If you had never been to a basketball game and decided to visit the JSSC last night, you made a very wise decision. Talk about entertainment, there was everything that makes basketball such a great sport on display by the bucketful. It does make you wonder why people seem happy to stump up upwards of £50-100 per game to watch Premier League football where you sit miles away from the pitch and the players are utterly detached from the fans [on and off the pitch], and there is always a chance of a 0-0 draw..........
Last night was all about two teams absolutely giving it everything and the end result was a BBL speciality, a drawn game of basketball!
Riders came into the game looking to make home floor advantage count and Eagles' brief was to end the night with something to defend on their floor for the deciding second leg next Friday. The first quarter saw Eagles trying to stamp their defensive authority on Riders and their aggressive tactics worked as they hustled Riders into some tough shots and also ran back turnovers for easy scores. Riders were quickly down double digits and a long night looked ahead for the boys in black. Joe Chapman, Paul Gause and Charles Smith were the executioners at this point as Cam Rundles, so often this season the Riders offensive spark, struggled to find his shooting range in the early going. 6 first quarter Riders turnovers didn't help the home side's offensive flow and they were down 13 [15-28] after 1.
The second period provided no respite for Riders with missed freethrows killing the team again, the lead peaked at 21 midway through the stanza and the only ray of sunshine for the home side was the foul tally stacking up on Newcastle as their defensive tactics which helped build the lead, also added concerns on the stat sheet with Gause and Flournoy both on 3 personal. The half time chat would be pivotal it seemed and as Coach grabbed the stat sheet from the table and quietly sat on the bench formulating a team talk and a plan for the second half, the score read 40-58 . What followed would be remembered for a long time.....
Into the third and the lead went up again early as another Chapman score pushed it to 43-64 but a massive three from the impressive Bradd Wierzbicki seemed to send the energy pulsing through the team and the packed out bleachers. Riders stepped up the D and steadily chipped away at the deficit and another Wierzbicki triple cut it to 10 as the quarter wound down, the crowd were now really in the game and the Eagles were visibly wilting under the pressure.
All to play for then in the final 10 minutes and Riders kept the pressure on with Hardy and Wierzbicki to the fore, a defensive switch putting Sullivan on Smith and Hardy on Chapman paid dividends and with the quietly impressive Brett Royster clogging the paint at both ends, things were looking good. A Hardy steal and bucket got it into single digits at 8, he also rebounded a missed Griffin triple with a phenomenal climb and slam which sent the place mental! Tremendous work from Sullivan and Wierzbicki cut it to four [78-82] with 5m to go. Eagles were only able to convert from the line it seemed as John Griffin keyed in on the defensive end to quieten Gause and Griffin's big three made it 81-84 and game on with 4.50s left. A Sullivan bucket off another Wierzbicki dish cut it to a one point game [83-84] and Rob called "time out" to plot the final 3m of action from a Riders perspective. A baseline jumper from Darius Defoe steadied Eagles nerves but a big dunk from Royster and 1/2 from Bradd tied it at 86. Griffin then stripped Gause and fed the willing Hardy for a breakaway lay in and Riders had climbed their Everest, up two after being 21 down. What a comeback!
Two Gause scores put Eagles ahead again but 2/2 from the lively Griffin tied it up again at 90. Riders had a chance to grab an advantage after two big Royster blocks on Andrew Thomson gave Wierzbicki a chance to win it but his shot rimmed out and Smith grabbed the rebound as the buzzer sounded. What an unbelievable game it was........
Some numbers from the game.............
Bradd was excellent all night and went for 32 with 4/6 from deep, he also added four nice assists. Brett Royster was a monster at both ends with 19pts, 9 rebs and 4 big swats plus he went 5/6 from the line in his best display of his short rookie career. Ayron Hardy was his usual brilliant self and again caused the stat guys to cramp up with 18pts, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks in another all action outing. Cam Rundles had a character building night with 9pts off 0/6 from deep and 4/14 overall but he'll learn from it and be ready to go again. Drew Sullivan was well shackled but his nous came to the fore in the fourth, he hit 7pts and had 4 rebounds with John Griffin adding some tremendous defence to his 5pts and 5 rebounds.
It sets up an unmissable game in the North East on Friday, can Riders go all the way???????
