Nick Nurse today prepared for his most exciting Christmas yet at Brighton Bears and insisted: "This team still has room to grow."

Bears go into their ten-day break top of the British League and with the best record any team fielded by Brighton has enjoyed at Christmas since Nurse took over as head coach in 2001.

For the first time they are still alive in all competitions, something no other club in the country can claim.

The current team may not be as spectacular as their predecessors but cool heads and improved three-point shooting have helped them pull off some notable wins, including away to Sheffield, London Towers and Scottish Rocks in recent weeks.

So too has a subtle but discernible change in attitude, from last season's self-assuredness bordering on arrogance to a quieter confidence.

Nurse said: "You will always compare but the team we had last season and the current team are very different.

"I think this team is harder to beat. We are an intelligent team and we don't beat ourselves. We went to Sheffield on Sunday and only committed eight turnovers. We don't hurt ourselves and we have become increasingly difficult to defend.

"I still think, though, we have got room to grow. Steve Lepore is starting to be more versatile and do the things I got him for and I still think we can get more from Ajou Deng.

"I would also like to make another signing sooner rather than later."

Any new addition is likely to be a back-up back-court player coming from the bargain basement Nurse plundered so well last summer.

Almost without exception, the current Bears team is made up of players who either have no prior professional experience, have been hindered by injury or who were thought to have hit their peak years ago.

The two exceptions to those rules are Ryan Huntley and Yorick Williams, yet even they are scaling new heights.

Huntley's under-stated style has helped him win medals at Chester and Scottish Rocks but Williams is, for the first time in a professional career going back more than ten years, playing a lead role in a top team and is relishing the chance.

Lepore, Deng, Radhi Knapp and Joe Perera are all in their first professional seasons having previously seen their progress halted to differing degrees by injury.

Tony Holley could have been bidding farewell to the BBL when he left Thames Valley last season but is playing as well as ever.

Then there is Andrew Alleyne, who was always respected around the league as a steady player on a steady Milton Keynes team, not as a key man with the leaders and champions.

Alleyne is the closest Bears have to a star. No one player stands out, though, and you never quite know where the danger will come from.

Nurse added: "You would be hard-pushed to find the best player in the league in our team.

"Drew seems to be getting better and better, Yorick can be explosive and Ryan is as good as you get in this league at point guard.

"He doesn't throw up 35 points but he has an unbelievable floor game."

l Bears have postponed their home game with London Towers, scheduled for January 15, with a new date yet to be set. They will host Birmingham at the Triangle on Sunday, January 30 (5pm).