Riders @ Eagles – BBL Championship preview
Newcastle Eagles look to extend their perfect 7-0 record at Sport Central in front of the Sky TV cameras on Friday against the similarly unbeaten Leicester Riders. Despite significant changes to their roster from last year the Leicester club seem set to be amongst those challenging for BBL honours once more.
The Eagles welcome 25-year old England International Joe Ikhimnwin to the squad following a successful trial period in early October and he replaces the departing Theo Turner on the bench. Eagles coach Fab Flournoy was pleased to see Joe join the team; “Joe brings a great attitude and work ethic and we are sure he will fit into the mold. Joe is a young British talent who will help deepen our first team roster and I’m looking forward to seeing him contribute for the rest of the BBL season.”
The Newcastle Eagles edged the feisty London Lions in a surprisingly competitive encounter last week but Eagles Captain Joe Chapman was happy with the overall team performance, “Honestly, that was the test that we need with Leicester coming. We need more competitive games. We had five guys in double figures in the scoring column with
Ant Martin, in particular, having big first half points. It’s really helping us out to get everyone on board rather than the same couple of people. The closer the games are the better we perform as a team.”
Although his side is 7-0, the Eagles are yet to face either of the other two unbeaten teams and one of them, Leicester Riders are now due up at Sport Central: Joe is predicting another tough defensive battle, “With Leicester coming we have to step it up a bit more but we played a great game last week on the defensive end and although we struggled
from three point range and the free throw line we got it going defensively. Against Leicester it’s going to be a defensive battle.”
The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders are heading into their clash with the Newcastle Eagles on Friday looking to make it six wins out of six to start the season, further extending their already existing ‘best start to a BBL season in franchise history’ record.
The five wins that the Riders have recorded so far have been achieved through a combination of a shared offense (all five starters are averaging double digit points) and suffocating defence (teams are averaging a league low 69 points per game against the Riders).
One of the focal points of what has made the Riders successful has been centre John Fraley, who has been a revelation with averages of 17.4ppg and 12.4rpg a night. But last Sunday, in the Riders 79-74 win over the Durham Wildcats, Fraley was seen to exit the court in discomfort following an slip during the game.
Coach Paternostro, who last season saw his influential captain, Lataryl Williams, join him on the sidelines following a severe knee injury, said about the type and level of injury sustained by Fraley:
“We are still waiting because we still don’t know but we are hopeful it isn’t as serious as it may have looked Saturday.”
That will likely mean that captain Barry Lamble will move to centre, with last years Most Improved Rider, Jamell Anderson, also splitting minutes in the middle.
Tip-off at Sports Central is scheduled for 7:30PM.
