DBL Sharks Sheffield: Opportunity knocks in December insists skipper Tuck

Following a 98-81 victory at Manchester Giants last weekend, the Sharks face a road trip to Worcester Wolves on Friday night in the first leg of a BBL Cup semi-final, before travelling further south to face Surrey Scorchers on Sunday afternoon.

And in Tuck’s eyes, Sharks have to make the most of some opportunities to progress in the coming weeks.

“These next few weeks could be crucial,” said Tuck.

“They could see us through to the final of the cup, they could see us through to the next round of the trophy and could potentially see us make up ground on the top of the table as well, so we have to make sure that we’re focused this month, that everybody’s on the same page and that we’re ready to go.”

Tuck also stressed the importance of Sharks recovering their impressive early-season momentum following a six-game winning streak in October.

“We’ll take the momentum from the Manchester game and bring it into this week and next weekend again,” said Tuck.

“We’ve got two away games against two tough teams this week, so we need to take what we did in the last game, use that momentum and bring it into next week.”

“When we can get five, six guys hitting double figures, it shows how deadly we can be. We can share the ball and be a threat from any position.”

Friday’s face-off with the Wolves at Worcester Arena represents an opportunity to take a lead back to the EIS for a crucial second leg on 20 December.

“It’s a huge game for us,” said Tuck.

“It’s the first leg of the cup semi-final and it’s an away game for us in a very tough gym. They’ve gone from strength to strength, we’ve seen them before and we know what they’re all about.

“It’s very important that we give ourselves a big lead going into the second leg, so we need to go down there with a good attitude and hopefully come out with a double-digit win to give ourselves a good chance in that second game.”