WORCESTER Wolves boss Paul James has praised George Marshall for taking on the mantle of being his “on-court coach”.

Marshall is set to make his fourth appearance for Worcester at London Lions in the British Basketball League tomorrow (4.15pm).

James believes it takes a “special character” to hit the ground running at point guard and he has been pleased with Marshall since his arrival last month.

“Point guard is the most difficult position to come in and get into the swing of things straight away,” James said.

“George is my on-court coach so he has got to try to know the offences inside and out and know where the players like to receive the ball and when not to give them the ball.

“There is so much to do. It is very tricky to get somebody in at this late stage in that position.

“But he has had an impact and will continue to build on that.”

Wolves have yet to secure their play-off place as they look ahead to their final five games of the regular season.

And James said Marshall had been doing his homework to make sure he can keep Worcester firing.

“He does (take a lot on board) and it takes a special character to do that,” James said.

“But he seems to be handling that pretty well now and obviously these games will tell whether we did a good job or not.

“He is working hard on doing what he needs to do so hopefully we can get the games won that we need and make a good push for the play-offs.”

Wolves arrive at the Copper Box Arena with good memories of their 97-85 triumph over Lions in February.

But London came out on top in Worcester, winning 88-72 in September, and have been in fine form.

“It is going to be another tough game,” said James whose side tackled Newcastle Eagles last night.

“London are probably the form team in the league as they have won seven or eight games on the bounce and are playing some fantastic basketball.

“They have recently brought in a couple of British players who play hard and that appears to have been the catalyst for London’s turnaround in fortunes.

“It’s going to be a very tough game but it’s one that’s very winnable.

“The last time we played them we played exceptionally well as a unit and hopefully we can continue to do that again.

“Right now it is about getting wins by hook or by crook.

“We can play well or ugly. It doesn’t really matter as we have got to just get those points on the board and ensure we make the play-offs.”