Pressure’s off for visit of Sharks in dead rubber cup qualifier

LEICESTER Riders complete the qualifying stages of the BBL Cup at the Morningside Arena tonight (8pm) against the Sheffield Sharks, knowing they are through to the quarter-finals with a home tie assured.

And the Sharks are already out of the competition, so tonight’s game will only decide whether Riders or Newcastle Eagles top the group of death, with London Lions in third place.

Sheffield were one of the few teams with a relatively uninterrupted pre-season, but their results so far have been pretty mixed.

That led to their experienced head coach, Atiba Lyons, pulling the trigger and replacing his point guard, Mackey McKnight, with a rookie from San Diego State University, Jeremy Hemsley just over a weeks ago.

The 6ft 3in shooting guard Hemsley enjoyed an illustrious college career, attending the NCAA finals tournament nd leading his team in a particularly competitive conference, averaging 10 points, three assists and there rebounds per game.

Hemsley was brought in to give the Sharks more firepower, and in his debut against the Cheshire Phoenix last Thursday, he top scored with 21 points, including four from 11 three pointers.

But Sharks still have plenty of work to do, particularly in the paint, where they will be looking for more from their experienced forwards, Mike Tuck, Rob Marsden and Bennett Koch.

Riders head coach Rob Paternostro knows this match is unlikely to make much of a difference to his side’s chances of progressing further in the competition,

“It is good we know we have the home game in the quarter-final in the bag, so the pressure is off tonight,” he said. “Who we play in the quarters is a bit of an unknown because we have seen so few of the teams, and clubs are still adding to their rosters.

“Whoever gets there deserves to be in the quarter-finals, but as far as tonight goes, we want to put on a decent performance and continue to look at options.

“With a couple of new guys in the camp in the last week or so, we are still a work in progress.

“This game will give us a chance to look at some other options.”