Reading Rockets (2-3) will be hoping last Friday’s hard fought victory over Essex Leopards (0-5) by 90 points to 73 will provide a springboard for the Berkshire club ahead of this weekend’s league and cup double header when they welcome the Leicester Warriors (1-5) to Reading on Saturday evening (6pm tip-off at Bohunt School) before going on the road on Sunday afternoon to take on NBL Division Two outfit Kent Crusaders (5-0) in the quarter-final of the National Cup (2pm tip-off at Barking Abbey School). Rockets managed to avoid their worst start to a Division One campaign despite a 12 point first quarter deficit to the Leopards as they eventually secured a 17 point win to keep them in the play-off positions, currently lying in seventh place in the NBL Division One table. This Saturday’s visitors to Bohunt School (Rockets’ second home venue) have also found the going tough in the early stages with only one win from their opening six games with the first meeting between the two teams this season being crucial for both teams.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s match-up against Leicester Warriors whilst reviewing Friday’s win over Essex Leopards, Rockets Assistant Coach Alan Keane appreciates the toughness of all games but is pleased with the response of his team after the previous weekend’s double loss. The Irishman who joined the Berkshire outfit at the beginning of this term said,

[su_quote]“After the tough weekend away at Northumbria and Bradford it was really important we responded against Essex on Friday and after a difficult first quarter and giving up too many points in the first half, I felt in the second half we were better and got more productivity from our bench and younger players with our Americans leading the way and helping us to get a much needed win. Our attention must now turn to Saturday’s game against a physical Leicester team and make sure we gain some momentum in the lead up to the Christmas break.”[/su_quote]

[su_quote]Since joining the club I have been impressed with the set up and dedication of the people involved and in relation to the senior group we have some good players and good people working on this project. However, we have much work still to do and a lot of areas need to be better for us to be challenging the top teams. Is this something we can do? Yes for sure; we need to be accountable for our mistakes and speed up the learning process whilst putting the components we have together and improving every time we practice. It is an exciting place to be and I think all the good stuff is still to come.”[/su_quote]

Rockets Head Coach Manuel Peńa Garcés is busy focusing on the visit of Leicester Warriors on Saturday but is also looking ahead to Sunday’s National Cup quarter-final clash with Division Two table-toppers Kent Crusaders and is expecting a tough game from his opponents with a last four place at stake for either team. The Spaniard said,

[su_quote]The games are now coming thick and fast and it is important we keep working hard to perform in each one of them. After Friday’s win, I feel we have taken one step forward but now we immediately focus on this next weekend. As Alan (Keane, assistant coach) has already said, the game against Leicester is now our focus but after this game we will be looking forward to the cup game against a talented Kent team who were unfortunate to get relegated from Division One last season. They are currently top of Division Two having not lost a game and thrashed Essex Leopards in the previous round so they are definitely a force to be reckoned with. Coach James Vear will have them ready to play as the winner will reach the last four of the competition that each of the remaining teams left will feel they can win. After Saturday, we will rest and prepare, respect and re-focus for Sunday as we are really hungry to win this competition so we need to make sure we do everything we can to do this and progress to the next stage.[/su_quote]

Rockets route to the quarter-final has been a relatively straight forward one with first and second round byes before a comprehensive 91-67 win over NBL Division Four outfit Cardiff City preceding a hard fought fourth round away win over rivals Hemel Storm by 84 points to 67. Sunday’s opponents had a comfortable opening round win against sister team Barking Abbey 66-48 before two incredible wins over higher league opposition. The Kent club thrashed London Lituanica by 105 points to 53 before dismantling Essex Leopards 94-67 to set up a mouth-watering clash with the Rockets for a place in the semi-final.

Rockets go into their league and cup double header with an addition to their roster in the form of Great Britain point guard Elvisi Dusha. The London United product had been with BBL Championship side Surrey Scorchers before a summer move to Kosovo to play for Sigal Prishtina however has now returned to England and signed for the Reading team last Friday after centre Dani Arcau’s departure. The 6’2 22 year old is excited to join the Rockets having trialled with the Berkshire team on previous occasions and is especially looking forward to working under Coaches Peńa Garcés and Keane. The Albanian native said,

[su_quote]I am really happy to join a club that has a great history, great coaches, and great players and a project that really excites me for this season. I can’t wait to get started and really contribute to this group in our quest to win silverware this year.[/su_quote]

Dusha should be in line to make his debut on Saturday evening when the Rockets take on the Warriors with Head Coach Manuel Peńa Garcés hoping to have no injury problems ahead of the teams upcoming games this weekend.

And preceding the Division One men it’s a huge weekend for the club’s Division One women as they also face a double header weekend entertaining Southwark in the league on Saturday (3.15pm tip-off at Bohunt School) before travelling to the Capital on Sunday to take on the same team in the Women’s National Cup quarter-finals. Head Coach Patrick Fasbender has a few injury concerns but is hoping for two good performances from his team this coming weekend. He said,

[su_quote]We have had some injury problems of late so we are hoping to have one or two of those players back for this really important weekend for the team and the club. We have had some good results this season and improved performances and after the setback of our last game against Charnwood, we have been working hard to improve our play, our responses, and our togetherness and hopefully this will show this weekend.[/su_quote]

To keep up to date with all the Rockets latest news, information, and score updates visit www.readingrockets.co.uk <https://readingrockets.co.uk/rr2021/rr2021> and follow on Twitter @rocketsreading.