Reading Rockets (17-7) still have everything to play for this weekend despite two last second losses when they host second placed Derby Trailblazers (19-6) on Saturday evening at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre (6pm tip-off) before travelling to face the Champions of NBL Division One on Sunday, Manchester Magic, at 5pm (tip-off) at the Amaechi Basketball Centre. Rockets can finish anywhere between second and sixth in the table with a 16 or more points win over the Trailblazers combined with an away win against the Magic handing them the runners-up spot in the division. Any losses over the weekend and the Berkshire outfit will have to look at other results as both Hemel Storm and Essex Leopards have the head to head results over the Reading team should there be a tie of wins and losses between the organisations.
Rockets lost out to both Essex Leopards (74-76) and Hemel Storm (75-76) in the dying seconds of both games last week and Head Coach Manuel Pena Garces is hoping that the defeats won’t prove costly as his team look for their final positioning in the league table heading into the post season. The Spaniard said,
“We improved over the two games but the mistakes we made leading to both losses were not ones we can see again. I am naturally disappointed to lose both these games but we can still finish in a good position in the league table and finish the season strong heading into the play-offs. I believe in my players a lot and know this week is a really important one for us all.”
“With Derby beating Manchester last Sunday it makes this weekend extra difficult if we want to finish second but we will be looking for two wins and then seeing what happens from there. The league is really tough and there have been many ‘upsets’ along the way so we just need to see by the end of Sunday how things stand.”
“Both Derby and Manchester have been the top two teams in the league this season in my opinion. They have a lot of quality but can both be beaten so that is what we must try and do. Derby has some injuries so that might work in our favour but they will be hard to beat especially after last weekend’s result against Manchester. Manchester themselves are the triple winners, an incredible achievement.”
“A huge weekend ahead as we look to finish strong and prepare for the play-offs which is the most exciting part of the season.”
Rockets go into their final regular season weekend with the news that Captain Danny Carter has returned from his back injury. The 26 year old forward sat out of the two point defeat to Essex Leopards but returned for twenty minutes of action in the one point loss to Hemel Storm. Carter should feature in both games this weekend with the Berkshire outfit needing to be at full strength as they face the top two. Rockets Under 18s trio of Ali Sbai, Ibu Jassey Demba, and Bikram Rana will miss out as they are playing in a tournament in Cherbourg but Fidel Gomez De Enterria Lopez will stay behind with the Rockets as they look to finish runners up.
To keep up to date with all the happenings of the final weekend of action, check out the Rockets twitter page @rocketsreading as well as the Basketball England website – www.basketballengland.co.uk.
Media@readingrockets.co.uk
Basketball Hotline 0118 926 3040