Reading Rockets (13-8) will be hoping to put their recent run of three consecutive losses behind them when they face a daunting double header weekend as they visit play-off rivals Derby Trailblazers (14-7) on Saturday evening, 7.30pm tip-off, before heading further north to take on Bradford Dragons (11-10) on Sunday afternoon, 4.15pm tip-off.<\/p>\n
Rockets suffered a surprising defeat to relegation threatened Essex and Herts Leopards who chalked up only their third win in 21 outings against the Berkshire outfit as the earned a hard fought 91-97 overtime victory to keep their hopes alive of remaining in NBL Division One.<\/p>\n
The Reading team still have it all to do if they are to now qualify for the post season and face two teams either side of them in the league table. Rockets lost out to Saturday\u2019s opponents back in December by 77 points to 102 but were able to beat Bradford the following weekend as they recorded a narrow 78-75 success.<\/p>\n
Rockets Head Coach Alan Keane was disappointed to see his team slip up against a rejuvenated Leopards outfit but still knows his team is on a journey and is confident his group can bounce back this weekend. The Irishman said,<\/p>\n
\u201cLast weekend was a tough loss for us but credit must go to Essex who played so much better than their league position. Despite this disappointment, we must continue to work hard and grow this weekend in practice ahead of a really tough double header weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDerby have just come off the back of a really impressive win over Thames Valley Cavaliers and it will take a lot to stop their inside threat but we will plan and prepare for that this week as we do with every game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe then travel to Bradford who will give us some similar problems to solve with defending the paint and the battle of the boards working against players like (Ricky) Fetske and (Rihard) Sulcs so it\u2019s two very challenging but important games this weekend and the test will be can we prepare well enough and execute on Saturday before recovering in time for another tough game on Sunday.”<\/p>\n
Rockets were able to field a near to fully fit team last Sunday for the first time in two months with Spanish duo Matias Boho and Pau Mayor returning to full practice last week. Australian Ben Dixon was able to play despite a dislocated finger sustained in training and Under 18 forward Sam Grant was also available for selection after a four month lay-off with a back injury.<\/p>\n
Having lost four games on the bounce in all competitions the Berkshire outfit will be looking to keep up their excellent record of reaching the post season in all ten of their previous NBL Division One campaigns as they 2019-2020 campaign begins to reach it\u2019s climax.<\/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 (13-8) will be hoping to put their recent run of three consecutive losses behind them when they face a daunting double header weekend as they visit play-off rivals Derby Trailblazers (14-7) on Saturday evening, 7.30pm tip-off, before heading further north to take on Bradford Dragons (11-10) on Sunday afternoon, 4.15pm tip-off. Rockets suffered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4945,"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":[244,4,6],"tags":[237,218,144,210,152,143,217],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/march-preview.png?fit=700%2C298&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdDaI5-1hK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4129,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-tip-off-with-pre-season-friendly-against-team-usa-select-and-release-fixture-list-for-2019-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":4944,"position":0},"title":"Rockets tip-off with pre-season friendly against Team USA Select and release fixture list for 2019-2020","date":"26\/08\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets will begin pre-season training this week and will be straight into action this Friday 30th August when they take on Team USA Select for their annual friendly game at the John Madejski Academy (7.30pm tip-off). Coach Keane will have a new-look roster this term with the Berkshire outfit\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":3666,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-face-second-double-header-as-season-ending-nears\/","url_meta":{"origin":4944,"position":1},"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":3590,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-looking-to-slay-dragons-on-the-back-of-three-game-losing-streak\/","url_meta":{"origin":4944,"position":2},"title":"Rockets looking to slay Dragons on the back of three game losing streak","date":"13\/02\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (9-7) will be looking to put their three game losing streak behind them this weekend when they take on Bradford Dragons (6-10) on Sunday afternoon, 5pm tip-off at Rivermead Leisure Centre. Rockets succumbed to defeat last time out, suffering a 93-78 loss at the hands of Essex Leopards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_2199.jpg?fit=681%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":814,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-to-face-leopards-in-play-off-quarter-finals\/","url_meta":{"origin":4944,"position":3},"title":"Rockets to face Leopards in play-off quarter-finals","date":"30\/03\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Third placed Reading Rockets (19-7) will take on sixth placed Essex Leopards (16-10) in the play-off quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon at the Rivermead Leisure Complex in Reading (5pm tip-off). Rockets narrowly missed out on the runners-up spot in NBL Division One despite recording impressive wins over Derby Trailblazers by 85\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":3701,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-looking-to-bounce-back-from-a-high-scoring-defeat-in-their-final-double-header-of-2018-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":4944,"position":4},"title":"Rockets looking to bounce back from a high scoring defeat in their final double header of 2018-2019","date":"22\/03\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Rockets (13-10) will be looking to bounce back from last Sunday\u2019s high scoring defeat at the hands of Hemel Storm (10-13) when they travel to the Midlands to take on Loughborough Riders (15-7) on Saturday evening (6pm tip-off) before returning home to host Team Newcastle (6-17) on Sunday afternoon,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Club Announcements"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_8300.png?fit=700%2C308&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2314,"url":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/rockets-tip-off-season-with-national-trophy-double-header\/","url_meta":{"origin":4944,"position":5},"title":"Rockets tip-off season with National Trophy double-header","date":"21\/09\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Club Announcements"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Danny-Carter-in-action.png?fit=705%2C352&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944"}],"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=4944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4946,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944\/revisions\/4946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingrockets.co.uk\/rr2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}