A breakout year?

 

If you have only recently become a Riders fan in the past couple of seasons you are probably accustomed to your team walking off their home floor happily signing autographs and high fiving everyone in sight after another win.

Let me tell you something, it hasn't always been like this. Far from it.

The watershed moments in the history of the ballclub came in 2000/01, as a talented team under Billy Mims took the team's first piece of silverware with a National Cup win over former coach Bob Donewald Jnr's London Leopards, they then grabbed the Play Off gold too as they won from the 8th seed seeing off Sheffield at Wembley Arena, despite finishing the regular season below 0.500 (17-19). For the success starved Riders fans, this was unchartered territory and surely we would be able to build on this and become a force to be reckoned with, right?

Wrong.

The next 3 season's saw 19 wins against 89 losses including a 3-37 record in 2002/03 followed by a 5-31 effort next time around.

Yep, you read that right.

The club was treading water now and struggled on and off the floor, the only bright spot being a Trophy Final appearance in 05/06. Trouble was, the brightness was the lights of the train heading down the tunnel as we got whipped by Newcastle in the final and finished 6th in the league that year followed by 7th place finish as the club headed into financial trouble that almost finished BBL ball in Leicester which included a lock out of the building on game night as players hadn't been paid......

Enter local business Jelson Homes, who along with club stalwarts and a team of volunteers kept the team afloat and with a team recruited late, managed a 10th place position in the league but more importantly, kept themselves going with a view to the future.

2008/09 saw a new coach arrive at the club, but he was a familiar face.

Rob Paternostro came in as a rookie coach and from the first pre season friendly, a new purpose seemed to be around the place. Some great recruiting saw a season of new highs, the first winning record in League play since 1993/4 as the team collated a 21-12 return for a tremendous 3rd place finish including a play off semi final appearance and Paternostro claiming the BBL Coach of the Season award, it was the start of the momentum.

09/10 saw another winning record in (21-15), another semi final appearance in the Cup and a 6th place league finish. Injuries crucified the 10/11 campaign but a winning record was again attained (17-16) including a semi final Trophy slot and a narrow two leg defeat to the Play Off winners, Everton Tigers. Riders were no longer a club that other teams marked their calendars with as a gimme.

The 2011/12 team combined swagger with toughness and they almost gave the new era Riders a trophy, a 2nd place league finish and a Play Off final defeat against league benchmarks Newcastle gave the Rob and the club an appetite for revenge and a taste for the winners champagne.

Right now, this current Riders team sit 2nd in the league with a game in hand to go back top and a 16-2 record, they also took out the BBL Cup beating Newcastle in front of 7,500 fans in a thriller, they sit in a Semi Final berth in the Trophy and are currently on a year long unbeaten home stand. Throw in the little matter of a 2,500 seater home arena at an advanced stage too and as the title of this piece says, could this be a breakout year?

All i know is, as i fan i'm enjoying these great times and not for once will i take them for granted, i only have to think back to 2002/03 to remember the dark times........

End of term thoughts......

Pictured above is a pivotal moment in Riders quest for a trophy, it's the moment #5 got whistled for his 4th foul in the Play Off Final at the NIA and probably the moment the chance of a win slipped away. It wasn't as if Cam Rundles was going for 40 odd or locking down an opponent, it just stripped away one of Riders big guns at a time in the game where they needed someone to "Go Big" and try and stamp their authority on proceedings, something the former Wofford captain had done throughout the Play Off run.


Someone who averages a stunning 28.2 ppg in two quarters and two semi finals is always going to be zeroed in on for a big game and so it proved, he was Public Enemy No1 on Newcastle's scouting report for the Final match up. Eagles player/coach Fab Flournoy took it on himself to stifle the rookie guard and he did it by way of some excellent D but also some moves which could and should have been whistled earlier in my opinion. The level of physicality and hand checking going on was not being picked up by the officials and although Flournoy did eventually foul out, he should have been sitting down earlier. The fact that Rundles got repeatedly pinged on off the ball fouls only served to agitate the situation but credit where credit is due, Newcastle did enough to get the job done and their big game experience and savvy got them the win and with it a fantastic clean sweep of domestic silverware, a terrific achievement.


