HEAD coach Paul James says he will continue to run the rule over his Worcester Wolves squad until he finds the players who can step up in the crunch moments.

Wolves were trailing by just four points going into the last six minutes of their British Basketball League opener against London Lions.

But James was then left disappointed by his side’s “lack of execution” in the final throes of the game as Lions powered to an 88-72 victory at the University of Worcester Arena.

Several players were guilty of missing shots late on while bad passes from George Beamon, Alex Navajas and Ashton Khan led to turnovers in the closing moments.

“We are disappointed with the end result,” James said.

“But I think there were far more positives than negatives to be taken from the game against what is a very good and experienced London team.

“I thought we stuck with them and outplayed them in many areas of the game.

“The one thing that let us down was the last five minutes with the turnovers, our lack of execution and composure.

“But these are things we are going to be able to get right once the guys get used to the sets we are trying to run.”

Trayvon Palmer top scored with 21 points on his debut while Beamon, Brandon Parrish, Dallin Bachynski and Elvisi Dusha all made their first league appearances for Worcester.

“I think we are gelling quite well,” James continued.

“Obviously there were times when we lost our way a little bit, but that’s expected at this stage in the season.

“A lot of it is about playing games and the more we train together the better the understanding and chemistry is going to be.

“And for the coaches we need to understand who we need to have on the court in key moments of the game.

“Our lack of experience told in the end, so that’s something we are looking at, but we are not horrified by it.

“We are in pretty good shape and if we can minimise our turnovers and execute our sets properly in those key moments then we are going to be there or thereabouts.”

He added: “I think all those new guys did an exceptional job against London.

“Jermel (Kennedy), Ashton (Khan) and Alex (Navajas) weren’t at their best.

“But we know what they can do, so once they hit their straps as well we are going to be a very tough team to play against.”

With no game this weekend, Wolves are preparing for next Friday’s home BBL Cup clash against Manchester Giants (7.30pm). They will then visit Surrey Scorchers in the league on Sunday (2pm).

“Already in training I can see things have moved on from the game against London and we are going to continue to build on that,” James said.

“I am delighted with the work ethic of the players this time around.

“Training is very intense and competitive and that is something that is going to hold us in good stead for the rest of the season.”