Gary Smith will draw on one of his earliest basketball lessons to help guide Worthing Thunder into the top three.

Thunder go to Kingston tonight (8.15pm) and host Ware tomorrow (4pm) knowing the form book says they should make it a win double.

Smith, though, has been alarmed by the way his side have eased up against less formidable opponents in the NBL Conference.

He said: "I remember when I was 14 at basketball camp and I was one of the better players but not really hustling.

"Bill Sheridan, who was coaching the Bears at the time, called me over.

"I didn't even know who he was but he told me 'No matter who you are playing against you've always got to play hard. If that means scoring 50 then do it. You don't ease up.'

"That's what we have got to remember. Don't play to the standard in front of you. Go out and crush people if you have to.

"We don't think like that and that is the big reason why we are losing games."

Thunder edged past Hackney by two points last Sunday following Saturday night's shattering one-point loss at Manchester when they struggled to contain Steven Gayle of the home side.

The Thunder travelling contingent checked video footage of the game when they made a late night stop at a motorway service station and spotted two key decisions which went against them in the closing moments.

Smith was not complaining. He said: "I didn't even look at the tape at the time. The supporters and players told me about it though.

"I watched the tape when I got home but my view is if we were up by 20 like we should have been those calls would not have been important.

"Decisions go both ways. You can't expect them to all go your way. We shouldn't have been in that situation."

Smith described the Hackney game as "pretty horrible" but was delighted with a win which keeps his side on course for at least a fourth place finish.

That would set up a home tie in the quarter-final play-offs before the two-leg format kicks in.

He added: "One thing you cannot fault is the work of the guys who are coming off the bench.

"The likes of James Brame, Rany Malik and Damien Harris are all playing solidly and coming up with points and rebounds.

"The starting five are doing good things too but not for long periods of time.

"We have founds ways to lose games and I don't want us to get used to doing that.

"We have to learn quickly. I want us to stay in fourth or maybe go third and I'm hoping we deal with what is in front of us this weekend.

"Kingston have won games and we need to play well for 40 minutes against them.

"We can't sleep on Ware either because they have got some pretty decent players."

Thunder face their last big league game of the season a week today when Plymouth visit.