WORCESTER Wolves must “knuckle down” defensively and not allow games to “become a lottery”, insists head coach Paul James.

Wolves host second-from-bottom Surrey Scorchers tonight (7.30pm) before travelling to Cheshire Phoenix on Sunday (5.30pm).

James admits it is an important weekend for his side, who have lost three of their first four games in the British Basketball League.

They have conceded more than 75 points in every match this season with Glasgow Rocks claiming a thumping 94-81 victory at the University of Worcester Arena last week.

And James says his side need to do a better job “pursuing the ball” and stopping teams from getting shots away.

“I am very disappointed we are conceding 80-odd points a game because it’s always going to be a struggle,” he said.

“We feel we can score those points ourselves but really need to focus and knuckle down to get teams down to the low 70s and really give ourselves a chance of winning.

“We don’t want to be one of these teams where it’s just going to be a shoot-out every game and then it becomes a lottery.”

After winning all three of their pre-season games, Wolves defeated Cheshire Phoenix 88-85 on the opening day of the campaign.

However, they are still awaiting their second victory after losses to Leicester Riders, Sheffield Sharks and Glasgow.

“We just need to get back to doing what we were at the start of the season and in pre-season,” he continued.

“In the last couple of games, our defence has not been how it should be and we have struggled because of it.

“But if we can get back to being intense in defence, so pursuing the ball and gaining those stops, it is going to lead to easy baskets down the other end.

“The message for the weekend is defence, defence and more defence.”

Scorchers ended a run of five straight defeats with an 81-76 victory at Sheffield last Friday before losing 84-69 to Glasgow a day later.

However, Wolves have won their last nine meetings and James’ men will be keen to extend that record.

“One or two wins will make our season look a lot better than it is at the moment, so it is a big weekend for us, starting at home against Surrey,” James added.

“We are forgetting about their record as they are a good team and have been competitive in all their games.

“So we have certainly got to do a better job, especially defensively, and play for 40 minutes to try to get that win.”