BBL Preview: Knights at Riders – 28 September 2013
A new season always brings a new set of challenges for every team regardless of how successful the previous season was. It’s the only time of year when each organisation has just as much of a chance as the other to lift the BBL Championship, in the case of tomorrow night’s match-up however it’s tough to make a case for the Birmingham Knights walking out of their first ever professional basketball game with a Win.
The Knights/Riders match up does however have the potential to become a top Midlands derby between the two clubs, adding an extra dimension to game for the fans tomorrow night.
The Riders team will be lining up at the John Sandford Centre with the bulk of last season’s title winning squad, only missing out on securing the return of Zaire Taylor and Pavol Losonsky, both key players in the 2012/13 season.
Rob Paternostro has moved quickly to set the imbalance right though, signing American players (straight out of college) Rashad Hassan and Anthony Downing who are ready to make their debut tomorrow night.
The Knights currently are a mystery best left un-analysed until tomorrow night but they do have two former Rider’s players in their roster. Emile Hopkins who played for Leicester in the first half of last season and Rob Clarke will be suiting up for the Knights against their former club looking to make an impression at what will be a packed out John Sandford Centre.
Leicester have a tough road ahead of them if they want to emulate last season’s success but for a franchise that just handed Paternostro a new ‘long term deal’ this week the future looks bright for the Riders, but the coach isn’t letting them get ahead of themselves.
“For us, like a lot of clubs at this time of the season, we’re trying to get the guys to feel comfortable playing with each other and understanding each other’s game.
That’s the main thing that we’ve been trying to do over the past few weeks whilst figuring out ways to play.”
It’s going to be a sell out for the season opener at the John Sandford Centre as the Leicester Riders take on the Birmingham Knights, after an agonizing off-season for BBL fans tip-off for the returning champions is just one sleep away!