Reading Rockets will start the 2017-2018 season with a double header weekend as they travel to Barking on Saturday afternoon to take on NBL Division One new-boys Kent Crusaders (4pm tip-off) before hosting Team Solent Kestrels on Sunday afternoon in their first home game of the campaign, 5pm tip-off at Rivermead Leisure Complex. Both games are in the National Trophy Pool 3 with Worthing Thunder being the other team in the group whom the Berkshire outfit face the following weekend in a bid to progress to the knockout stages.<\/p>\n
The Reading team concluded their pre-season games last week when they defeated Team USA Select by 65 points to 58 to win 3 out of 4 encounters ahead of their first competitive game. Since then, American Tim Gill has arrived and will have 2 weeks of training under his belt before tip-off time this Saturday and Australian guard Declan Soukup will link up with his teammates during the week. Rockets have also made what looks to be their final signing of closed season with the news that Lithuanian small forward Simas Raupys has joined the Berkshire outfit. The 6\u20195 23 year old is a former Lithuanian Under 19 representative and played in his home country last term before moving to Hertfordshire.<\/p>\n
In speaking of his latest signing and ahead of this weekend\u2019s games, Rockets Head Coach Manuel Pe\u00f1a Garc\u00e9s is happy to make one final addition to his squad and is really looking forward to getting the season off and running. Starting his fifth season as Rockets play-caller, the Spaniard said,<\/p>\n
[su_quote]We have been looking to bring in one more player so to be able to have someone of Simas\u2019 quality complete our roster is really pleasing and we are all excited to get started this weekend. Our pre-season has been positive up to now and our junior players have made an excellent impact whilst we have been waiting for 2-3 players to arrive so we feel in a good position going into the season but with a lot of work to do.[\/su_quote]<\/p>\n
[su_quote]This weekend we play two good quality organisations. Kent did really well to bounce back to Division One last season and Coach Lloyd (Gardner) continues to do a great job at Barking Academy and with the Crusaders so we are expecting a tough opening test. Team Solent Kestrels defeated us in the play-off quarter finals last season and have once again composed a challenging roster. They did really well in their first season in Division One and I think will pose a threat again this year so for a first home game this should be a really good game to watch.[\/su_quote]<\/p>\n
Both of this weekend\u2019s oppositions have caused Rockets problems in the last couple of seasons with both teams defeating the Berkshire outfit at the play-off quarter-final stage. Team Solent Kestrels were victors in last year\u2019s post season as they came away from Reading with an 87-71 win and Kent Crusaders, who beat the Rockets in last season\u2019s National Cup quarter-finals 92-83 also defeated the Reading team in the 2014\/2015 play-off quarter-final by 63 points to 61.<\/p>\n
Rockets Captain Danny Carter is hungry to bring some silverware back to Reading and gave his thoughts on this weekend\u2019s upcoming games as well as the season ahead. The 28 year old said,<\/p>\n
[su_quote]I am excited for the new season start. We need to start how we intend to finish by being extremely competitive and outworking every team we play against. I am looking forward to taking on a newly promoted team when we travel to Kent before we host the team that ended our season last year in local rival Solent.[\/su_quote]<\/p>\n
Follow the Rockets on social media; Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – @rocketsreading or check out the club\u2019s website – www.readingrockets.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reading Rockets will start the 2017-2018 season with a double header weekend as they travel to Barking on Saturday afternoon to take on NBL Division One new-boys Kent Crusaders (4pm tip-off) before hosting Team Solent Kestrels on Sunday afternoon in their first home game of the campaign, 5pm tip-off at Rivermead Leisure Complex. Both games […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":[],"_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"spay_email":""},"categories":[3,2,4,6],"tags":[162,156,152,143,142],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Danny-Carter-in-action.png?fit=705%2C352&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdDaI5-Bk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1380,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-tip-off-season-against-worthing-thunder-in-the-national-trophy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2314,"position":0},"title":"Rockets tip-off season against Worthing Thunder in the National Trophy","date":"01\/09\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"2015-2016 National Cup and Play-off Runners up Reading Rockets will begin their 2016-2017 campaign with a trip to the south coast on Saturday 17th September to take on Worthing Thunder in their first pool game of the National Trophy (7.30pm tip-off). The Berkshire outfit will then not be in competitive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Club Announcements"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/latest-news-banner_zps8906efc5.jpg?fit=555%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2456,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-face-league-and-cup-double-header-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2314,"position":1},"title":"Rockets face league and cup double header","date":"23\/10\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (2-0) will face Worthing Thunder (1-1) for the second time this season on Saturday afternoon (5pm tip-off) before entertaining NBL Division Three outfit Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon in the fourth round of the National Cup (5pm tip-off) with both games being played at Bohunt School in Wokingham.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mens Team"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_5086.png?fit=700%2C325&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3666,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-face-second-double-header-as-season-ending-nears\/","url_meta":{"origin":2314,"position":2},"title":"Rockets face second double header as season ending nears","date":"06\/03\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (12-8) will play two more games this weekend when they travel to Kent on Saturday evening to take on Barking Abbey Crusaders (6-15) in a very late game, 8.30pm tip-off before returning to Reading to host Thames Valley Cavaliers (13-6) on Sunday evening, 6.00pm tip-off at the John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_3346.jpg?fit=681%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1752,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-enter-final-eight-games-with-tricky-double-header\/","url_meta":{"origin":2314,"position":3},"title":"Rockets enter final eight games with tricky double header","date":"21\/02\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (15-3) will enter the final eight games of their NBL Division One campaign starting with a double header weekend as they visit the East Midlands on Saturday afternoon to take on the Leicester Warriors (6-13) at Braunstone Leisure Centre (3pm tip-off) before entertaining London Lituanica (8-9) back in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Club Announcements"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/RR_Div1-Press.png?fit=705%2C352&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":594,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/league-and-trophy-double-header-next-up-for-unbeaten-rockets\/","url_meta":{"origin":2314,"position":4},"title":"League and Trophy double header next up for unbeaten Rockets","date":"26\/10\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Unbeaten Reading Rockets go into their second consecutive double header weekend in full flow having won nine straight games in all competitions as they look to make it three wins out of three in league play and claim top spot in their National Trophy pool. The Berkshire club travel to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/latest-news-banner_zps8906efc5.jpg?fit=555%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":504,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/preview-rockets-v-kent-crusaders-national-trophy-rockets-v-lancashire-spinners-nbl-division-one%e2%80%8f\/","url_meta":{"origin":2314,"position":5},"title":"Preview: Rockets v Kent Crusaders (National Trophy) \/ Rockets v Lancashire Spinners (NBL Division One)\u200f","date":"22\/09\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Rockets to open Trophy and League campaigns with double header weekend Reading Rockets will open their National Trophy and NBL Division One campaigns this weekend when they entertain last season's play-off champions Kent Crusaders on Saturday evening (6pm tip-off) before welcoming newly-promoted Lancashire Spinners to Reading on Sunday (5pm tip-off)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mens Team"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/latest-news-banner_zps8906efc5.jpg?fit=555%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2315,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314\/revisions\/2315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}