WITH every player forced to work at full capacity on a short rotation every absence is going to be keenly felt.
And the loss of Phil Brandreth, whose work ethic has been faultless this season, to a dead leg was too much for the Phoenix to cope with as they slipped to a league defeat at the Emirates Arena.
Brandreth picked up a dead leg in Friday night’s BBL Trophy game and was unable to travel with the team to play the Rocks.
That meant the Phoenix had only Gabe Haskins, Alif BLand, Chez Marks, Shawn Myers, Jerome Gumbs and Chris Pearce available for the game.
Running a six-man rotation in their second lengthy road trip of the weekend proved too much in the end although the Phoenix did run them close, trailing 24-20 in the first quarter.
But despite Chez Marks’ return to scoring form as he led the game with 25, the Rocks benefited from greater depth and went into half time 52-32 up.
the Phoenix never truly clawed their way back into the game as the third saw the Rocks still leading 69-51 and the game ended 95-78.
Alif Bland’s double-double 15 points and 13 rebounds provided little consolation for the away side.
