Sheffield Sharks ready to move forward after addressing poor run, says Mike Tuck

The Sharks go into this weekend’s back-to-back games against Surrey Scorchers (Friday) and Manchester Giants (Sunday) off the back of two consecutive defeats, with their record for the season now at 11-12.

“This isn't the time we want to hit a rough patch but we have hit it and we are addressing it now,” the experienced Tuck, 38, said.

"We had quite a few talks as a team and as individuals about what we need to do to turn this around. We have addressed some issues and we are ready to move forward.”

The Sharks have beaten tenth-placed Manchester twice already this season and scored 103 points against the Scorchers in the reverse fixture in December, which remains their biggest win of the season so far.

“Although Surrey’s record isn’t amazing they have picked up some big wins this season,” said Tuck, now in his twelfth season with the 2016 BBL Championship play-off winners.

“We are really looking forward to the challenge of playing them. We have got to get back up to 12 wins and start turning the corner.”

This weekend’s matches mark the beginning of a busy end to the Sharks’ regular season and are the first of three double-header weekends.

Tuck added: “We have got a big opportunity in front of us right now, we have got seven games in front of us and just under a month left of the season against some teams that are good but we know we can beat them.

“We're excited for this last few weeks.”

The Sharks were beaten 93-81 by London Lions last time out, which was also their fourth defeat in their last six games.

On that match, Tuck said: “London are a really good team, they are coming off a silverware, they have got a lot of depth, they have got a good budget this year - but they are a team we have beaten in the past.

“We don't fear anybody in this league but we had a terrible first quarter. We dug ourselves a hole early and that's what made it hard for us for the rest of the game, which was pretty even.”