Leicester Riders vs Sheffield Sharks: 40 minutes from the semi-finals
Despite carrying a first leg lead of 92-76 into the second leg, Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders Coach, Rob Paternostro, says there is no room for complacency:
“We’re going to try our best to win that game (Sunday). We’re not trying to win the aggregate score, we’re going into the game on Sunday, and all of us have talked about it, trying to win and that’s the way we’re approaching it.
“If a situation arises late in the game, we’ll have to take a look at the scoreboard and see but I told the guys, don’t try to do any maths or adding up by looking at the score. Just try to win the game.
We’re excited about the 16 point lead we have going into the second leg. We’re very happy with a lot of things we did in the first leg (although) we feel that we could improve on a few things heading into Sunday.
We’ve got to take care of the ball a little bit better. I thought that there were times in that game where we turned the ball over which lead to lay-ups for them (Sharks). We should be fine, we just have to take care of the ball a bit better.
“But the main thing for us, like I said on Friday before we went into the game is, it’s going to be about defence. It’s 80 minutes of defence for us. They have a team that can score and shoot and I thought for the most part on Friday, we defended well.”
Coach Paternostro’s comments about taking care of the ball refer to him teams sloppy end to the fourth quarter which saw a lead that at one time stood at 30 points (84-54), trimmed to only 16 behind a closing 22-8 run by the One Health Sheffield Sharks.
Despite some dismay at the closing minutes of the first leg though, the double digit lead on the road is a result the Riders will be delighted with. And the added bonus of that result is that it e especially as it breaks yet another record for them.
The win on the road to Sheffield was the Riders 14th away win in all competitions this season, moving their record to 14-7 away from the JSSC, a mark that equals the clubs top flight record which was set back in 1983/84 (14-7). To claim the best road winning % is a step too far for this season, as in 1981/82 the club (whilst in Division 2) went 11-1 on the road , winning all League and National Trophy games, as well as three cup rounds against Division one opposition before succumbing to eventual Division 1 runners-up, Solent.
The second leg is to be played away from the JSSC where the team lost only three times in 18 games, moving to the larger capacity venue of Loughborough University.
The move is a necessary one for the team and although the team are unfamiliar with the court having played at the JSSC all season, Coach Paternostro does not anticipate it causing any problems for his team:
“We have the mindset as a basketball team that no matter where we play, and I mean this, if we all showed up at a park and played, we feel like that would be suitable for us to go out and play well.
We’ve played a lot of road games this year: 16 road, 14 league at home, so we certainly know how to play in different venues. We’ve had an opportunity to practice there this week. We feel comfortable.
“We actually practice in Loughborough, in the town of Loughborough. There’s no one that has had any issues with where we’re playing. We do understand the fact that we’ve played very well at our home venue but we like to think that our fans will have a lot to do with the atmosphere in there and we’re ready to go.
And it was a viewpoint that was shared by Paternostro’s assistant coach, Phil Gleadall:
“The rings are still 10 foot, the court is still the same size, it’s a wooden floor. Hey ho, let’s go!”
Tip-off at Loughborough University is at 4:00PM