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Post by everard on Sept 24, 2023 19:53:11 GMT
Sheffield made the first drop. Which club needs to make changes now. Both Giants and Nix seem to have big problem areas. Riders not gelling yet. Could be a busy few weeks.
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Post by bigdunk on Sept 24, 2023 19:56:52 GMT
Rocks should be considering a few changes. At guard spot jovecic isn’t good enough for bbl or Europe. Buttrick isn’t good enough for bbl. Maybe a few others also
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Post by massiveridersfan on Sept 24, 2023 20:27:39 GMT
So far I don't think any of the newbies at Riders deserve to be cut. Our issue is more about working well together as a team but the individuals look very good to me.
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Post by tallerman on Sept 25, 2023 14:52:06 GMT
Id cut pats
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Post by naenia on Sept 25, 2023 20:37:03 GMT
2 games in surely a little early to be writing anyone off, no?
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Post by erj14 on Sept 26, 2023 0:01:29 GMT
2 games in surely a little early to be writing anyone off, no? Took one game for Atiba. |
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Post by isthaturinal on Sept 26, 2023 18:05:41 GMT
Mo Walker and Conner Washington
2.51 minutes in total between the two of them Vs Patriots,
They are obviously not fully fit (Again)
I said before the season started that I would not have resigned either of these.
We don’t need to have these two warming the bench again for months.
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Post by massiveridersfan on Sept 26, 2023 21:55:35 GMT
It was odd that Walker didn't play against Patriots. Perhaps Paternostro was keener to give the newbies court time? Washington was not shooting well at all and was benched very quickly.
I hope you are wrong about them being injured/unfit atm.
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Post by Stephen Abootman on Sept 26, 2023 22:08:53 GMT
Perhaps you know something I don't but I reckon there's actually a pretty good chance both are fit. They're just quite a long way down the depth chart now. We're a very deep team this season and with Bowman seemingly in line for an expanded role, that potentially relegates Conner and Mo to 10th/11th man status. And no matter who they are, the 10th and 11th guys on any team aren't going to regularly play significant minutes.
I think you're being a bit unfair on Conner. Yes he had injury problems last year but in his nine previous seasons with the club I can scarcely remember him missing a game. He hardly belongs in the same bracket as Mo Walker when it comes to injury proneness. Assuming he is fit I think he'll chip in with some useful contributions along the way but it's unlikely he'll play the kind of minutes we've been accustomed to seeing from him in the past because he's much further down the pecking order now. A few years ago he was our 2nd string PG and one of the first guys off the bench. He's now got four or five players in front of him at the guard spots. There's not nearly as much competition for minutes in our front court. I think the reason we've barely seen Mo so far is that we've been playing a ton of small ball.
There's no denying Riders look some way off being a good team at present but I don't foresee wholesale changes. I don't think we've signed a bunch of bums here. Thomas has disappointed a bit in our first two league games but appeared to play well during preseason. At this stage, I just think we're much less than the sum of our individual parts. It's not often you say that about a Paternostro side so hopefully in a few months time we'll have figured things out. I'm a bit concerned about how many more games we might lose in the process but it probably doesn't matter all that much. We're not in Europe and the league's a one horse race so we're under no great pressure to hit the ground running this season.
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Post by spacejammer on Sept 26, 2023 22:20:56 GMT
Perhaps you know something I don't but I reckon there's actually a pretty good chance both are fit. They're just quite a long way down the depth chart now. We're a very deep team this season and with Bowman seemingly in line for an expanded role, that potentially relegates Conner and Mo to 10th/11th man status. And no matter who they are, the 10th and 11th guys on any team aren't going to regularly play significant minutes. I think you're being a bit unfair on Conner. Yes he had injury problems last year but in his nine previous seasons with the club I can scarcely remember him missing a game. He hardly belongs in the same bracket as Mo Walker when it comes to injury proneness. Assuming he is fit I think he'll chip in with some useful contributions along the way but it's unlikely he'll play the kind of minutes we've been accustomed to seeing from him in the past because he's much further down the pecking order now. A few years ago he was our 2nd string PG and one of the first guys off the bench. He's now got four or five players in front of him at the guard spots. There's not nearly as much competition for minutes in our front court. I think the reason we've barely seen Mo so far is that we've been playing a ton of small ball. There's no denying Riders look some way off being a good team at present but I don't foresee wholesale changes. I don't think we've signed a bunch of bums here. Thomas has disappointed a bit in our first two league games but appeared to play well during preseason. At this stage, I just think we're much less than the sum of our individual parts. It's not often you say that about a Paternostro side so hopefully in a few months time we'll have figured things out. I'm a bit concerned about how many more games we might lose in the process but it probably doesn't matter all that much. We're not in Europe and the league's a one horse race so we're under no great pressure to hit the ground running this season. This was similar to how I felt last season and before I knew it Eagles were once again competing in the bottom half of the BBL. I'm suprised given his experience Rob is trusting in Washington. Surely he is a guy you want to giving minutes on the floor and on his day he can be a very impactful player. Also yes I agree it is early days yet but surely Leicester are still going to be wanting to prove they are top dogs in the BBL and give the likes of London a fight. One thing about our match up with Leicester in afew weeks that concerns me is the fact we are playing away over in Lithuania and then 2 days later back home defending home court against Riders. Although Leicester are disappointed not to be going for Europe. Surely they will be looking at the 4 teams in Europe and wanting to use that burden on teams to their advantage. And last season if a few plays had have gone differently in both the Cup and Playoff Final I reckon they could have upset London too. |
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Post by massiveridersfan on Sept 26, 2023 22:51:16 GMT
The playoff final was a disaster, with us shooting free throws SO poorly - unlike the rest of the season. Just wasn't our day. If we'd made those free throws I reckon there was an opportunity for a shock London defeat. But, hey ho them's the breaks, as Bunter said.
