Charlie Walker - 26th September 2024
Preview: Leicester Riders vs Bristol Flyers
Leicester Riders are set to get their 2024-25 Super League Basketball season underway, hosting their season opener against Bristol Flyers on Friday.
The Riders, with a host of new names making their professional debuts, start the season with the Trophy group stage, which will provide the first opportunity for silverware in the inaugural season of Super League Basketball.
Meanwhile the Flyers come to Leicester with some familiar star names, and high expectations on their new arrivals.
Here’s how the fixture is shaping up.
Competition format
The 2024-25 Super League Basketball season will consist of four competitions, the Trophy, Cup, Playoffs and Championship.
We begin with the Trophy, of which the group phase will make up the Riders’ opening six games of the season.
The group phase is a round robin tournament with the teams split into two groups, the Riders group featuring London Lions, Surrey 89ers and Bristol Flyers, who will be played once home and away.
We conclude our Trophy group phase against the London Lions at home on Sunday, October 27 at 16:00.
The winners and runners-up in each group will qualify for the two-legged semi-finals, with the winner of Group A facing the runner-up of Group B and vice-versa.
A single-leg Final will take place in January 2025.
Riders pre-season successes
Two wins from two made up the Riders’ pre-season campaign, which was concluded against Super League Basketball opposition.
The Riders bested the newly-formed Surrey 89ers on the road, taking an 86-66 win back to Leicester. After a closely fought opening period, the Riders took charge on their way to a convincing win.
Missed open looks meant the score failed to demonstrate the level of Leicester’s play through 40 minutes. The Riders shot 9-31 from three and 40% from the field, but will back themselves to connect on those shots on a consistent basis this season.
Jaylin Hunter put in a complete performance from the point with 19 points and 6 assists to lead the game. He took over in the second to build Leiecster’s first meaningful lead, and pulled the strings in a fluid Riders offence all game long.
“I always pride myself on making the right play, for myself and for my teammates,” said Jaylin Hunter following an impressive game which featured 16 in the first half.
“I knocked down a three and a layup in the second quarter which helped my game, but my teammates kept finding me and we kept playing.
“We want to be a team that moves the ball and shares the ball every game, and we keep getting better with that.”
Head Coach Rob Paternostro echoed those sentiments after the game: “We got great shots all game. The ball has moved well right from the start with these guys. That’s what’s been so fun about practice each day- guys are unselfish and playing for each other.”
“We have some ways to go, especially in knocking down shots, but overall the way we played on offence was fun to watch.”
The game produced positive signs for the season, but the Riders face their first competitive test against the Flyers on Friday.
New faces at the Flyers
The Flyers offseason recruitment began with the return of star wing Kedrian Johnson. Last season, “Keddy” enjoyed a very successful rookie campaign with the Flyers out of West Virginia University – averaging 15.0 points per game, and sets a standard of high-production for the rest of the roster.
Suiting up in the South West this season are a host of familiar faces, including returners Corey Samuels, Raphael Thomas-Edwards and Pasquale Landolfi, and a familiar face to the Riders Evan Walshe, who played in the midlands between 2021-22.
But the bulk of Flyers talent are new arrivals, with seven new faces arriving to British basketball. The most promising from their pre-season performances has been rookie Trey Tennyson out of Texas Christian University.
The American guard led Bristol’s final pre-season game with 22 points in a 98-89 win against Cheshire Phoenix. That made it 2-1 for pre-season for the Flyers, who bested the Surrey 89ers and fell to the Newcastle Eagles.
“Trey made some big plays down the stretch- including some big threes late”, said Flyers Head Coach Andrews Kapoulas following the game. 2There were some really positive individual performances as we build towards who we want to be as a basketball team.”
“It’s been a really good pre-season for us, and now the real thing starts. Leicester are a very talented team and we need to be fully prepared- we look forward to the challenge.”
Some injuries have plagued the Flyers prior to the season, however with Raphell Thomas-Edwards, Leslee Smith and Jared Sherfield listed as “day-to-day” by Kapoulas.
Don’t miss out on the action!
Tickets are still available to watch the game live at Mattioli Arena here!
