Reading Rockets will be looking to build on last Sunday's magnificent National Trophy victory over Taunton Tigers as they face another double-header weekend when they take on Leicester Warriors at Braunstone Leisure Centre on Saturday (3.30pm tip) before entertaining Coventry Crusaders at the Rivermead Leisure Complex on Sunday (4pm tip).
The game between the Berkshire outfit and the newly promoted Midlands side on Saturday will be the first meeting in either side's history. Both teams will be looking to bounce back from last weekend's league losses where the Warriors went down at the hands of Rockets opposition on Sunday, the Coventry Crusaders by 86-70, suffering only their fourth loss in the league this season. The Rockets suffered a heart breaking one point loss in Leeds, another promoted side this season, as they lost 73-72.
With Rockets having more games left to play than any other team, Rockets Assistant Coach Matt Johnson knows his team face a tough schedule during the rest of the campaign. He said, 'We now have a very busy schedule leading up to the play-offs in April, with many of our weekends being double headers, but I believe the character we showed against Taunton in the National Trophy Quarter-Final puts us in a really good position going forward. This particular group of players have really gelled over the last couple of weeks and are responding well to the leadership and guidance of Coach Punosevac. Our squad now looks to be settled and I am really excited going forward into the second part of this season's journey!'
In speaking about the threat that Leicester are likely to pose his team this weekend, Rockets Team Analyst Ben Fisher said 'It will be a tough trip up to Leicester on Saturday despite them not playing as well as they can in their most recent game against Coventry. However, having seen them a number of times this season, they have a team capable of beating anyone on any given day. We will have to be mindful of key players such as Joe Reynoso, Mindaugas Janiska and Carl Pearson, but we know that it is the rest of their team that have provided the substance to their success so far this year'.
Sunday sees the Rockets back in Reading as they face a much improved Coventry team who have recently added 6'9 American Forward Matt Smith to their ranks. Both teams go into the weekend's fixtures with three wins so a victory for either team would lift them up the league table and put breathing space between the two clubs as they look to secure a play-off place.
Whilst speaking about the Leicester game, Rockets Team Analyst Ben Fisher also spoke about the Coventry fixture and the threat that side would also possess. He said 'The visit of Coventry on Sunday is also a crunch game for us. Having added 6'9 forward Matt Smith has really helped them a lot and complemented what they already have. I really like what Coach Neely is doing with his team but I am confident for both games that the spirit and passion to be better will hold us in good stead and hopefully give us the results we are looking for.'
Rockets go into the weekend's fixtures with a couple of injury worries from last weekend's games against Leeds and Taunton. Robbie Parker has been unable to train fully this week due to a knee injury he sustained in the win over Taunton, whilst Rockets point guard Fenny Falmagne is also carrying a similar injury which has kept the 23 year old Belgian on the sidelines. Rockets Physiotherapist Jess Pascall is confident that both players will be fit for the weekend. She said, 'We are hoping that both Robbie and Fenny will be fit for this weekend's games. Their injuries don't appear to be too serious but they have needed to rest them this week so the healing process can take effect.'
