Skipper Gaylon Moore insists there is a key difference between the current Worthing Thunder and the side which blew up so spectacularly last season.

This time, insists the 6ft.7ins centre, they are all pulling in the same direction.

Moore reckons an aversion to team work was the reason for Thunder failing to reach the NBL Conference final four and being hammered by Teesside in the Trophy final last time around.

As his side go to Ware in the Conference today and prepare for next Saturday's Trophy semi at home to Plymouth, he insists there is no chance of a repeat this time.

He said: "We are a much different team. We are all on the same page. If we are not at least we are trying to be.

"Last year's team was a team of individuals and that cost us dearly in the end.

"A lot of the current team have come back from last year and they don't want to go through all that disappointment again.

"This time we want to make things happen.

"There is always room for improvement but I'm pleased with how things are going.

"I'm certainly not surprised by what Danny (Hildreth) can do with a basketball because he has been playing in the BBL for so long.

"Other players have shown what they are capable of, like Malik and (Nick) O'Harabe, and Marvin (Addy) has been steady every game."

Moore, 24, is in his third year with Thunder and, after a close season spent with his girlfriend in Edinburgh, was delighted to head back south and attempt to help the club to a piece of silverware.

The key changes in line-up this year are well illustrated in latest statistics for the team's senior players, which were updated after last week's defeat of Oxford and are produced here.

A three-point shooting percentage of 22 would be unthinkable back in the days of Sean Hampton and Paul Mundy-Castle.

By contrast, Thunder are hitting their shots from closer to the rim and, led by the captain, taking plenty of rebounds.

Lavoris Jerry is the acknowledged flair player of the team but the stats show he is also knocking down his shots from inside the arc. Or throwing them down with real force on some eyecatching occasions.

Jerry has 346 points for the season so far, Moore follows on 305 while Addy needs seven and Damian Harris 11 to hit the 150 mark.

Ware will not be expected to cause problems tonight but Moore warned: "We will have to be ready to play. We don't want to lose and for it to some back and hurt us at the end of the season."

There speaks the voice of experience.

Meanwhile Richard Midgley, the teenage guard from Burgess Hill, is off to a flyer at University of California.

They beat hosts New Mexico 76-68 with Midgely hitting one of four from the field and two of two at the line in his 23 minutes.

California go to Cleveland this weekend.