Author

Joel Osborne writes

Posted Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 @BristolSportJO

Vigor turns to Gold Coast experience

Wednesday, May 2nd 2018

Mike Vigor is hoping to bring his experience of tournament play at the Commonwealth Games into the BBL play-offs this weekend.

Vigor helped Team Scotland to a fourth-place finish on the Gold Coast, following victories against Nigeria, Cameroon, India and Coach Kapoulas’ England squad.

Despite missing out to New Zealand in the bronze medal game, the Scottish international now has his sights set on winning silverware with the Bristol Flyers.

"The play-offs are very similar to the Commonwealth Games in that they’re two games in such a short amount of time,” Vigor told Bristol Flyers TV.

"There’s a bit more scouting and analysis that goes into the play-offs, but we need to focus on what we do well and if we can do that, I think we’ll be fine.

"Obviously being away at the Commonwealth Games was great for me, but not so great for my body, so I took a little time to rest and recuperate.

"I had a good game on Sunday and hopefully I can carry that rhythm into this weekend."

Mike Vigor helped Scotland to a fourth-place finish at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The Flyers reached new highs last week, after securing back-to-back wins against Leeds Force and Manchester Giants to confirm their highest league finish since joining the BBL.

As a result, they now face six-time BBL play-off champions Newcastle Eagles over a two-legged play-off, with the winner on aggregate advancing to the semi-finals.

"I know a lot of guys around the league don’t like the format, but I think it brings a bit of flare to the league with the whole soccer mentality,” Vigor added.

"Being aggregate score, it could come down to a single point over two games, so we need to play hard for the full 80 minutes because we can’t let any sort of lead slip.

"Last year was a good testament to that, being up in Newcastle by one and having to foul in the late game situation was quite strange.

“It's a bit of deja-vu playing Newcastle Eagles again, but to get that sixth spot was something we aimed for at the start of the season."

Mike VIgor

"We’re coming in with great momentum right now. Obviously we’ll be the underdogs as the sixth seed, but with two games in quick succession, anything can happen and we’re really pushing to progress in the play-offs and not get knocked out in the first round."

Limited tickets for Sunday’s BBL play-off quarter-final home leg against Newcastle Eagles are still available to buy online.

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