The fact that Riders shot a paltry 6/20 from the line [0/10 in 2nd half] shouldn't be overlooked either, but this was a problem that blighted the team throughout the campaign and just when they needed a steady hand from the stripe to keep them in a big game, they got Basketball's version of "Golfer's Yips" which left Coach Paternostro feeling pretty helpless on the sidelines......


Despite not managing to take out the Play Off Final game, this team can be very proud of their efforts over a fantastically entertaining season, a season that had so many high points on both a team and an individual basis. Blow out wins, come from behind wins, last second wins [and defeats..!!], triple doubles, Player of the Month awards, high flying dunks, blocks and some mind blowing three point shooting.


The rookie pairing of Cameron Rundles and Ayron Hardy were simply irresistable as the season progressed, they both played with a style and panache that the crowd loved to see, but both had their own way of doing things, Rundles by his own admission liked to up the ante as the crowd got louder and had an ability to take games over with bewildering ease, the wins at Worcester and Milton Keynes spring to mind, let alone his Play Off antics. Simply put, Cam is one of the best guards to pull on a Riders uniform.


Hardy was an absolute beast of a player and is in my top 3 best ever BBL players i've ever seen. His ability to punish the stats sheet from all angles was quite stunning as scores, assists, blocks, rebounds and steals all accumulated at astonishing speed, his back to back triple double display mid season won't be repeated any time soon and to think he was only 2 rebounds away from triple, triple doubles...... Wherever Ayron plays next season, and i hope he stays with us [we can hope] fans are in for a real treat, it has been a privilege to watch him at such close quarters.


Bradd Wierzbicki also had a great season in my opinion altough quite how he didn't get voted into any of the Team of the Year awards is beyond me. If we needed a bucket at any time, Bradd could oblige and with the scoring load not being predominantly on his shoulders on this team, it suited the affable former Queens College star down to the ground. The fact he picked up Coaches Player of the Year shows how high a regard he is held in around these parts. One other area that he excelled in was his assists, something that he has improved upon out of sight since his return from Spain last summer. He should hopefully be one of the first guys on next season's roster in an ideal world.


Drew Sullivan was a tremendous pick up by the club who moved heaven and earth to make it a permanent deal to keep the GB skipper for the season. I must admit that when i heard we were in talks with him i didn't think we could pull it off but thankfully it happened and he provided a will to win and court savvy to match. The Olympic Games were obviously in his thoughts but he never slackened up the effort and played with injuries at times to the betterment of the team. A true leader of men.


Brett Royster will look back on his time here in Leicester with mixed thoughts, he was continually whistled as he went after shots on the defensive end, something he made his reputation on back in the States but the refs here never got off his case which held back the 6'8 centre no end. Coupled with the fact he went down with a serious ankle injury at Newcastle late on in the season and it all adds up to one word. Frustration. A fully fit and given the benefit of the doubt by the refs Royster would be great to watch defensively.....


Barry Lamble again played a major role in the season, his continual improvement is there for everyone to see, a much more confident player these days, none more so apparent than in the Play Off Qtr v Sheffield at Loughborough where he was immense at both ends to pave the way for a comfortable win in the end. A lock to return hopefully.


Tom Sherlock overcame early injury bothers to take a role in the starting five after Royster's injury and he made the start spot his own with some all action displays. A fully fit Sherlock is a major asset to any club and lets hope he returns next time around.


Jamell Anderson was a great pick up for us, i'd enjoyed watching his athleticism on a poor Essex side and knew he would hold his own in a Rider uniform. His defensive work was stellar as he took a big part in a sneaky play thought up by Coach Paternostro as the season progressed. His long arms and great ability to get up and down the floor marked him out as a vital part of the team. He is rumoured to be back which will be great to see.


Connor Washington and Reiss Haggith didn't get too many minutes between them but they will have learnt a lot over the season. Haggith's ungainly looking but highly effective three point shot even making an appearance in the Play Off Final as he hosed one home as time ran down!


Finally, a few words for the off the floor Staff.....


Coach Paternostro is a big time recruiter of college talent and he went big this term with his choices. The fact that the players all went on record saying how great it is to be coached by Rob shows just how good a job he has done since he took the role on. We are now a highly respected organisation around the league, a postion we were nowhere near when he took over. A top, top coach who we are very fortunate to have.


