19/01/2005
Smith back to boost Riders play-off bid

Karl Brown has signed John Smith to his Leicester Riders roster for the remainder of the season. The 6'8" American forward, who played for the club last year, replaces Steve McGlothin in the line-up.

Smith, 31, averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds for the Riders last season after joining the club following a career spent playing across Europe, mainly in Finland.

"John knows the situation and fits nicely into it," said Brown. "He's been around the club before and he'll give us that extra body we need down low and some strength inside. John will come in and give us some rebounding which we need and will help Mike New out a lot.

"Hopefully he will help the other guys on the outside as well by taking some of the pressure off them. We're looking forward to having another healthy body on the court."

McGlothin joined the Riders in October and made an immediate impact but a knee injury has limited his effectiveness in recent weeks.

"In fairness to Steve he did give us some minutes and helped us out recently, because if we didn't have that extra body we'd have struggled even more," Brown added. "He gave us as much as he could and when he first came in and was healthy he was fantastic, but unfortunately the injury came. I'd like to thank him for his efforts for the club."

Smith has been cleared to play in the Riders trip to title challenging London Towers this evening (7.30).

Leicester's next home game is not until January 29 when they play host to another of the challengers, TCS Chester Jets, at the John Sandford Sports Centre.