Riders taking each game as it comes
“Following last Friday’s tough loss in the BBL Trophy to the Milton Keynes Lions, it would be easy to think that the Leicester Riders were going to forget all about the competition that they reached thesemi-final stages of last year, in favour of Sunday’s first BBL league game against the Cheshire Jets.
According to Riders coach, Rob Paternostro though, nothing could be further from the truth:
“There are still two games to be played by the other team so you never know what’s going to happen. We want to win as many games as we can and see what happens from there.”
The other games that Paternostro is referring to are between the MK Lions and the EBL’s London Leopards, a team that is steeped in history but that has, in recent times, experienced difficult times. Playing an EBL opponent rather than the regular BBL clubs brings with it an element of mystery due to the infrequency with which the clubs meet. But does that mean Paternostro is going into Fridays game blind?
“The thing about a game like this, and we’ve seen it before, is that teams in a division below you have a point to prove. They all want to play at the highest level and I think games like this give them a chance to come out and show what they can do. I’ve made some calls to find out about the Leopards and know they have a couple of Americans who are explosive and athletic – Ousman Krubally and Vernon Teel – who put up numbers. But we’ve got some good players here too and we feel like if we concentrate on what we do, we’ll be okay.” confessed Paternostro.
The Leopards will provide one stern test this weekend but it is expected that the tougher test will come in the form of BBL opponents, Cheshire Jets, as the two teams start their BBL campaign on Sunday.
The Jets have had a difficult start to the BBL season, losing all three BBL Trophy games in close contests. In each game, the Jets have been in the driving seat but let the lead slip, meaning they turned a W into an L in each hard fought game.
You could be forgiven for believing that with a win less record so far this season, Paternostro will be looking for his squad to take advantage of the wounded animal that is the Jets. But with Coach P’s invaluable experience and level head, he knows better than to take his opposition for granted, knowing that when prodded enough, a wounded animal strikes back:
“I’ve seen their games and all three of them they had a chance to win – Sheffield twice, who are one of the better teams in the league and the Tigers – so it’s going be a tough game. I don’t care what their record is or what team they have out on the floor, it’s always difficult and we have to be ready to deal with a lot of difficult situations up there.” explained the Riders coach.
“We feel confident though and we’ve had a great week at practice. Coming off a loss Friday night, this kind of week of practice was necessary for us and we feel pretty good.”
The Jets, like the Riders, have a number of different players this season but with Matt Schneck still anchoring the middle, the Jets will have a certain toughness about them that cannot be ignored. Schneck is currently averaging 18.5 points and 9 boards a game in the three contests to date, making him a focal point for both the Jets offense and defence. A lot will be asked of the big man over the course of the season as the team will need to find offensive production having lost last years MVP, Jeremy Bell but as one of the premier bigs in the league, his shoulder should be big enough to carry the load.
For the Riders, Ayron Hardy will look to continue his excellent start to life in the BBL alongside his new team mates.
It is still a learning curve for the players as they grow together and create an understanding, a process which Paternostro believes every coach experiences and one which will not be complete any time soon:
“I think all coaches will tell you that they don’t get that (best rotation) solved for a few weeks and then you just take it from there. It’s the type of thing where you still don’t know your group and you don’t know the other teams too well. As the season and competition goes on, you start to know the other teams pretty well and more importantly, you start to know YOUR team.”
New players or not, the Riders will be desperate to get their BBL season off to the best start possible with a win. And grabbing it against a team who went 4-0 against them last term will make it that little bit more special.
Follow Keith on twitter @keiththejourno