Phil Gleadall and LT also played a big part on the sidelines, who will forget their sterling efforts at Milton Keynes when Rob was indisposed due to a family emergency. That road win was awesome!!!


GM Russell Levenston again worked incredibly hard in a multitude of roles to keep the club moving onwards and upwards, he even took over the mic for a few games..........His decision to move to Loughborough for the Play Offs eventually proved to be a masterstroke although when the call was made, i'll admit to being very wary of it working due to our great home form at the JSSC. But work it did and in some style!!


What will next season bring?


Whatever happens, it will certainly not be boring that's for sure.......

That was the season that was......almost

What a season it has been, Riders nailed the runners up spot for the first time in their history and are still standing tall in the Play Offs, i'll put together a wrap of Riders season when it ends [hopefully at the NIA] but in the meantime here's my take on the other outfits in the BBL and how they fared from No11 through to No1......



P11 - Durham Wildcats: Yes, they finished bottom of the pile but i'd say Durham have nothing to be ashamed of in their rookie BBL season, they put on a great game night at their Newton Aycliffe base and deserved more than the 3 wins they eventually managed. Mario Flaherty had a good season battling manfully in the middle with Mike Capocci and Ralph Bucci addding support on the scoring front. DJ Glavan was a steady distributor at the point and Coach Dave Elderkin made sure they scrapped to the final buzzer in every game.

P10 - Mersey Tigers: From a hat trick of trophies last term to a long season of struggles and doom and gloom this time around...I'm guessing that Tony Garbelotto will be glad to see the back of this season. The team was put together incredibly late amid all sorts of rumours regarding money or lack of it and it showed. David Aliu was the only returnee and he fought hard every time he suited up, along with Myles Hesson they were the only bright spots on a short roster that had little or no back up for whatever starting five was put out. Antonio Bustamante provided some Spanish panache in a short stay and Devan Bailey learnt fast over the season but they limped over the line running a 6 man crew which doesn't bode well for next season....

P9 - MK Lions: I'm certain that Vince Macauley didn't envisage a second season out of the play offs when he and Coach Mike New put this team together over the summer. If at the end of the season you had the League's leading scorer [Demarius Bolds] and the leading rebounder [Daniel Northern] on your team you wouldn't have expected a 9th place finish but that was the outcome as they imploded over the final third of season. Add in Stefan Gill, Justin Dobbins, Adrien Sturt and Robert Youngblood and you have the ingredients for a top 6 spot surely? Maybe it was too many ego's or too many would be coaches?
Who knows?
I'll leave the "B" Team story alone too as it's been done to death although it was a tremendous spur for Riders to rub Macauley's nose in it over the season!

P8 - Guildford Heat: They snuck into the final play off spot but had a woefully inconsistent season. Mike Martin's powers seem to be on the wane, Julius Joseph isn't getting any younger and add to this the poor summer recruiting with the starting PG and C leaving in pretty short order which added all together is a recipe for struggle. Coach Creon Raftopoulous added BBL experience in Lasker, Holmes and Durant as the year progressed but an utter thumping at Newcastle in the play offs saw that they exited at the first hurdle......

P7 - Sheffield Sharks: Another team to struggle with recruitment, BJ Jenkins never arrived, big Justin Dobbins left mid season to be replaced by little Ryan Patton and their lack of size left Mike Tuck and Olu Babalola with a mammoth job inside every night, a job which never looked like being completed. A Play off Qtr Final match up with Leicester proved beyond them too as they were clinically put away by 41pts over the two legs. Coach Lyons has some problems to address over the summer.

P6 - Cheshire Jets: Coach Lavery did a tremendous job in my opinion to get the Jets into 6th place with basically a 6 man rotation operating on a seemingly threadbare budget. Adam Brown had some big nights at PG with the canny Irishman Colin O'Reilly providing a more than solid foil at the 2/3 spot. Bill Cole and Matt Schneck were consistent towers in the middle and the late pick up of the excellent Kai Williams gave the Jets a big confidence boost to finish the season very strongly and advance into the Semi's after toppling Worcester over two hard fought legs on successive nights, something that didn't look possible in the early going of the season.

