Saturday 28 September 2013 – Surrey United vs Worcester Wolves

Continuing to settle into his new role will be the sole goal for Worcester Wolves’ guard Caylin Raftopoulos when he travels to former club Surrey United for the season opener on Saturday (tip off 7pm).

The promising 20-year-old guard left Surrey Sports Park in the summer, along with his father and former coach Creon, and wasn’t short of offers from other BBL clubs.

But he opted to join Worcester, who Surrey narrowly beat in last season’s BBL Play-offs, and has quickly been made to feel at home by his new team-mates.

“I’ve settled in pretty fast,” revealed Raftopoulos, who is trying to shake off a sprained ankle to be fit for the opening tip. “I’ve been in Worcester for three weeks and all the guys have taken to me well, so I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.”

And he won’t be looking at Saturday’s game against his former club with any added importance: “To be honest the Surrey game won’t be any different to how I’d look at playing against any other team,” Raftopoulos added. “They have a completely new roster and coaching staff so there’s no personal significance at all.

“I think my role will be very similar to the one I played at Surrey. Control the tempo of the game and be able to consistently knock down open shots when given the opportunity.”

Meanwhile United guard Elvisi Dusha commented on what he feels his team will need to do: “As a team our main focus is our defence, picking up the ball early and really trying to not let the ball get into the post. Offensively we want to make teams run with us and utilise the fastbreak as much as we can.”

Worcester Wolves’ coach Paul James gave his thoughts on how his side has prepared for the season-opener: “Pre-season training has gone very well and I’m pleased with what I have seen over the past couple to three weeks. We know we need to put all that hard work to good use on Saturday in our opening game. I expect Surrey to play hard and with plenty of passion for their first game in the BBL under new ownership.”