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Post by Stephen Abootman on Sept 27, 2023 0:59:54 GMT
This was similar to how I felt last season and before I knew it Eagles were once again competing in the bottom half of the BBL. I'm suprised given his experience Rob is trusting in Washington. Surely he is a guy you want to giving minutes on the floor and on his day he can be a very impactful player. Also yes I agree it is early days yet but surely Leicester are still going to be wanting to prove they are top dogs in the BBL and give the likes of London a fight. One thing about our match up with Leicester in afew weeks that concerns me is the fact we are playing away over in Lithuania and then 2 days later back home defending home court against Riders. Although Leicester are disappointed not to be going for Europe. Surely they will be looking at the 4 teams in Europe and wanting to use that burden on teams to their advantage. And last season if a few plays had have gone differently in both the Cup and Playoff Final I reckon they could have upset London too. It may be that Rob wants to get a good look at the new guys early doors. But I think Mo and Conner's lack of minutes so far are more just a reflection of where they are in the pecking order now. Conner is behind Pinson, Holmes, Mackenzie and Asberry on the depth chart. I don't see him playing big minutes regularly this season. Mo's minutes any given night will probably depend on matchups. If we're playing a team full of guards and wings he won't see the court much. Aside from the fact that both teams contained a lot of new players (hardly an uncommon scenario in the BBL) I don't see that this season's Riders have much in common with last season's Eagles. At this stage last season Eagles had a rookie BBL coach and a whole roster of players who apparently weren't fit for purpose. Riders have the most accomplished active coach in the BBL and a roster that I think is individually pretty talented. There's just not much cohesion right now. We may end up doing a bit of tweaking but I'd be very surprised if it turns into anything like what we saw from Eagles last season. I expect we do have our sights set on one of the top spots. But given how unconvincing our first few performances have been, I'm accepting the possibility that, with five of our next seven on the road, our win-loss record might not look great in a month's time. Fortunately the league season finishes in April not November. I think everything right now points to Eagles being pretty clear favourites for those two October games with Riders. When Riders were in Europe Cup back in 2018 I remember us playing a game in Hungary on the Wednesday or Thursday then playing Eagles at Sport Central two days later. We won by 16. I mean really Eagles fans, if you can't beat THIS Riders team at THIS stage in the season with one of the most experienced rosters in the league and home court advantage in your favour, when can you beat them? |
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Post by eagles18000 on Sept 27, 2023 6:33:55 GMT
beat them last year from memory? When they were a log lot better than they are now.
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Post by Stephen Abootman on Sept 28, 2023 2:07:53 GMT
It would appear so yes. Riders led 52-35 at the half and ended up losing by seven. A shameful implosion from the good guys. The season H2H was 4-1 in Riders favour.
When Eagles last beat Riders isn't really what I was getting at there. The point was more about this season and where each team figures to be, relatively speaking, at this stage. It surely makes absolute sense that the advantage gained by recruiting the way Eagles have would be greatest early in the season. And it surely makes absolute sense for Eagles to be ahead of Riders (and most other teams) at this stage. The 80 minutes of not very organized chaos we've seen from Riders so far has simply underscored the point.
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Post by irf on Sept 28, 2023 6:25:56 GMT
Don't worry about Riders being anything like Eagles last season.
Month on month Rob will improve Riders as a team (whatever it takes). It's what he does.
Bound to be the odd casualty on the way. (Its also what he does).
Any matches we lose early he will be looking for revenge later in the season as well
We all know Rob won't settle for mediocrity or under-achievement
(Can you just imagine how hard he's working on this group in training right now?)
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Post by massiveridersfan on Sept 28, 2023 16:33:30 GMT
Don't worry about Riders being anything like Eagles last season. Month on month Rob will improve Riders as a team (whatever it takes). It's what he does. Bound to be the odd casualty on the way. (Its also what he does). Any matches we lose early he will be looking for revenge later in the season as well We all know Rob won't settle for mediocrity or under-achievement (Can you just imagine how hard he's working on this group in training right now?) Pretty sure that Kimbal and Conner will be helping in respect of defence. |
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Post by everard on Sept 29, 2023 21:25:00 GMT
Well if several players and at least 1 coach hasn't gone by next week then the clubs have no ambition for the season.
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Post by irf on Oct 1, 2023 8:19:17 GMT
Don't worry about Riders being anything like Eagles last season. Month on month Rob will improve Riders as a team (whatever it takes). It's what he does. Bound to be the odd casualty on the way. (Its also what he does). Any matches we lose early he will be looking for revenge later in the season as well We all know Rob won't settle for mediocrity or under-achievement (Can you just imagine how hard he's working on this group in training right now?) Riders already showing the impact of hard work on the training court Will be ups and downs yet but as I said we will improve each month 37-10 first quarter away v Bristol yesterday Talk about making an impact from the start |
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