P5 - Glasgow Rocks: The Rocks never seemed far away from an injury crisis at any point of the season with Player Coach Sterling Davis, guards EJ Harrison and Mychal Green plus centre DeAundre Cranston all seeing long spells on the treatment table. Given those problems, a top 5 finish is to be applauded and this was achieved off the back of some scintillating guard play from Harrison and Green who had a great rookie season. Gareth Murray returned home and provided inside/outside help with Andrew Wedemire and Danny Huffor adding some offensive/defensive spark too. They made short work of Plymouth over the two legs in the Play Off QF to set up a mouth watering SF with Leicester.....

P4 - Plymouth Raiders: If Milton Keynes weren't expecting a 9th place finish, then Plymouth Raiders fans would have scoffed at you at mid season if you had said they would have finished 4th and without any trophies. They met Newcastle in two finals but came up short both times and finished the regular season losing 4 of their last 5 to drop to their final spot of 4th. Surely a team of Jeremy Bell, James Jones, Lehmon Colbert, Anthony Rowe and Paul Williams should have enough talent to bring home some success? If Coach Gavin Love returns he will surely be under massive pressure to deliver next time around??

P3 - Worcester Wolves: Not many pundits would have placed Worcester in the top 3 at the commencement of hostilities but third is where they finished. Rookies Richie Gordon and Tommy Freeman were stand out performers all season long and Sherrad Prezzie-Blue was a steady performer at the point. Veteran Lithuanian Arnas Kazlauskas bombed away ungainly all season and Spaniard Carlos Fernandez did all the dirty work. Coach James would have been pleased with the 3rd place finish but aghast at their Play Off QF exit to Cheshire which ended their season somewhat earlier than they were anticipating.....

P2 - Leicester Riders: I'll save my thoughts for the season end, whenever that may be!!!

P1 - Newcastle Eagles: The long time league leaders became the league winners as Eagles swept all before them in a powerful display of tough D and sharp outside shooting. Smith, Gause, Chapman, Thomson, Defoe, Flournoy and Bridge were a tough combination all year and deserved the title. Trophy and BBL Cup titles were added to the list with only the Play Off yet to be claimed, who knows if they can grab all 4 pots?

Rundles swaggers past Sharks

A two legged Play Off semi final with Glasgow stands between Riders and a shot at the 2012 BBL Play Off winners trophy.

A shot at giving everyone on this team and everyone connected with the club a piece of silverware to show for the tremendous efforts put in on and off the floor. The challenge of Sheffield was swept aside with considerable ease as a one sided Quarter Final match up saw Riders overpower their hosts at the EIS with the lead hitting the 30pt marker entering the final quarter on the back of some hard nosed defense and sweet shooting from all distances.

Sharks dangerous back court of Jimmy Langhurst, Ryan Patton and ex Rider and GB star Nate Reinking were not given an open look from deep for the majority of the game and with their three point threat nullified, they had to look inside to Olu Babalola and Mike Tuck but they came up against a resolute Riders frontline with Drew Sullivan, Ayron Hardy and the excellent Tom Sherlock who combined to keep the back door closed and made it a very long night for the perennial BBL powerhouses. While the frontcourt kept things tight, the back court ran amok with the feisty Cam Rundles [pic above] hitting from all areas of South Yorkshire on his way to 26pts, he was backed up by his partner in crime Bradd Wierzbicki with 19 and Drew Sullivan had 12. Mr Hardy was one assist away from another triple double with 10, 10 and 9, another astonishing stat in an astonishing rookie season. Barry Lamble was an effective foil off the bench with a handy 11pts in an effective display.

Yorick Williams also managed to drain a couple trademark long bombs in his way to 8pts to delight the vociferous travelling support and when the returning Brett Royster nailed a three point play late on in the third, a blowout was on the cards. Credit though went to the Sharks as they took advantage of a Riders team who maybe subconciously lifted their foot off the gas for a moment and Reinking managed to hit 11 fourth qtr points to trim the deficit to 76-92, still a mountain to climb but not as steep as it maybe could have been.

