This weekend the Rockets (5-6) face yet another double header against two teams we have yet to face this season, BA London Lions (3-7) and Loughborough Riders (5-9).
Rockets are coming off the back a fantastic 98-91 victory over Team Newcastle after truly impressive performances from Sam Toluwase who finished up with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, and Reis Pinnock who filled the stat sheet, achieving a near triple-double (10 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals). Another key performer last match for the Rockets was academy-star Sam Grant who scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, earning him the Elephant & Castle Player of the Game. We hope the trio can continue this excellent run of form into this weekend’s fixtures.
This season the Rockets are the entertainers in the league, with many games seeing over 180 points in the game. We have shown that we can score the basketball, averaging 89.9 points a game (4th in the League). The likes of the American-guard O’Showen Williams (19.1 PPG) and big-man Leome Francis (16.5 PPG) have been difficult to stop this season and continue to lead the Rockets in scoring providing two strong driving forces to look for when the team is looking to score. On the other end of the court, Rockets do concede a lot of points, but Coach Keane’s men have been working hard during training this week to develop their defensive skills.
Our first opponents, Barking Abbey are a very good academy team. In their most recent outing, they defeated Oaklands Wolves 96-75 after a terrific performance from Ederick Okunola who finished with 30 points and 5 rebounds, as well as Flynn Boardman-Raffet who achieved 12 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists. Although a very young team, BA London Lions have been on-ball pests averaging 10.0 steals a game, 2nd in the league. They will certainly put a lot of pressure on the Rockets and make it really difficult for us.
Following the game versus BA London Lions, we host Loughborough Riders at the John Madejski Academy. The riders are straight off their back-to-back victories over the Oaklands Wolves, beating them first 92-71 at home and followed it up with a huge 101-74 win away last weekend. They have some remarkable talents in their squad such as the Scottish-guard Kyle Jimenez who is currently leading the league in assists with 10.1 APG as well as shooting 38.6% from 3-point and grabbing 7.8 RPG, and the 6’4-scorer Jonas Dieterich who averages 19.2 PPG and 7.5 RPG.
Former-Rider and Barking Abbey student Reis Pinnock is really looking forward to the upcoming double-header. “There won’t be anyone out there looking for two wins, more than me this weekend. Coming from two great programmes and then having to compete against them is strange but also an exciting opportunity.”
Coach Keane’s Thoughts
We face another double header this weekend, last week was our first one so it gives us a bit more of a familiarity of how to manage the week and what to expect come the weekend about the loading and managing players’ minutes. However, it is also a very different weekend as we are facing two new teams. It is also a unique double header for us as we haven’t played either Barking or Loughborough yet this season. So, we are preparing for two teams we haven’t seen yet this season is a part of the challenge. We know what to expect from both teams, we know both teams are very well coached, and have a lot of talent on both teams with a lot of depth. They also have a lot of young talent as well, when you combine both teams together, which makes for the excitement of NBL1, Barking and Loughborough really epitomise the strength and the value of division 1 when you look at the youth and depth of talent at a young age. So we are excited for the weekend, we know it is going to be difficult, we get to come home with one game, but we know its going to be a challenge and this week is all about preparing ourselves both mentally and physically for another double header weekend.
You can watch both games live on YouTube.
Barking Abbey V Reading Rockets
2:00pm Saturday 13th March 2021
National Basketball League
Reading Rockets V Loughborough Riders
5:00pm Sunday 14th March 2021
National Basketball League