31/01/2003
Deadline dealing brings in duo

Billy Mims completed the signing of two additions to the Riders roster just in time to beat Friday's 5.00pm transfer deadline. Former Riders Chris Webber and James Hurrell will provide some much-needed depth to the side.

The 30-year-old Webber, who was born in Canada but has recently been granted a British passport, joins the Riders following a stint in Greece with Second Division side Larissa.

He boasts prior BBL experience with Newcastle Eagles, Birmingham Bullets and Edinburgh Rocks and even had a brief spell at the Riders in 1998. He also played for Plymouth Raiders in the National Basketball League (NBL). His career average in Britain is 9.67 points per game.

"I'm pleased to have been able to sign Chris before the transfer deadline," commented Riders' Head Coach Billy Mims. "Given the number of injuries we have had to cope with this season, it's extremely valuable for us to be able to strengthen our roster and Chris has played in the BBL before, so he knows what is required. I'm confident he will be able to help us for the remainder of the season."

As well as playing in Europe, the Western Ontario graduate has spent the last two winters in the southern hemisphere, playing in New Zealand. In 2000, he played for Masonic Hawks and a year later was a New Zealand League finalist with Wellington Saints.

With the signing coming so late, Riders face a race against time to fly Webber in from Athens, but were trying to get the forward in in time to face his former club Birmingham.

Hurrell was part of Riders double-winning squad in 2001 before suffering from a brain heamorrage, which sidelined him for several months and was in the team last term.

"We're delighted to have James back as part of the Riders family. He's a tough young player, who always plays hard and will definitely give us another option off the bench," said Mims.

Riders face a tough double header this weekend, with a road trip against Birmingham Bullets on Saturday (tip-off 7.00pm) is followed by the visit of Kinder London Towers to Loughborough University on Sunday (tip-off 6.00pm).

10/01/2003
Riders hoping for Winn-Win situation

Leicester Riders are hoping to end their losing streak with a Winn, following the addition to the squad of Tim Winn. The 5'10" guard, who comes in to replace Antoine Sims on the roster, is the final change permitted on the non-national front for the Riders this season.

"It was a really difficult decision to let Antoine go," said Coach Billy Mims. "I love his work ethic, passion and commitment to the team, but at the end of the day his production was not good enough.

"He was only shooting 34% from the floor and 28% from three-point land, which is not good enough at this level and we were looking for more than 13 points a game from him. I wish him the best for the future and hope he does well because I really like him."

Winn, who after three flights over 4,600 miles, is due to arrive in England this morning before making the trip to Newcastle tonight for his debut. At least when he gets there he will see some familiar faces, as this summer he played for the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs in the USBL alongside Mario Porter and Newcastle's Jeremy Hyatt.

It was his second season with the ValleyDawgs, having helped them to the USBL Championship in 2001, whilst being selected for the All-Defensive team. In the winter, he spent the last two seasons playing for Saskatchewan Hawks in the CBA and IBA in North America.

"We took a bit of a gamble with Antoine as he was a rookie," said Mims. "But Tim Winn has played professional basketball for two seasons and has proven himself in every league he's played in, so although he's new to this league, he's played professional basketball before. I think his experience and the chemistry he has from having played with Mario before should help us."

He attended St Bonaventure University in NCAA Division I where his name is littered amongst the school's all time records. His career average of 2.95 steals per game is the best ever at Bonnies and in 1998/99 season he was ranked second in the country for steals in NCAA with a 3.5 average. He's third on the Bonnies all-time assist list and was selected for the Atlantic 10 Conference 1st Team and All-Defensive team in his senior year.

Winn had a brief spell outside of North America in 2002 with Marinos de Oriente in Venezuela.

As well as tonight's game at Newcastle, Riders travel to Thames Valley on Saturday as they start a run of six of the next seven games on the road.

10/01/2003
Injured trio doubtful for Eagles game

Leicester Riders head to Newcastle with three players doubtful for the match. Malcolm Leak is still struggling with the back spasms that kept him out of last week's contest with Chester Jets. Bryan Balser has missed practice this week after suffering from an abdominal illness, whilst Dave Passmore has an infection on his left foot.

"I think Malcolm is very doubtful for the Newcastle game, but we'll see how he feels when we get there," said Billy Mims. "Bryan's been very ill, but he's been on medication so he might have a chance, whilst Dave's foot has swollen up because of an infection on the sole - he's probably 50/50."

09/01/2003
Riders looking for Super Mario boost

Leicester Riders have turned to Mario Porter in a bid to halt their losing slide. Nicknamed Super Mario, the 6'6" forward flew into Leicester this morning and will make his debut against Newcastle Eagles tomorrow night. In a related move, Donnie Johnson was released from the roster.

