Sheffield Sharks must grasp BBL consistency, says head coach Atiba Lyons

The Sharks have placed on record their desire to win the end-of-season BBL play-offs contested by the top eight teams, but struggled for consistency throughout the season with just as many losses to their 11 wins.

The Sharks, 2016 champions, were beaten 89-74 by Plymouth Raiders last weekend despite a half-time lead in Devon.

"We have to make sure we start winning some games and putting together some wins,” said Lyons, “We want to put ourselves in a strong position going into the play offs and winning that.”

"I thought Plymouth was a game of two halves, we played pretty well in the first half but in the second half we just never really got going at the right time. It’s hard to win down there, they are a good team.”

The result leaves Sharks sixth in the BBL and is a blow for their hopes of a top-four finish, which would mean home advantage in the second leg of the play-off first round.

They return to action on Friday against London Lions – the most recent BBL Championship winners in the 2018/19 season – who currently occupy fourth spot, having played three fewer games than Lyons’s team.

"We have got the components, we have just got to make sure we execute for 40 minutes,” he said.

“This time of year you have got to keep alternating and changing because we keep playing people so you have to do something different.”

Tip-off is 5pm and the match will be shown live on Sky Sports.