Steutel Challenges Northumbria

Team Northumbria head coach Marc Steutel insisted there is still plenty of room for improvement after his side claimed an 81-72 Division One win against Derby Trailblazers.

The previous weekend Steutel admitted that he was disappointed with how his players performed - urging them to put on a better display against their East Midlands opponents.

And while TN secured a seemingly comfortable victory, Steutel was clear that his side needed to improve the fundamentals if they want to compete for honours at the end of the season.

“I thought we were scrappy and a little inconsistent,” said TN’s playcaller.

“It was a decent win and we made some key plays at key times to secure it but I’ll have to watch it back in detail to get a better perspective on our performance.

“There were a lot of things I thought we didn’t do well.

“We weren’t disciplined in certain areas.

“There were times where we were trying to make the right play defensively but overall I just thought we were a bit indifferent at times.

“So we’ll have to go back through the game and look at where we can improve.”

TN’s win over Derby was the beginning of a gauntlet of games facing Steutel’s men and he admitted that the congested fixture list would be a real challenge for his side.

“We had a good week in the build-up to Derby,” he added. “However, with the way the schedule is over the next few weeks we’re going to have limited opportunities out on court to tighten up on some of our issues.

“In terms of getting on the floor and being able to work through issues, it’s going to be a case of receiving information and being mentally keyed in to be able to process that information quickly.

“That’s going to be really challenging because guys learn in different ways and at different speeds.

“It’s a crazy schedule but other teams in the league go through it too.

“I love the guys, the way they compete and the way they buy in but if I’m honest we need to be better in a lot of aspects going forward - especially with such a busy fixture list.”

TN hit the road next weekend with back-to-back away games against Loughborough and Kent.