'Injuries Proving Costly For Flyers'

Friday, November 27th 2015

For those of us present at the SGS WISE arena last Friday, I’m sure we can all agree that it wasn’t the start to the weekend we had been hoping for.

Injury Crisis

Already missing guard Cardell McFarland through injury and with reports of consistent forward Mathais Seilund recovering from illness, Flyers luck was to worsen as Tyrone Lee retired to the locker room with a suspected ankle injury before half-time.

Missing McFarland

In the four games since Cardell McFarland’s injury, Flyers have struggled to their three lowest points totals of the season, scoring more than 60 in just one game.

A severely weakened Flyers team faced an athletic and deep London Lions outfit who rightly rotated their entire bench and were therefore able to put Flyers under considerable and consistent defensive pressure.

Flyers showed impressive resilience, managing to come within five points during the third quarter but unfortunately ran out of steam, facing a torrid time trying to score the basketball.

Offensive Troubles

Flyers struggled to penetrate and get to the basket, left forcing three point shots to a dwindling shot clock. Flyers made 6/28. Three point attempts made up just shy of half their field goal attempts.

Off-Target Flyers

Flyers hit just 29% of their shots on Friday, their lowest percentage of the season so far.

Captain Greg Streete won’t have been pleased with his own performance. He struggled to find consistency with his jump shot. I love that he plays unselfishly and shares the ball however in a game situation where team mates rely on his ability to create I think he needs to keep aggressively attacking the basket regardless of missed layups or shots blocked.

Doug McLaughlin Williams shot the ball well and probably would have been more efficient if not forced into some unbalanced pressured shots. Daniel Edozie also impressed, stepping up with increased minutes to record another double-double.

Coaches Kapoulas and Burns will now have one priority before facing Worcester Wolves on Saturday. Having both Americans back fit and healthy will be instrumental in Flyers' goal of getting back into a BBL play-off spot.

Flyers take on Worcester Wolves at the SGS WISE Arena this Saturday, November 28th (7.30pm tip-off) - click here to buy tickets online.

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.