Wed 17 Oct 1900 - Riders 78 v 90 Dinamo Sassari

Good luck

It'll be great. Regardless of the outcome, Riders will be better prepared as an organisation both on and off court.

Main thing is to just enjoy it. Like everyone's said, the important thing is that the organisation learn from it - players come and go. Let Rob and Russ experience what it takes to compete at that level and I'm sure they'll be better prepared for future ventures.

Plus any chance to see that kit again is never a bad thing.

Just happy to have another game to watch (finally!)

Good luck Riders, I'll be watching.

How does the group stage of the Europe Cup work? I know there are 8 groups of 4 teams, and each team plays 6 games in their group... what happens after that?

I'm hoping we can get second!

Sassari beat Benfica 211-158 over 2 legs to qualify for this

100-66 at home
92-111 away

A player to watch tonight is Jack Cooley I think. 6ft10"'forward

He signed several contracts with NBA clubs in recent years without playing an actual NBA game

Played 2 pre season games for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 though so must be quality

Theyve got a 26 year old  forward called Polonara (Italian) who is in their starting 5. On Google it says he had to leave another Italian team in 2014 when a sponsor pulled out and the club could no longer afford his final year 180k euro salary and he refused to take a decrease

Serious basketball players earning serious money (when they get paid that is!) Will be very interesting to compare how good players like this look like against BBL players

Even though salaries might be 10x BBL salaries I'm sure the gulf in quality won't be so severe. I'm hoping this team isn't as strong as Bakken but I suspect they will be even better. The league they play in is considered to be a lot stronger than bakkens from what I can research. 

Im hoping we battle again all game (which Ive no doubt we will ). Thing that stood out v Bakken was how well they defended us and how they ALL could shoot. Wonder if it will be similar tonight? Although we play them twice its a league format now so it's only the result that matters tonight. Not the margin.

ps it shows how important winning BBL is for playing in Europe. As towelie said in another thread - If we hadn't got into this tournament by being BBL Champions - we might have had to beat Sassari over 2 legs just to qualify to be in this consolation Euro tournament in the first place!!

Polonara’s an athlete. Jack Cooley is one of the best ‘dirty work’ big men in Europe at that top of the German/Italian League kinda level, not quite elite but such a grinder. Look out for Scott Bamforth, American shooting guard with a sweet stroke (played on the same Sevilla team as Kristaps Porzingis, trivia fans). They’re going to overwhelm Riders but as others have said, what fans can take out of this is a chance to see some genuinely top level players in action. Wish I could go.

I bet it was Pablo who did that (one of the assistant coaches). He's always ferrying our players to and from airports as well when they arrive and leave. We definitely have to pay for accommodation of a certain level as do our hosts for us when we travel away. I assume we pay for our own flights and transfers. Not sure about the refs travel costs etc. I wonder if we put the refs in a different hotel to the opposition team. Would have thought so.

the Champions League game I believe we had to bring the hoops from the copper box in to our arena. May have to do that for this competition as well? I notice we didn't need a different scoreboard though as some had suggested we might.

"Jack Cooley is one of the best ‘dirty work’ big men in Europe"

And a former Notre Dame teammate of Scott Martin.....

Hmm, so I spent last night preparing an unnecessarily elaborate preview piece for this game, only to log in today and discover that much of it has now already been said. But I've written the damn thing so I'm going to post it anyway. Enjoy... or don't. It's entirely up to you. Skim reading's fine...

OPPONENT
'Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari' or just 'Dinamo Sassari' if you prefer.

RECENT HISTORY
Italian champions in 2014/15. Italian Cup winners in 2013/14 and 2014/15. EuroLeague participants in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Went 7-7 in last year's Basketball Champions League group phase, narrowly missing out on a place in the last 16. Missed the Lega A playoffs last season for the first time in their top flight history, leading to the appointment this summer of Vincenzo Esposito as their new head coach. Not particularly interesting fact: In 1995 Esposito became both the first player signed by the Toronto Raptors and the first Italian to score a point in the NBA.

SELECTED NOTABLE EX-PLAYERS
This could potentially have been a very long list but after much painstaking deliberation, I've settled on the following:

Joe Alexander - Selected four picks after Russell Westbrook (8th overall) in the 2008 NBA draft but lasted just two seasons in the league. Averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds per game for Sassari during their 2015/16 EuroLeague campaign.
Travis Diener - Italian-American dual national who Joined Sassari in 2010 after a six year stint in the NBA. Played for the Italian national team at Eurobasket 2013. His #12 jersey had been retired by the club.
Christian Eyenga - A 1st round pick of the Cavs in 2011, Eyenga made 44 appearances (including 18 starts) his rookie year then just kind of went away. Averaged 11 and 4 for Sassari in EuroLeague. Now playing in the ACB.
Steven Hunter - 15th overall pick in the 2001 draft. A very average NBA big for the best part of a decade, Hunter signed with Sassari in 2011. Was released after six appearances and never played again.
Linton Johnson - Played in 154 NBA games over six seasons, including three playoff appearances for the Bulls in 2009. Staggered around in the Italian fourth tier last season as a 37 year old.
Gabe Olaseni - GB International averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds per game for the Italian outfit in 2016/17. Now playing in the German Bundesliga.
Bootsy Thornton - Notable primarily for having a very silly name. Played EuroLeague for about a decade. Almost as old as Fab.
James White - 2nd round draft pick in 2006. Won an NBA Championship as a (very) peripheral part of the San Antonio Spurs his rookie year. Led Lega A in scoring whilst at Sassari.

KEY PLAYER
There are probably half a dozen guys on this roster who could have a big night. Scott Bamforth led the team in scoring last season and looks to be a pretty lights out shooter. And it seems Terran Petteway and Rashawn Thomas weren't too far away from making NBA rosters out of college. But Jack Cooley gets the nod. Played his college basketball at Notre Dame where he was a teammate of Scott Martin for three years. Here they are hulking up together back in 2011...


Martin has the more impressive arms. Cooley has the more impressive bank balance. Though undrafted, the 6'10" PF/C has made 23 competitive appearances at the highest level, split between the Utah Jazz and the Sacramento Kings. He also played EuroLeague for Malaga in 2015/16. Doubt he'll be particularly eye-catching but he ought to be very efffective.

PREDICTION
You already know where this is going... Sassari's budget must be many, many times that of any BBL club. They breezed through their qualifier against Benfica and I fancy them strongly to win the group. With that in mind, it's hard to foresee anything other than a heavy loss. If they're as good as I expect defeat here won't be too much of a body blow, particularly if we can keep the margin vaguely respectable. Overall points differential is (I think) the first qualification tiebreaker so if we are entertaining faint hopes of making the second round, it's important that we play to the final buzzer regardless.

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?
Well first and fore-mostly because you're passionate about the game in this country and will support any BBL club (even one as hateable as Riders) in European competition. A further incentive to watch this game is that Sassari will, I imagine, be the best non-NBA team to play on British soil this season.