Believe.
The above sign should have been hung outside the visitors dressing room at the Northgate Arena last Sunday as Riders took apart Cheshire on their home floor for the second time this season taking out the the BBL Cup Quarter Final by a score of 74-95.
Jets shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed by a confident Leicester display for whom all nine in white got on the scoresheet while Cheshire laboured their threadbare squad giving full forty minute workouts to Adam Brown, Colin O'Reilly, Bill Cole and Matt Schneck.
The home side came out hard from the tip with a strong Schneck move to the bucket resulting in a spurned "and 1" opportunity for the #50. The foul was called on Riders Brett Royster who seemed to attract the attention of the whistlers as he then picked up a second quick foul which earned him an early sit down. His misfortune was the green light for Barry Lamble to get the nod and he took full advantage, his strong three point play finish gave Riders a 12-16 lead with 4.41s left in the period. The lead peaked at 7 on a Ayron Hardy steal and score [14-21] but a 10-3 Jets run sparked by Adam Brown's bonus play saw the scores knotted at 24 at the end of Q1.
A tight second quarter saw the teams never more than 4pts apart until the latter stages of the stanza but the firepower of the Riders was unleashed in a blistering 4-18 tear to see out the half. This was fired by Cam Rundles as he found his stroke from deep and by the irrepressible Hardy sticking his hands in where they weren't wanted. The half ended on a real high as Tom Sherlock hit a triple on the buzzer on a peach of a Hardy assist and the healthy away support went mad as the guys in white headed for the lockers 38-52 to the good.
The third saw Riders strength in depth on show as they relentlessly kept their foot on the gas subbing fresh guys in at will, the lead peaked at 22 on the back of 5 straight from Bradd Wierzbicki and there was no way back for the flagging Jets who were relying on the gallant Brown getting to the rim and little else. A brief flurry from Jets got it back to 14 on an O'Reilly three but that was as close as it got.
Damage limitation for the Jets was order of the day in the final period as the lead hovered between 16 and 24. Riders continued to press hard and they got some easy buckets as Jets were pressured into many turnovers which led to easy 3 on 1 scores. The final score was nothing less than Riders deserved as they displayed a great team ethic and togetherness which can only bode well for the rest of the season.
Cam Rundles led the scoring for Riders with 24 including 4/8 from deep, he also added four assists. Drew Sullivan was his usual efficient self with 19pts, 6 rebs, 4 assists and a big block but the stat line of the day went to "A Force" Ayron Hardy who gathered in 15pts, a team high 10 rebs, a team high 7 assists and a team high 5 steals in another high flying display from the rookie. Bradd Wierzbicki battled hard for his 12pts and 5 assists while the big fella's both had 8pts apiece, Brett Royster recovering well from the early whistles and Barry Lamble showing well in a great display off the bench. John Griffin saw 13 minutes of action to hit 2/3 from the floor for 4pts and he also added 3 assists as he acclimatises to his new team mates, Tom Sherlock hit the big threeball for his main contribution and youngster Jamell Anderson added the final 2pts to the total in an energetic display.
I'll leave the final words to a very happy Riders Coach, Rob Paternostro.............
"It's a fun time to be a Riders fan, huh?"
Too true sir.
Riders superb early start is reflected in the following stats obtained from the excellent http://www.brithoops.com/ website.
Individual numbers like these make pleasing reading for players, coaches and fans alike.
Cameron Rundles: currently shooting 51% from the floor while converting 19/39 [48.7%] from deep. He is currently 2nd overall in scoring too with 19.50 points per outing while also managing to make 6 connections per game to lead the league in assists.
Drew Sullivan: currently shooting at a 63% clip from the floor [17/27] while adding 9/16 [56.2%] from the arc. He also brings rebounding muscle to the side with 8.25 an outing, his 19.25ppg place him 3rd overall in scoring.
Ayron Hardy: shooting 66.7% on 44/66 attempts, 15/20 FT [75%], 8 boards a game and a healthy 17.7ppg.
Bradd Wierzbicki: shoots 17/37 [45.9%] from deep, he also contributes 17.50ppg to accentuate Riders strong back court pairing.
The above stats are from all competitive games played so far [League/Trophy and BBL Cup] and while it may be early days in the season, these numbers are reasons to be cheerful if you root for the guys in black................
