Paternostro Buzzing for Birmingham Opener

The reigning BBL champions, Leicester Riders, commence defending their crown with a home game against the league’s newest franchise on Saturday evening, with the Birmingham Knights making the short journey to the John Sandford Sports Centre.

Following an impressive pre-season schedule, which has seen the Riders get wins over EBL Division One side, Huddersfield Heat, and a USA Select team twice over the course of two consecutive days, Head Coach Rob Paternostro revealed that his team are eager to get their season underway, having learned a lot from his team following their warm-up games.

“Anytime you go out on the floor, you’re trying to learn how players respond to different situations,” he said.

“I think that’s what is good about pre-season. It’s a constant process here for us if you want to learn what your team is like. I think all of us coaches in league have a general idea of where we want to be and where we think we will be, but until you get working and get games and practices under your belt, you really don’t know anything for sure.

“What I have been impressed with so far is that we worked hard. The guys played hard and that’s got to continue, no matter what happens. When we’re not executing at a mid-season level, energy and playing hard is going to be important early on.”

New faces in the Leicester Riders team this season include the talented American duo of forward Rashad Hassan and guard Anthony Downing, who commence their professional career in the United Kingdom on Saturday night.

“These guys are basketball players that have competed at a high level for a long time, so I think that they both understand the game and what it means,” said Paternostro, dismissing the issue of any pre-game nerves.

“As the season goes on, there will be certain intricacies to our league that we’ll try to help them with. I just think that they need to do what they have done throughout their careers. They were both successful players before and we expect them to be so here.”

The off-season has seen a huge amount of activity take place around the league, with each team across the country recruiting a number of talented players in a bid to emulate Leicester Riders’ success last season. It’s activity that the Riders Head Coach has looked over with both interest and intrigue.

“I think that everybody around the league will be feeling optimistic at this point,” he admitted.

“I think it’s hard to tell what the league will be like. That’s why I think, whenever you look at predictions at the moment, everybody’s guessing because there’s so many new faces around the league and so many teams have overhauled their roster. Until we’ve all had a look at each other, we can’t really have an idea.

“That’s why these first few weeks of the season are so interesting, because you’re trying to find out what other teams have and how they’ll play. It’s different now, because you really have to focus on yourself as opposed to focus on the other team. I expect a lot of teams to be feeling really good about themselves right now.”

Finally, Paternostro revealed his delight in his team taking on Birmingham Knights this weekend. A former player with the now-defunct Birmingham Bullets in spells between 2000 and 2004, the Connecticut-born coach is happy to see basketball return to the Second City.

“When the word first came out that they would be coming back, I was really happy for the Birmingham basketball community, because there’s a lot of loyal fans there that have followed the sport for a long time,” he said.

“I remember playing there and we had great support with the Bullets, especially when I first got there. I made a lot of good friends there and I’m happy that they get an opportunity to watch basketball again. I think it’s not only great for them; it’s good for the league as well because Birmingham is a great city. It’s shown in the past that it’s a city with a great support for the game of basketball.”