Cheshire Phoenix head coach John Lavery says there is a collective responsibility for everyone at the club to help address their five-game losing streak in the BBL.
The Nix have now failed to win all four of their home games at their new Cheshire Oaks Arena residence after they were beaten 82-74 by an ordinary Leeds Force side.
The defeat leaves the Nix third bottom in the league with a 3-6 record, with Lavery’s men facing another tough assignment on Friday when they travel to high-flying Worcester Wolves, a team who have lost just once so far this campaign.
But Lavery insists that his current group of players can turn the season around but says that the burden of responsibility must be shouldered by the whole group.
He said: “It’s down to everybody. We are a team, we are a family and we are all in this together.
“It’s not just one individual it’s everybody throughout the team. Myself, James Brice, Mike Burton, the guys that hand out the towels and the water, it’s everybody.
“I wouldn’t say anything has gone wrong, we are just on a bad stretch of runs at the moment and we have just got to turn it round and I’m confident that the guys will turn it round but we have to have a little bit of luck down the stretch as well.”
The Nix, who were missing influential club captain David Aliu through injury, handed a debut to Cayman Island guard Jorge Ebanks, signed up following his release from London Lions last month.
After trailing at the end of the first quarter the Nix kicked on and led their Yorkshire opponents by as many as nine until they suffered another fourth quarter horror show and allowed Matt Newby’s Force side, who move to a 4-6 record, to take home what had seemed an unlikely win.
“It was a tough loss, we turned the ball over too many times, we didn’t take care of the ball down the stretch and didn’t execute down the stretch and Leeds took full advantage of that,” added Lavery, whose side welcome Bristol Flyers on Sunday in the quarter-final of the BBL Cup (5.30pm).
“It’s hard to take a loss. Nobody likes turning up and losing, whether that’s playing wise or coaching wise, obviously the fans want to see a win and we are disappointed.”