The scene was set then for the home leg over at Loughborough University and what a tremendous event it proved to be! A packed and noisy crowd poured into the venue and it was bursting at the seams as 150 people had to be turned away as Play Off fever hit the East Midlands......

The expected backlash from Sheffield never materialised as they were put under the pump from the off with Rundles continuing his fine form with some deadly shooting to end the first qtr with 11pts and with Sherlock, Lamble and Hardy adding to the mayhem, the game and therefore the tie were never in doubt. A huge Lamble putback dunk got the place jumping and when Hardy was left alone outside to hit a big triple, the Sharks knew they could arrange the flights home and get the beachwear ready for wearing....

The 47-30 halftime score reflected the superiority of the rampant home side and the 50-70 three quarter score signalled the fat lady clearing her throat.

Rundles led the way again with 29pts, Hardy was again highlighted across the stat sheet with 16pts, 9 rebs, 8 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks [!], Bradd had 13pts and Drew Sullivan added 12 and 5 rebs. Yorick had 6pts while Messrs Lamble and Sherlock both excelled again, Barry adding 9 rebounds to his 5pts with Tom grabbing 5 boards to go with his 5pts. Jamell and Brett had 2pts apiece to close out the scorers.

The capacity crowd roared home the Riders to a superb 182-141 aggregate success which now leads to a two legged momentous series with Glasgow.....

Lets do it all again this weekend!!!

Loud Mouth's and Unsung Silent Assassins..................

Remember the over-excitable team owner who at the start of this season declared that he "expected his team to beat Leicester six times out of six"?

Well, tonight the BBL's version of WWE's "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart will look at the BBL table and and see his team in penultimate position with a mediocre 8-19 record while the team he referred to as "Lions B team" sit in joint third postion with a 20-7 record, on the back of a great run of form including wins over Worcester and Plymouth in the last month. This "B" team also has a chance of grabbing runners-up spot in the league and doing untold damage in the upcoming Play-Offs.

A competition Jimmy Hart and his boys won't be taking part in this time around after a lame 78-95 home reverse to a 6 man Chester Jets.

Vince, payback's a bitch as they say.

That's the Loud Mouth part of the article squared off so now onto the Unsung Silent Assassin...............

Step forward Riders #13.

It's maybe surprising to tag Bradd Wierzbicki as this season's unsung hero given his performances in a Riders uniform in season's past, who will ever forget his last second heroics to get us into the Play Off semi's back in the day? This time around Bradd has added other skills to his armoury other than flat out scoring [of which he is still very proficient]. His range of passing has improved out of sight since he returned from Spain and he has had the scoring weight and expectation taken off his shoulders to an extent with his good buddy Cam Rundles, The Perfect Storm [Ayron Hardy] and GB skipper Drew Sullivan all regularly chipping in with big scores and performances.

Wierzbicki has continued to do his thing despite seemingly getting the rough end of many refereeing decisions as his treatment going to the basket is bordering on assault at times, i'm not sure what he has to do to get an "and one"?

He had 26 in the whipping of Worcester and topped that with a superb display against Plymouth on Wednesday going 12/14 for 30pts including triples, drives to the bucket and tough fadeaways which gave the Raiders defence heartburn all night long.

This team seems to be in it for the long haul and with tremendous bench contributions from Lamble, Sherlock and Anderson plus Mr Versatile Sullivan covering the injured Brett Royster's absence, things look to be coming to the boil nicely for a tilt at some end of season silverware...

Bring.It.On.

The sky's the limit for #10

Just how good is Ayron Hardy?

The answer to that question is quite obviously "excellent" but who knows how far this kid can go in the game?

From the moment he pulled on a Riders vest the 6'5 do it all SF from Birmingham, Alabama has been exemplary in almost every department of his game, his stunning floor shooting average of 68% leads the league by a clear 4% from his ex NCAA Div 1 team-mate at Jacksonville, Lehmon Colbert. He averages 16ppg a night [10th overall], he leads the Riders in rebounding with a healthy 7.58 an outing, he also delivers 3.67 assists per game [10th in league] not to mention a light fingered 2.67 steals [2nd in the nation] whilst he can also swat away at least one shot a game [7th in BBL] despite giving away inches to the league's bigs.