After the win in Chester in the opening Championship game, Riders got on the road again for fixture No2 with a trip to Surrey Sports Park to take on the Guildford Heat who had yet to register a league win so far this term.
After a tour of some Surrey housing estates [if i was a coach driver, i'd do my homework on the location of the place i was supposed to be driving to] we eventually swung into the home of the Heat and made use of the comfy chairs and birds eye view over the court that Starbucks Coffee provides in the impressive facility that Heat have used since vacating the Guildford Spectrum a couple of seasons ago. The usual pre game chatter ensued which threw up the usual "which crew of refs will we get" question, answered quickly as Keith Williams arrived [cue much gnashing of teeth] plus another unrelated Williams [one of the "Plymouth 3"] and a young lady official i hadn't seen before. Nobody ventured as to how this crew would perform together.....
Riders came out strong early behind the deadly arm of Cam Rundles whose accuracy from deep propelled the team into an early 12-20 lead after the opening stanza. The former Wofford standout found has a habit of getting going early and this was no exception as he hit some big shots despite some close Heat attention. The most worrying aspect of the quarter was the injury to current BBL Player of the Month Ayron Hardy who took a frightening tumble after having his legs taken away as he went up to the rim, the sickening thud as he landed reverberated around the arena and the 6'5 ex JU forward took a trip to the bench for some treatment with most worried onlookers fearing for his chances of returning such was the hit he took. Thankfully the rookie proved it would take something seismic to keep him from the action and he duly returned for the second quarter with somewhat reduced mobility as he eased himself back in. A tough kid, there is no doubt about it.
If the first period was all about Rundles, the second was more about a home comeback as they cranked up the D and that sparked a 16-2 run which reversed the scores somewhat and awoke the sparse home support into some sort of response. The scores remained close up to the half time break and an Albert Margai three point heave on the whistle saw the home side up 39-35 heading to the lockers with Rob being particularly upset with the last play as it swished home.........
The sides remained inseparable through a tight third period although the energised Rundles again took over for Riders with two more long rangers either side of a three point play which got the away support on their feet, scores were exchanged through the the quarter break as the scoreboard read 53 all with one quarter left to go. Game on indeed.
Riders managed to eke out a precious six point lead advantage with 1.30s left after good work from Drew Sullivan and Bradd Wierzbicki and you would have thought that we could and should have closed the game out from there but no such chance....... A period of play ensued that the travelling support could scarcely believe as first Julius Joseph and then Tayo Ogedengbe got to the rim to make it 73-76 Riders with 40s left and it was bite yer nails time as Riders blew chance after chance to put the game to bed as a crazy sequence of missed freebies from Rundles [x4], Sullivan [x2] and 1/2 from Wierzbicki saw the scores read 74-77 with Riders open to a three point bomb to tie it from the resulting Heat timeout. Step forward Julius Joseph who converted a tough shot from deep with Sullivan in his face to knot the scores at 77 all with 7s left. "Time Out" was the call from the away bench and Rob got to work on the white board for the final time.
The ball was inbounded to Rundles who chopped across the key under intense pressure and despite three Heat defenders draping themselves all over him, managed to get off an off balance, fadeaway rainbow shot which struck up string music on the buzzer leaving the Heat gobsmacked and Riders players and fans ecstatic! It was fitting that Rundles buried the winning shot as his November 5th pyrotechnics throughout the game saw him lead all scorers with 33 big ones including 6/10 from the arc, a stunning performance which was almost matched on the bus ride home but that's another story for another time...........
Rundles was supported offensively by Bradd who had 16 and Hardy who did brilliantly to continue after his first quarter mishap and grab 12 points despite clearly suffering. I'd give you some rebounding stats if i could but according to the Heat statsman we only had 8 all game........ Jesus Christ, what's going on there???
The performance of the stats guy was almost matched by the officials who i thought collectively had a shocker, although the least experienced member of the three was far from the worst. Quite what the refs assessor made of it is open to question i'd imagine?
Another road trip week awaits with a Friday date with Leopards in the final Trophy rubber followed by the big BBL Cup quarter final at the Northgate vs Chester on Saturday.
Could this be the season for a Cup ot two.................................??
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