Glasgow Rocks are set to roll the dice in a bid to make a push over the second half of the British Basketball League season after opting to ditch former NBA point guard JaJuan Smith and replace the American with ex-Cheshire Phoenix playmaker Reggie Middleton.
The surprise switch comes ahead of the league's signing deadline with Sterling Davis' men sitting in a lowly eighth place in the table and with the prospect of a tough BBL Trophy quarter-final against Newcastle Eagles to come next month.
The experienced Smith overcame a poor start to his Rocks career to claim 15.5 points and 4.8 assists per game, as well as leading the team's scoring in their recent Cup final defeat to Newcastle.
But with Glasgow's offensive rating 11th out of 13 in the BBL, 25-year-old Middleton - who averaged 22.2 points in Chester last season - will now be tasked with pushing up the pace and could make his debut in tomorrow's visit to the Eagles.
"It is possible we could have him for Friday if we can get the paperwork done in time," said Rocks general manager Daniel Bajwoluk confirmed.
Meanwhile Rocks forward Tommy Freeman claims his side are now on a mission to prove they do not deserve to be among the also-rans in the standings. The American, whose own poor form has seen him ditched from Davis' starting line-up, has won praise for his work ethic in trying to break out of his slump. However he admits that the time has come to deliver on the court.
"The Cup Final really was a disappointment for us," said Freeman. "We accomplished a lot of the things that we set out to do on the defensive end of the floor. However, we couldn't hit shots. Our threes weren't falling the way they have all year and Newcastle made shots down the stretch to come away with the win. In order to keep moving up the league we are going to have to beat some of the top four teams."
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