IT’S great to have Caylin Raftopoulos back in the Worcester Wolves fold as we look to continue our push for silverware.
Although Caylin has been training with us, he has been playing with our second team in National League Division Two since the start of the season.
A rule change from Basketball England meant he couldn’t be involved with both and he had to choose whether he wanted to play on the British League team and get a few minutes here and there or play with the second team and try to help them.
He opted for the latter but it is below his level and I think he got a bit frustrated with that and decided he would like to come back and help us push on.
That’s fantastic because it now gives me an opportunity to rest Chavis Holmes in some games, even if it’s just for a few minutes here and there.
Caylin’s a very good player and the only reason why he wasn’t playing with us was because of the competition rule change.
I’m glad to have him back and he’s slotted straight back in, playing in Friday’s 78-75 victory over Sheffield Sharks, which was a good win.
Sheffield are not a high-scoring team but they are one of the most physical in the league. They muddy the game a bit so you can’t get into any sort of rhythm but I thought we did a great job in keeping our composure for the best part of the time and closing the game out.
It was another close contest and we have had a lot of those this season.
We have had opportunities to blow teams away but for whatever reason we haven’t had that mental capacity to get that next stop or score.
We have allowed teams to get back at us a bit and become sloppy and lost focus. It might only be for two or three-minute spells but that gives a team chance to get back in it.
I am disappointed with that but really pleased that we have gone into close games, haven’t panicked or self-destructed and managed to refocus at the right time to win a lot of them.
As a coach I would like to be winning a little bit easier, especially with the talent we have on the team but we are still winning games and we’re on a nice little run now.
Part of that has been down to Paul Guede, who has changed our fortunes since he’s come in.
As well as giving us another player who can score and play defence, he’s an intelligent player who understands what we’re trying to do and that really helps the make up of the team.
We are doing well, everybody is contributing now and playing their part and hopefully we can continue in the same vein.
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