Porter, 22, played briefly in France this season with Entente Orleans after a standout career at the aptly named Rider University in NCAA Division I.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed with the poor run of form we're on," said Coach Billy Mims. "We've not had enough consistent offence from our frontline - of our forwards only Mo Robinson has been a consistent scorer.

"Hopefully Mario will offer us some frontline scoring, so Mo doesn't have to carry the load on his own."

Whilst at Rider, he was named the college's Athlete of the Year in his senior season as well as picking up MAAC Conference 1st Team honours and an All-American Honourable Mention. During the 2001/02 season he was second in the Conference in scoring (20.1ppg) and rebounding (8.5rpg), whilst making 50% of his shots, which placed him fourth.

He left the University as the only player in history to amass 1,700 points and 700 rebounds for the Broncs, and is the second leading scorer and seventh best rebounder ever in Rider history.

"I saw Mario play in the USBL this summer," continued Mims. "And he impressed me with his athleticism, scoring his ability and his passion for the game.

"He also went to the same high school as Kenya Capers, so they're from the same neck of the woods and that should add to our chemistry."

Porter will make his debut on the road in Newcastle (Friday) and Thames Valley (Saturday), although Riders fans may well have seen him in action at Loughborough University before.

Prior to the 2000/01 season, a Leicester select team took on Porter and his university team-mates in a pre-season friendly.

08/01/2003
Brown takes coaching role

BBL veteran and England international Karl Brown has been appointed as assistant coach of the Leicester Riders for the remainder of the season.

While remaining a player, Karl's primary focus will be the coaching side. Karl will take total responsibility for some of the coaching sessions during the week, as well as being bench assistant at games.

"The club's poor start to the season has everyone very concerned," said Riders' Chairman Kevin Routledge. "We felt it necessary to take a number of related actions. We always envisaged that Karl, who has been a great servant of the club, would eventually move over to the coaching side and we've decided jointly that now was the time to put these plans into place.

"This is help take some of the weight off Billy Mims, who has a number of roles at the club, and allow Billy's coaching responsibility to have a further experienced input. Working under Billy will be a hugely valuable experience for Karl and one that we are all certain will be in the best interests of the club."

Head Coach Billy Mims also welcomed the move. "Karl and I have worked together over many years at the Leopards and Riders and I have the utmost respect for his experience. His input will be invaluable. Inevitably, it will mean Karl will see less court time and in due course we will need to see how we appropriately honour his playing contribution to the club."

Karl was delighted with the new role. "I feel this is the right time in my career for this move and it is right for the club as well," he said. "We have had a difficult first half of the season, but I feel sure that with the changes we have planned we can turn things around."

Karl has already achieved his coaching qualification and is involved in coaching in Leicestershire League, as well as being a key player in Riders School Development Programme.

Riders will also be making a number of player personnel changes this week to try to kick start their season after the worst losing streak in their history.

07/01/2003
RIDERS, EAGLES AND TIGERS HIT 500!

Three of the BBL's oldest clubs reach a landmark this weekend, as Leicester Riders, Newcastle Eagles and Thames Valley Tigers each play their 500th league games in BBL history.

All founding members of the BBL when it formed in 1987, Riders, Eagles and Tigers have been entertaining British hoops fans in the British Basketball League for more than 15 years, each playing 499 league games so far.

Friday's clash of Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders at the Telewest Arena (tip-off 7.30pm) is the 500th league game for both clubs and when Riders travel to Bracknell to take on Thames Valley Tigers the following day, it will be the turn of the Tigers to celebrate their 500th league outing.

BBL Chairman Vince Macaulay remarked, "These are three prime clubs in the BBL - Thames Valley for their longevity and current development plans, while Leicester already have trophies in the bank and are part of the stadium development plan with Leicester City Council, and Newcastle, who are already in an arena, have a community plan that leads the way in the BBL. Let's hope many more clubs join them on that 500 mark!"

Both these landmark games promise to be exciting events, as all three clubs celebrate their time in the BBL.

During that time, Thames Valley Tigers have enjoyed the most success, winning the league title back in the 1993/94 season and finishing as runners up on another four occasions. The Tigers have won 313 of their 499 games to date, which is an impressive success rate of nearly 63%.

Eagles also came close to league glory - their runners-up place in the league in the 1991/92 season was the closest they came, while Leicester's best finish has been fourth in the 1988/89 and 1990/91 seasons.

Coaches Billy Mims (Leicester), Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle) and Paul James (Thames Valley) will all be looking to celebrate this milestone in the best possible way, by picking up wins.