Riders on revenge mission
TRIP TO BRISTOL IS CHANCE TO ATONE FOR NARROW DEFEAT AT START OF BBL CUP CAMPAIGN
LEICESTER Riders go on the road for the weekend, starting with a visit to Bristol Flyers at the SGS Arena tonight (7.30pm) in the qualifying stage of the BBL Cup, before heading to Plymouth on Sunday afternoon.
Riders will be looking for revenge against the Flyers, who edged a squeaker in the opening game of the season, beating Riders 85-84.
Riders will see that as a missed opportunity, because they led for much of the game, and then had a couple of chances in the final 30 seconds to take the win.
But Bristol have had a fine start to the season, winning two of their first three games, their only defeat a 90-80 point loss at home to mighty London Lions.
London dominated the first half in that match against the Flyers, taking a 22-point lead into the break, but Bristol came back strongly in the second half and will take confidence from that comeback.
New American guard Mike Miller, who impressed against the Riders with his control of the tempo of the game, top scored against London with 19 points and 4 assists.
His match-up with Riders MVP point guard Geno Crandall tonight should prove fascinating.
Miller’s back court partner American Trejon Jacobs proved a real handful at the Morningside Arena, hitting 5 three pointers on his way to 21 points, with some of the shots from a long way out.
But it was local raised guard Josh Rodgers who turned the game for the Flyers, with a late killer three, to cap a perfect night shooting, including 6 from 6 from the floor, of which 4 were from beyond the arc.
The other Bristol player who has impressed in the opening matches of the season is forward Malcolm Delpeche who has scored 48 points in his first three games of the season.
But Riders have plenty of firepower of their own, with new signing Marc Loving looking particularly impressive, making the BBL all Star Five in his first week in the BBL.
Riders have an abundance of long-range weapons and so it is finding the right combinations at guard which will prove crucial over a long season.
Riders head coach Rob Paternostro is looking forward to the opportunity at having another shot at the Flyers.
He said: “We have been working very hard the last two weeks and things are looking better every day.
“With the late arrivals the last two weeks of preparations have been essential to get our combinations and timings improving.
“The guys have been working very diligently and obviously we were very disappointed with the result last time.
“But we know Bristol has some real talent this season and are going to be a real handful for every team in the BBL.
“We will need to do a better job of keeping their scoring down and keep their big guys off the boards Second chance points hurt us last time and we know they are physical, so we need to match that physicality.
“And we have to look after the ball – the Flyers have shown they are good at turning errors into points.
“But we are ready, and really looking forward to these games, after the stop-start of the first months of the new season.”
Flyers team: Josh Rodgers, Shane Walker, Malcolm Delpeche, Raphell Thomas-Edwards, Zach Simmons, Marcus Evans, Trejon Jacob, Pasquale Landolfi, Callum McCulloch, Michael Miller
Riders team: Geno Crandall, Zach Jackson, Marc Loving, Mo Walker, Patrick Whelan, Conner Washington, Victor Ndoukou, Darien NelsonHenry, Justin Hedley, Kimbal Mackenzie, Jubril Adekoya, Louie Jordan