Basketball: Garbelotto needs win to placate supporters
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Your support makes all the difference.The Birmingham Bullets coach, Tony Garbelotto, five years ago an assistant to the England supremo, Laszlo Nemeth, was among the spectators at Coventry's Skydome on Wednesday, bemused by the national team's 48-point capitulation against Italy in the European Championships.
However, when the 33-year-old Londoner said: "If we lose this one..." and jokingly drew a forefinger across his throat he was not talking about England – they were already 71-33 down and turning their minds to tonight's game in Slovenia.
Garbelotto was looking forward, if that is the word, to tonight's BBL Championship square-up at Loughborough University against Leicester Riders, whose coach, Billy Mims, is under as much pressure as Garbelotto from an increasing number of disgruntled supporters.
Bullets are the BBL's Jekyll and Hyde team. They have lost all eight in the Championship, but are poised to qualify for the pan-European round of the Champions' Cup after winning five of seven in the West Conference.
They have gone two months into the season without a point guard, which is not so critical in Europe where the slower half-court tactics allow their forwards and centres to profit. But Bullets have been punished for lacking a court general in the faster, run-and-gun BBL, and Leicester's impressive playmaker Antoine Sims will hope to make them pay tonight.
Riders won the Championship and National Cup two seasons ago, but have failed to repeat that form since and have lost three out of five BBL games so far.
Mims this week gambled by replacing Jamal Faulkner with Donnie Johnson, who has not had a club for a year, and hopes Malcolm Leak will return after an elbow injury.
Newcastle Eagles have confirmed signing the 7ft 1in England international Ian Whyte as cover for the injured American Nike Arinze, who could be out until Christmas with a shoulder injury.
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