Jets at Riders – BBL Championship preview

Saturday 29th September

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders vs Cheshire Jets

The clash between Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders and Cheshire Jets could end in a multitude of ways this Saturday.

For Cheshire, this is effectively their first game of the season on the back of no real preparation. The franchise was saved from the brink of collapse after former owner Peter Hawkins struggled to find a new buyer after negotiations with the original preferred party broke down part way through August.

In a matter of weeks, Chester businessman Haydn Cook stepped in and has quickly assembled a team both on and off court to take the Jets forward into the 2012/13 season.
James Hamilton, assigned as player-coach after a break from basketball of almost two years, was given the difficult, and unenviable, task of pulling together a squad in a matter of days, and this Saturday sees the fruits of his labour.

Speaking to Alec Doyle, the Chester Chronicle, Hamilton said of his preparations: “I have pulled together as much as I can in the time we had.

“Going to Leicester with a full-strength side would be a daunting task so to go with no preparation and missing my ‘bigs’ is going to be tough, but I’ve been around the game a long time and I’ve been working on some things. If we can keep it tight and not let them run away with it, I’d like to think we could sneak a win.”

Bringing in old and new, with two players still being waited upon because of issues with visas at such late notice; there has not been sufficient time to train in the eyes of Hamilton, but he hopes that the expectation when pulling on a Cheshire jersey is what will drive the team in the coming weeks whilst they bond as a side.

Gabe Haskins and Chez Marks, both arriving this week from the US, with Shawn Myers, Phil Brandreth and Niel Gillard, who were already based in the area, are looking most likely to be the starting five at Loughborough University. Hamilton picked up an ankle injury which he has not fully recovered from in time for this match up, but will have in reserve an array of local talent to call from the bench if needed.

For Riders, it is somewhat a step into the unknown for their first home game of the season.

The lack of knowledge of the side they will going into this fixture will no doubt have been a slight hindrance, however Rob Paternostro, being well aware of that fact, isn’t letting that affect his preparations too heavily.

“We’re used to preparing for teams but at this stage of the season I think the most important thing is to make your guys better and that’s what the focus has been on this week.

“Going up against a team we don’t really know anything about, the only thing we can really concentrate on is ourselves. We had a win last Friday and we’ve had a look back at the tape and there were a lot of things we can do to improve.”

Last week’s victory for Leicester against Sheffield saw a debut double-double from rookie John Fraley, who will be high up the list of starters for the game, together with the remaining four starters from the win in Olympian and Team GB captain Andrew Sullivan, and other newbies Zaire Taylor, Pavol Losonsky and Jay Couisnard.