Reading Rockets (8-5) will be looking to bounce back from two consecutive defeats for the first time this season when they make the short journey to Southampton on Sunday afternoon (3pm tip-off) to take on current NBL Division One league leaders Team Solent Kestrels (10-3). Rockets suffered their second defeat on the spin as they lost a close encounter to Hemel Storm (8-5) last Saturday by 88 points to 81 as they dropped to sixth in the table but still amongst the chasing pack. This Sunday\u2019s opponents snapped their six game winning streak when they lost out reigning champions Team Northumbria 65-86 last weekend but remain top of the pile and undefeated against the Rockets in the two games already this season. Kestrels were victorious in the National Trophy back in September when they took a 93-78 away win before defeating the Berkshire outfit in the National Cup, gaining an 89-67 victory to lead the series 2-0.<\/p>\n
Rockets Head Coach Manuel Pe\u00f1a Garc\u00e9s was not too despondent after Saturday\u2019s loss to Hemel Storm and was pleased with an improved performance from his team but knows the tests keep coming thick and fast with more work to be done on the practice court. The Spaniard said,<\/p>\n
[su_quote]We put in a better performance on Saturday and in parts of the game played some great basketball. We are really pleased with these elements and must build on this going forward. A few areas still remain a concern in terms of our fourth quarter play but I am confident we can address these quickly and take forward the very positive parts we are seeing.<\/p>\n
This Sunday we have an opportunity to do this against one of the best teams in the league. Solent has done a really good job building a deep roster over the last two seasons and are now really competitive and currently the team to beat. They have talent and cover at every position but are not unbeatable as Northumbria showed last weekend. We will be ready to play a tough game whilst making sure our intent and communication is at its best in what will be an awesome challenge for us.[\/su_quote]<\/p>\n
Rockets go into Sunday\u2019s match-up with the positive news that 6\u20199 forward Danny Carter will be returning to the squad after a short break. The 29 year old has not featured since early November but is looking forward to being back in action after his time out. Carter will provide some much needed impetus in the front court with American Tim Gill playing extended minutes in the last few weeks. The Berkshire outfit should have a fully fit roster to choose from as Manuel Pe\u00f1a Garc\u00e9s\u2019 men look to break their duck against Team Solent Kestrels this term and put back to back defeats behind them as they look to keep up the pace at the right end of the NBL Division One table.<\/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 (8-5) will be looking to bounce back from two consecutive defeats for the first time this season when they make the short journey to Southampton on Sunday afternoon (3pm tip-off) to take on current NBL Division One league leaders Team Solent Kestrels (10-3). Rockets suffered their second defeat on the spin as they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2634,"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":[4,6],"tags":[162,144,210,152,143,209,142],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_9048-news.png?fit=700%2C298&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdDaI5-Gs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4911,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-to-face-unbeaten-kestrels\/","url_meta":{"origin":2632,"position":0},"title":"Rockets to face unbeaten Kestrels","date":"18\/02\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (13-6) will be looking to bounce back from their surprise defeat to Leicester Warriors (8-10) when they take on unbeaten league leaders Team Solent Kestrels (16-0) on Sunday afternoon, 5pm tip-off at Rivermead Leisure Complex. Rockets suffered their sixth defeat in NBL Division One sending them right back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Preview"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/news-feb18-2020.png?fit=700%2C298&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4927,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-looking-to-bounce-back-against-leopards\/","url_meta":{"origin":2632,"position":1},"title":"Rockets looking to bounce back against Leopards","date":"24\/02\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (13-7) will be looking to bounce back from a pair of league defeats this weekend when they host a rejuvenated Essex and Herts Leopards (2-18) on Sunday afternoon, 5pm tip-off at Rivermead Leisure Complex. Rockets were humbled at home last weekend as they lost out to champions elect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Preview"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/news-feb-24-2020.png?fit=700%2C298&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4499,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-looking-to-bounce-back-from-defeat-to-league-leaders\/","url_meta":{"origin":2632,"position":2},"title":"Rockets looking to bounce back from defeat to league leaders","date":"19\/11\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets' (6-2) six game winning streak came to an end last weekend when they were defeated by current league leaders and reigning NBL Division One champions Solent Kestrels (8-0) by 106 points to 89 but remain in the top three in the division. The Berkshire outfit will look to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Preview"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/AJ-header.png?fit=700%2C298&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3336,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-look-to-bounce-back-after-double-defeats-last-weekend\/","url_meta":{"origin":2632,"position":3},"title":"Rockets look to bounce back after double defeats last weekend","date":"26\/11\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Coach Keane\u2019s men were defeated 86-75 in NBL Division One Men v Solent and 85-69 in the National Trophy v Essex Leopards as their four game win streak came to an abrupt end. Captain Danny Carter is struggling with a back injury but still tried his hardest to secure a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mens Team"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/News-header.png?fit=700%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4963,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-to-take-on-high-scoring-thunder\/","url_meta":{"origin":2632,"position":4},"title":"Rockets to take on high scoring Thunder","date":"10\/03\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (14-9) will be up against one of the leagues highest scoring teams this weekend when they entertain Worthing Thunder at Rivermead Leisure Complex on Sunday, 5pm tip-off. Rockets split last weekend\u2019s games but were victorious in their second encounter as they finally stopped the rot of four consecutive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Preview"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Liverpool-news.png?fit=700%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":603,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-looking-to-bounce-back-from-double-trophy-defeats\/","url_meta":{"origin":2632,"position":5},"title":"Rockets looking to bounce back from double trophy defeats","date":"09\/11\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets will be looking to return to winning ways this weekend when they take on Westminster Warriors in their fourth NBL Division One clash on Saturday evening (7.45pm tip-off) at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre. Rockets lost out for the second time in successive games last weekend when they were\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632"}],"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=2632"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions\/2635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}