John Lavery has called on his Cheshire Phoenix players to add some ‘intensity’ to their game after they suffered a testing start to the BBL campaign.

Phoenix went down 73-61 to the Sheffield Sharks on Friday, September 27, and were on the end of a 106-65 drubbing at the hands of Newcastle Eagles on Sunday, September 30.

It was not the start Lavery had hoped for, and the head coach will be looking for a significant improvement when his side welcome Manchester Giants to the Northgate Arena on Sunday, October 6.

Chief among his concerns is the Nix’s slow starts, something he and his coaching staff will be keen to improve upon in the coming weeks.

Lavery said: “I think we’ve lacked a little intensity in our play. We haven’t played for the full 40 minutes and, at any level, that is not good enough.

“We have been slow out of the blocks, both against Sheffield and Newcastle, and that has cost us in the end. Basketball is a game of runs, and when a team puts a run on you, the game can be taken away from you very quickly.

“It’s something we have to work on as a group, from myself, to the coaches to the players. Whatever happens, we have to stick together and keep focused.

“Some of these players are in their first season as professional players, and so there is a learning curve for them.

“They will improve as they go on, but for now our focus is on getting them playing from minute one, and trying to sustain their performance levels over the whole game.”

Lavery believes there are positives to be taken from his side’s start, even if results have not gone their way.

“We dug ourselves a hole against Sheffield,” he added. “And though we tried our best, we just couldn’t get ourselves out.

“Three times we had the gap down to five points, and at one stage we had a clear chance centrally to get it down to three. If that goes in, it’s a different game.

“Newcastle played really well on the night. I doubt they will play better all season, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that we were poor, and it was a frustrating night for us as a team. We know we need to improve, and we are confident that we can do so, though Manchester will be tough opposition for us.”