The Leicester Riders will welcome the Bristol Flyers to the Morningside Arena on Thursday evening, with the sides in wildly differing form.
Leicester are in the middle of what they hope is a season-changing shift in momentum, following two consecutive wins over the Caledonia Gladiators and Manchester Giants.
Rob Paternostro’s side are looking for their third win on the bounce, as they try to improve their 9-10 record.
The Flyers sit just one position ahead of their hosts, in 6th place. They also have a losing record with 10-11 heading into the game. Most recently they lost to the Manchester Giants and B. Braun Sheffield Shark by double digits.
Inside Out
Though the Riders have struggled compared to their usual lofty standards this season, they haven’t had much trouble getting the ball in the basket. They are currently third in the League in points per game with 88.5, while the Flyers average 79.9.
Leicester score much more efficiently than their visitors, sitting at 46.9% from the field for the season so far, compared to Bristol’s 41.5%.
A large portion of Leicester’s scoring is represented in three-point shooting. They make 10.6 threes per contest and have shot at a rate of 38.2% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Bristol shoot more shots in the paint at 44.6 two-point attempts per game compared to the Riders’ 41.6.
Board Games
The Flyers lead the way in rebounds per game at 39.8 – higher than any other team in the League. They have an ability to dominate the glass that has kept them afloat in several games this season. They claim 13.3 offensive boards a game, rewarding the hustle of their frontcourt. The Riders only pull down 35.2 total rebounds on average, so will have their work cut out in the paint.
Who To Watch
Bristol’s edge in rebounding can largely be attributed to Brad Greene and Raphell Thomas-Edwards, who are both top ten rebounders, with 9.2 and 6.5 per game respectively. Look out for their performance on the boards and the impact it has on the game.
Riders fans will be excited to see Teddy ‘Buckets’ Allen again, after a highly impressive start to his career in Leicester. He has scored 53 points and pulled down 12 rebounds off the bench in his opening two games.
His presence has correlated with the positive upturn in Leicester fortunes, which is surely no coincidence.
The teams have met just once so far this season, in Bristol back in September. Leicester won that one by 18, largely due to the help they received from the second unit, as they outscored Bristol 25-15 in bench points.
Miryne Thomas led both teams in scoring with 18 and will hope for a similar performance this time around.
With the 2023/24 season here, you can get your British Basketball fix by following the League on social media or heading to our YouTube channel to relive all of the best moments from the season so far.
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