He averages over 32mins per night but despite having such a massive say in all aspects of the game, he has an amazing gift of playing so smartly that foul trouble just doesn't come on the radar which must be a Coach's dream, one that isn't lost on Riders head man, Rob Paternostro.

"The best player in the League" was Rob's reaction after Hardy's second consecutive triple double performance in the win over Sheffield and you can't argue with that statement. The holy grail of a "tripdub" is one that every player strives to attain but few manage the feat, let alone in the same week!

In the home loss to Glasgow a stat line of 13pts, 14 rebounds and 10 assists was recorded which was superb but that was eclipsed by his mammoth performance at the JSSC last night in the 97-88 win over Sheffield.

Twenty points, Fifteen rebounds and Thirteen assists.

Read that again. 20 15 & 13.

Follow those numbers up with these stats: 38mins played and 0 [zero] turnovers.

What a truly brilliant performance and in my experience of BBL viewing, i can't remember seeing a better individual display yet one which helped a team so much.

To add to the hardwood excellence, you would also struggle to find a more unassuming and humble guy which is another big plus point.

So to answer my own question posed at the start of this piece, i'd say that Ayron Hardy is one of the best players ever to pull on a Riders uniform.

No arguments surely?

What a win that was!

Lions 96-99 Riders

For me, this campaign marks the 21st season of following the Riders and it's fair to say that in that time i've seen some very poor games, some good games, some great games and some flat out barnstormers and last week's road win at Vince's Lock Up was definitely in the latter category.


A game with the added spice of a steadily escalating local rivalry got off to a blistering start with both teams going at it from the opening tip, the excellent Demarius Bolds was pulling all the strings for the home side whereas Riders tried and trusted team ethic provided a stark contrast with the points being shared around as per usual. The lead changed hands on numerous occassions throughout the game but no team had a lead of more than 9 as each mini run was halted and another one started. Bolds was proving a tough assignment inside and out as his pull up J's and knifing moves to the hole racked up the points and with Daniel Northern claiming 17 and 8 in the opening twenty minutes for the home side, it would need a special effort from the boys in white to get the away win.


Cam Rundles was trying his hardest on D to slow up Bolds and added to this he was hitting some tough shots for Riders ably backed up by the reliable arm of Bradd Wierzbicki whose persistence to get to the bucket in the absence of any whistles was great to watch. The long arm of the law provided by Messrs Sullivan, Royster and Lamble kept Northern and Crawford quiet into the second half and the irrepressible force of Ayron Hardy supplied the now expected array of steals, dunks, tremendous D and fantastic attitude and will to win, have we ever had a better player in this position? I personally don't think so.


Riders had a 6 point lead into the closing stages which Bolds and Crawford wiped out and the Lions had the lead 96-93 with 71s left in the ball game on the back of Bolds' 38th and 39th points of the night. Riders now had their work cut out for them but a nerveless fake in the corner followed by a big triple from Rundles saw the game tied up at 96. Unsurprisingly, Lions went to Bolds for their next attack but Riders switched on the D with Hardy taking the Bolds assignment and his swarming style left Bolds with a difficult step back effort which was short, Royster garnered the rebound and Riders had the chance for the lead......


 #5 brought the ball up the floor and checked the options available to him, he could maybe find Hardy cutting hard to the bucket or maybe go inside to Sulli or Royster or even pick out the loitering Wierzbicki licking his lips outside?


Nah, let's gun another one from deep shall we?


Swish.


Time out Lions, with Mike New's towel getting ever wetter on his shoulder..........


4.7s were left for Lions to try and save it but their final play was flimsy to say the least, Bolds inbounded to Pedroso who ran down a blind alley and could only find Bob Youngblood who had entered the arc, he found himself with the ball and tried to step back and hit the big one, he got one off but it drew iron leaving a rowdy road support to go crazy and the road team celebrated a crucial 2pts added to the total.


The win had the added gravitas of being achieved without Rob on the sidelines after his young son was taken to hospital that afternoon, a situation which just like the game itself had a happy ending. LT and Phil stepped in to the breach and between them engineered a big win, one of which the absent Coach would have been proud to oversee himself.


Now we head towards a home game and a quick chance of revenge over the Rocks who can't shoot as well as they did last time, can they??