Rebranded Raiders regroup after spell of off-court turmoil

PLYMOUTH SIDE SPORT A NEW BADGE AND A NEW NAME - THE PATRIOTS

LEICESTER Riders complete a weekend double on the road tomorrow afternoon with a visit to the Pavilions to take on the Plymouth City Patriots (3pm).

The Patriots are under new management, and with a new nickname and logo, after a summer restructure that saw their Turkish owners exit the club.

That came after one of the most successful seasons in Plymouth’s history, making the off-the-court turmoil totally unexpected.

The Raiders, as they were known for nearly three decades, finished in third place in the BBL Championship, pushing London Lions all the way for second spot, with Riders the winners.

Plymouth achieved that in spite of three more defeats to the Riders, who have been a bogey team for Plymouth for many years.

Indeed, Riders hold the longest winning streak in BBL history between two clubs, having won 32 games in a row against Plymouth.

The last time Plymouth got the better of things was an 86-82 win on December 16, 2012.

In spite of the off-court upset, the Patriots retained the services of Leicesterborn head coach Paul James, a former England international and the most experienced head coach in the BBL.

After a playing career in Leicester and at Bracknell, James has coached very successfully at Thames Valley, Guildford Kings, Worcester Wolves as well as in Plymouth, and has coached the national team as well.

The Patriots have recruited some proven BBL talent, such as guard Denzel Ubiaro, who came on leaps and bounds last season.

Elvisi Dusha is a very experienced point guard with spells at Surrey, Cheshire, Worcester and London City Royals, as well as playing for the Albanian national team, while Joe Hart is a GB international who had a season at Newcastle with the Eagles but has played most recently in Germany.

But the side is young and relatively inexperienced, with new chairman Carl Heslop planning for the long term and taking a relatively cautious approach to recruiting.

They opened with a narrow 84-75 loss to Bristol Flyers on the road, but London Lions were too powerful in a 90-61 win at the Copper Box.

Their third game on the road was a much tighter defensive affair, Surrey Scorchers edging it 65-57.

Riders will be their first home fixture of the new season.

Riders head coach Rob Paternostro is not certain what to expect from the Patriots.

“Their team came together late, and we have not had a chance to do much scouting,” he said. “Paul James always has hard-nosed sides, so we expect them to be tough defensively. But we don’t know much about them so will need to concentrate on the fundamentals.

“We have had a pretty good record in Plymouth in recent years, so will hope to keep that going.

“We have a lot of quality on our bench so it will be making sure we use everyone we can.”

“It will be a good test for us early in the season, but we must not underestimate a Plymouth side desperate for their first win under new management. We will give them every respect.”

Plymouth Patriots: Shawn Shelton, Cameron King, Liam Carpenter, Denzel Ubiaro, Joe Hart, Ayodeji Adekunle, Isaiah Walker, Liam Langridge-Barker, Daniel Fawell-Molloy, Elvisi Dusha.

Leicester Riders: Geno Crandall, Zach Jackson, Marc Loving, Mo Walker, Patrick Whelan, Conner Washington, Victor Ndoukou, Darien NelsonHenry, Justin Hedley, Kimbal Mackenzie, Jubril Adekoya, Louie Jordan.