After the first four games the Lions came away with a 1-3 losing record which shocked the BBL as the raining champions were off to a tough start.
The positives to come out of the first four games was DeAndre Liggins as he was leading the Lions in points, rebounds and steals as well as being right behind Justin Robinson for assists and the chemistry of the team seemed to be improving game-by-game.
Gaining Momentum
In round four the Lions racked up two wins just two days apart, on the 20th November against the Newcastle Eagles, 99-79, where Orlando Parker made his debut for the Lions after coming over from PS Karlsruhe in Germany to help address the imbalance in the line-up due to some injury problems.
After the game, Lions coach, Vince Macaulay spoke in an interview on the team’s performance to the official site:
He said: “Orlando fitted in like a glove, absolutely incredible… I’m very excited for my guys,” said the Lions coach.
On the 22nd November against the Leicester Raiders 98-89, bringing their record back to .500.
“Two big wins, I think guys coming together collectively, sharing the ball, everybody [is] playing their role and that’s the cause for the two wins this weekend which is big for us,” said Liggins in a post -game interview after the win against the Raiders.
In their last two victories, the Lions have been just short of 100 points, so they have showed the ability to outscore their opposition behind the leadership of Robinson and Liggins but the efforts of Dirk Williams shouldn’t go unnoticed either as he has been an important piece in helping the Lions get back to square.
Positive Signs
Williams has had his struggles from the free-throw line at times having a percentage of 61.5 on the year but once he gets the ball in his hands it is rare to find someone that can stop his brilliant arsenal of moves which proved to be the case against the Raiders, coming away with a Player of The Games performance which him and Liggins shared.
Kevin Ware has also showed glimpses of what he can do, pulling it from three without hesitation and working well with his teammates offensively.
Ware has averaged 12.2 points a game and is the third leading rebounder on the team with 4.5 a game, behind Liggins who averages 8.2 and Chris Taiwah with 6.5.
As it stands at the moment the Lions are tied for the first place in group three with the Eagles and Raiders who have a game in hand over the Lions.
Looks like the Lions have found themselves in a tough spot so far this season but with games to go it seems like the turnaround on the season for the Lions is undebatable.
The key: Consistency and getting Byron Mullens back from his back-strain injury.
