6 points per contest and 10.9 rebounds, creating a challenge for the Wildcats. Durham’s big men in John Puk and Fran Urli will combine to stop Worcester’s inside presence with expectations to create scoring opportunities for themselves. Puk and Urli have started 2015 well by scoring 18 and 16 versus Bristol Flyers (4th January) and 12 and 23 points versus Surrey United (10th January).
Durham’s frontcourt scoring is the result of an overall improvement in offensive play. Davie said his squad has done a much better job moving the ball, creating easy shots and finding open lanes for layups since coming back from the Christmas break.
If the Wildcats can stop their opposing offenses more frequently, Davie believes his squad will gain more victories down the final stretch of the season, beginning this weekend versus Worcester.
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