London Leopards v Leicester Riders preview
BBL Trophy – Friday 11 November 2011
Brentwood Centre (19:30)
London Leopards and Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders wrap up their BBL Trophy campaign at the Brentwood Centre on Friday evening as both sides look to end the competition with a win.
The Big Cats suffered from foul trouble when they played the Riders in the midlands as they went down 104-78.
Leopards’ coach Dejan Mihevc is expecting a tough test against the high-flying Leicester side: “Riders are in my opinion of the best teams in BBL and has a great organization also. Coach [Rob] Paternostro is doing a great job, and they are for sure one of the candidates to win this year’s Championship. They have a team with a few very good individuals led by GB National team captain [Drew] Sullivan, who made a big difference immediately when he joined the team.
“When we played against them the first time we did really well at the beginning of the game until our two Americans both got three fouls. We were running the floor really well and play hard defence with high intensity. The whole game we were struggling in boxing out and rebounding and even there is a physical deference in teams and we can expect similar problems we need to do much better job with that in next game.”
The Leopards play-caller has enjoyed the experience of competing against sides from the top flight this season: “Of course it is a great experience that will for sure have positive affect on our players and our team in the long term.”
The EBL Division One side have certainly been busy this season due their involvement in the BBL Trophy, with Friday’s game being their 13th of the season, and they face a return trip to Leicester to face Warriors in the league on Saturday. They split their games last weekend, wrapping up second spot in their National Trophy group with a thrilling 81-79 overtime win against Reading Rockets before going down 84-75 at Brixton in their opening league game.
Leopards guard Lukas Volskis has also enjoyed the experience of playing in the Trophy: “Even though we lost against MK we showed that we can play against those teams just got to learn how to close games out and play consistent but that will come with experience.”
Riders’ coach Rob Paternostro isn’t expecting an easy game against the Leopards: “Last time against the Leopards I was impressed. They were a well coached team who had a lot of young talent. Vernon Teel and Ousman Krubally are both solid players, we could definitely see them playing in our league, both are athletic and skilled and should have great seasons for them.”
Paternostro is looking forward to returning to Brentwood for the first since the 2002/3 season: “Going back to play there will bring back memories for me, I used to love to compete against the likes of Rod Brown, Jason Kimbrough and Rashod Johnson. It will be nice to see some of the Leopards fans from the past.”
For Riders’ forward Robert Youngblood it will be a return to his first club, having helped the original Leopards win back-to-back BBL titles in 1997 and 1998 as well as lifting the 1997 National Cup. The BBL’s elder statesman is looking forward to returning to Brentwood:
“It was my first professional club, I was captain there for five years, and we won some trophies. So they will always have a special place for me. I’ll be looking to show them that I can still play a bit!
“We’re not going to underestimate them because they played really well when we played them the first time. The point guard, Vernon Tell, and the four-man, Ousman Krubally, are two talented players, who are good enough for the BBL. If they could get a big guy, they could be a really good team. We’re going there to win the game, and we’ll prepare for them in the same way we’d prepare for anyone.”
