Friday 22 October Riders v Lions

London by 20 points

Not a dead game, goes towards who finishes 1st or 2nd.
No date I can find for the return fixture.

Riders still need a win to get home court in the QF. I'm not sure what benefit winning the group is, maybe choice of which leg is at home if they progress to the SF?

I imagine the Lions v Riders game will be at UEL - I can't see then squeezing it at the Copper Box & the WBBL side still use BA sometimes - and if Lions win tonight they'll put their D1 team out. And if Riders beat plymouth on Sunday, they'll put their D! team out against Lions.

Possibly Lions biggest challenge so far this season. It's only an early cup game but Riders will be desperate to prove, in front of their own crowd that they can beat Lions.

Looking forward to a great game, full of intensity & passion, if we see 2-3 technicals all the better to spice it up that little bit more.

Been wondering about the London leg of this one for a while. Seems a bit ridiculous that we're a week away from the start of the league season now and we still don't have a date for that one. I'm thinking next Sunday (31st) is about the only upcoming date that could really work for both teams? Lions are obviously busy on Wednesday's for the foreseeable future and Riders start their league campaign next Friday so midweek next week looks a non-starter. 

Lions did give a couple of guys the night off against Patriots last time out but that's the only time they've done so. Looks to me like every available key player has played in their other Cup games. They've been playing big minutes too. I think they'll turn up full strength tonight. Think they'll be keen to sew up the group and get some sort of statement domestic win. Assuming that's the case, and assuming DNH is unavailable, I think this is going to be tough for us. Said it already but the enforced swap of Loving for Lee, coupled with the loss of DNH has left us really small. There have been times in the last couple of games where we've had Geno, Kimbal and Conner all on the floor, with Zach at the 4 and Jubril at the 5. That's a super small lineup even by BBL standards. And even when we have Loving out there at the 4, I don't think he gives us the same type of presence that Lee did. It hasn't mattered much so far but Lions are obviously a different proposition to Patriots/Scorchers. In addition to being far stronger on paper, they've got to be the biggest team in the league too.

Debateable how important winning the group is but if Riders did manage to win tonight, I'd expect both teams to take that final game seriously, whenever it gets played. Lions win tonight and it does become a bit of a dead rubber.

yes. i was surprised how many mins he gave Dirk and Reese. washbury and kelley were used a bit more sparingly

London need JRob back soon as Lockhart and Spencer - 20 mins and zero contribution.
I must stop on about Jordan Spencer but what the hell has happened to him to be playing so poorly for the last year?
Bad coaching? Confidence ?

Never in doubt…….

If hat was a dead rubber game then I’d like to watch plenty more like it.
For me the thing that let’s Lions down is Vince, they guy is a clown when it comes to coaching,
Get rid, Bring in a coach who can handle a roster and watch the trophies come.
Dirk was on fire tonight, so when the game was still up for grabs Vince pulls off Dirk and brings on Lockhart, they may have well finished playing with 4 players,

Riders showed so much class in the 4th and ran out deserved winners.
Looking forward to the dead rubber game Vs Patriots on Sunday.

Tough night for a Lions fan as I hate losing to Riders!

Lions never really got going, the energy levels were lower than previous games & defensively we were a step too slow for much of the night, Dirk kept Lions in the game almost singlehandedly.

Riders turned the screw in the last 3-4 minutes of the game & Lions simply had no response, in the last 2 minutes it was like they'd totally switched off & couldn't wait to get off the court.

Riders had plenty of offensive threats & all their players seemed to have little runs of points during the game.

Kelley actually played some decent defense in the 1st half, making players adjust their shots & making himself a presence under the basket but seemed to be carrying an injury in the 2nd.
Cugini is an out & out shooter if he's on court Lions have to find a way to get the ball to him in the right areas or it's pointless him being on court.
Reese had his poorest game in a Lions shirt but he was still very effective for much of the game but Washburn really struggled throughout.
Without either Jordan Williams or JWH there wasn't quite as much energy around the basket as we've seen.

It will be good to see these two teams play each other with full strength teams as Nelson-Henry is obviously a key loss for Riders.

Onwards to next Wednesday for Lions & they'll have to be significantly more focused & commited with far more energy if they're going to get anywhere near Beyreuth.