With the Lions’ star center at home, his backup came through with a fine performance
Josh Sharma filled Olaseni’s big shoes for London
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The London Lions faced an unexpected challenge when they traveled to Romania for their BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals clash against U-BT Cluj-Napoca without their best player. Star center Gabe Olaseni, who is third in the competition in average PIR and in the top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, remained home to attend the birth of his first child.
Any concerns about how London would handle the hard work in the paint against Cluj’s big men were answered by Josh Sharma. The second-year center matched his career-high in scoring for the second week in a row by posting 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in a season-high 22:23 minutes. His contributions proved vital as London held on to defeat Cluj 79-91 to advance to the semifinals for the first time.
Sharma had not scored in double figures in any game all season before going for 12 points without missing any shots and a season-high PIR of 19 in the Lions’ eighthfinals victory over Turk Telekom Anakra. He was up for the challenge again against Cluj.
On top of his raw numbers, which also include an assist and 1 steal in compiling a PIR of 18, Sharma proved to be a non-stop defensive factor as a rim-protector, which led to other missed shots or shots simply not attempted.
Sharma averaged 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds for a PIR of 4.6 in his 17 regular-season appearances, but has been worth 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for a PIR of 18.5 in London’s two playoff games. He has proven himself to be a prime-time performer and one worth keeping an eye on in the semis.