‘Flyers Suffering January Blues’

Thursday, January 21st 2016

Flyers are suffering from the January blues after seeing in 2016 with two early losses.

A heavy defeat away at Sheffield Sharks in the BBL championship which saw Flyers struggle to score the basketball was followed by another thrilling overtime spectacle at the SGS WISE arena in the BBL Trophy, Flyers eventually bowing to a strong Worcester Wolves team.

Bench struggles continue

Flyers seem tormented by the lack of depth in their squad. In a game I'm sure Coach Kapoulas would rather forget, Flyers only managed to score 43 points against a physical Sheffield Sharks team, with Mathias Seilund scoring all 15 of Bristol’s bench points.

Bench v bench

Wolves bench contributed 36% (30pts) of their total, whilst points from Flyers’ bench made up just 3% (2pts) of their total.

On their return to the SGS WISE Flyers could only find production from six players against Worcester's eight with just two points coming from the bench in over 40 minutes of combined play.

Despite taking a narrow lead into half-time and Tyrone Lee’s impressive double-double of 23 points and ten rebounds, Flyers lack of depth saw Wolves run away with the win in overtime.

Silver linings playbook?

Flyers find themselves out of both cup competitions, meaning they can now focus on the BBL Championship and the goal of a top eight playoff finish.

A tough road game at Glasgow Rocks awaits before a must-win home clash against playoff rivals Leeds Force.

Due a win

Flyers last win over Rocks was their second ever BBL game – 480 days ago.

Although surely underdogs in the Glasgow match up, Flyers pose a significant threat to Sterling Davis having disposed of both London Lions and Cheshire Phoenix on the road already this season.

Following a bad start to the year, Flyers now have two games to turn January around to a 2-2 record.

Bristol Flyers are next in home action against Leeds Force on Saturday, January 30th at 7.30pm - buy tickets online here.

Written by Tom Hutchinson - Tom played for Bristol Flyers from its inception in National League division three and was part of the roster that won promotions to divisions two and one before injury forced his early retirement.