25/01/2002
Riders hoping stats don't lie

When East Midlands derbies come around, form is often thrown out of the window as the two fierce rivals meet. And, as the Riders and Storm meet for the 73rd time in history Saturday, that may be no bad thing.

Looking at the table may tell you that Riders are favourites, but recent form may just make a mockery of that. The truth is Riders are on seven game losing streak and have won just once since mid-November, whilst Derby last week handed London Towers only their fourth defeat of the season and in mid-week came from a long way back to give Thames Valley a scare.

Being away from the friendly confines of Loughborough University doesn't help either, or so you would think. In reality though, the stats say otherwise.

ridersbasketball.com has put together to a comprehensive statistical analysis of every Riders' fans favourite game and it offers hope for the weekend.

Riders have played 24 times at Derby in the league and come away from there with a win on fourteen occasions. We average more points away from home than we do at home, and have kept Derby to a much lower average on their own court than we have done when hosting the Storm.

Most Riders fans will agree, nothing can top giving the Storm a good beating, and the six heaviest beatings in Rider-Storm history have all come in Derby and all have been Rider wins.

Who can forget the Cup tie of '93? Everything Riders threw up went in as we romped to our biggest ever victory 72-115. That, however, was the most recent mauling, all of the Riders other 20+ victories were register in the 1980s.

Riders, though, do have a good record over the Storm in recent Northern Conference meetings. In fact, the Riders have won the last eight meetings when championship points have been on the line.

When he first joined the Riders in November 1999, Billy Mims knew little of what it meant to be involved in a Riders-Storm derby, but he quickly learnt what is not supposed to happen.

A 107-104 defeat is his first outing against the Storm remains his only league defeat against the old enemy in nine Northern Conference outings.

What he, and we, would give to make that nine of ten!

04/01/2002
Moore returns to Riders roster

Nurishment Leicester Riders today registered forward Tim Moore for the remainder of the BBL season. In a related move the club have de-registered guard Jermaine Brown.

Moore joined the Riders in November and played five games for the side before sustaining an ankle injury, which had at first looked set to end his season. But he has recovered over the last month and will now return to the squad.

"I'm extremely happy to have Tim Moore back in the line-up," said Head Coach Billy Mims. "He's one of the finest players to have played in the BBL during the eight years that I have been here. We won only one game in December and I think his absence affected us. Before he went down, I thought we were just starting to gel together as a team, hopefully we can pick up where we left off in that respect.

"Tim's injury was just one in a long line for us - only Billy Singleton has not missed a game through injury - but with a bit of luck this is the end of that now and the New Year will be kinder to us. We feel with Tim in the line-up we are a better team and we're ready to make our play-off push and defend our Championship crown."

The 6'8", 29-year-old averaged 25.40 points and 9 rebounds in his five outings for the Riders, before the injury. Prior to that he enjoyed spells in North and South America as well as in Europe where he teamed up with Coach Mims for the first time in 1998/99 at the Leopards.

"Tim has tremendous basketball ability," continued Mims. "But the key thing for me is his versatility. He can start off at the small forward spot and easily move to the power forward or even centre spot."

Riders face a difficult week ahead with home and away meetings with Newcastle Eagles and the visit of Southern Conference leaders Kinder London Towers. Riders head to Tyneside on Sunday before hosting the Eagles on Thursday 10th January at Loughborough University (7.30).

The two games are vital as the Eagles are just behind the Riders in the Northern Conference standings. Then on Saturday (12th) Towers come to Loughborough (7.30) - tickets for both Riders home games can be purchased in advance by calling 0116 262 9979.

03/01/2002
Brown signed before deadline

Former Rider Jermaine Brown has beaten the transfer deadline to sign for the Milton Keynes Lions for the remainder of the season.

Brown, who was de-registered by Leicester earlier this month, received a work permit with a few hours to spare before the transfer deadline of 5pm January 31st and was registered for the Lions.

Brown averaged more than 18 points and 7 rebounds per game for the Riders this season and performed well.

Coach Billy Mims was "very pleased" by the news and wished Jermaine well with the Lions.

Lions' Head Coach, Nigel Lloyd remarked: "We are delighted to have Jermaine on the team. Hopefully he will settle in well with the rest of the team and help us achieve our goals this season."

Brown will face the Thames Valley Tigers and former Derby backcourt partner Barry Bowman on his debut in the BBL Trophy quarter-finals at Coventry on Sunday.

Lloyd added, "It's a difficult first game for Jermaine to come into, but we are glad we've got him in time to face Thames Valley, because they are a very good side. I feel more confident because he's the type of player you need at this stage of the season."

Also beating the transfer deadline was Dave Attewell's return to the Leopards after Gianni Letteri's injury weakened the Leopards bench.

03/01/2002
King Ralph makes All Star Game

Ralph Blalock is the sole Nurishment Leicester Riders representative in the BBL All Star Game, as none of his team-mates ranked in the top ten in the All Star ratings.

There is still a chance a further Riders could make the annual spectaular as the Northern Conference coach is allowed a couple of 'wildcard' picks. That decision will be made next week.

Brighton Bears' Albert White and Newcastle Eagles' Shawn Myers, both rookies to the BBL this season, lead the way in the ratings, which are divided into two groups - North and South.

The ratings have been going since the start of the season and are done to decide which players will contest the BBL's most spectacular, slam-dunkin' event of the season. The 2002 BBL All Star Game will take place at the Telewest Arena in Newcastle on Sunday 20 January, where the best players from the North and South will put on a dazzling show.

The players are rated two thirds on their statistical merit and one third on their 'star quality', which takes into account how much the individual player contributes to the team and how their on-court style entertains the crowd.

Joining Newcastle's Myers, is the Chester Jets' quartet of Calvin Davis, John McCord, James Hamilton and John Thomas, while every other team in the Northern Conference is represented as well.

In the South, Brighton boast two players in the All Star Game, as Sterling Davis joins team-mate White. Sandwiched between them in the ratings is DG London Leopards Kool Kats' Rico Alderson, who has been impressing all season.

Further announcements concerning the two All Star coaches, which this year are being voted for by the coaches themselves, as well as their wildcard players, will be made soon.