Friday 04 October 2013 – Worcester Wolves vs Leicester Riders

The Worcester public will finally get their chance to see British Basketball League action for the very first time at the new University of Worcester Arena this Friday (tip off 7.30pm). And it is unlikely that the hometown Worcester Wolves will face many tougher opponents this year than their visitors, last season’s treble-winning Leicester Riders.

Both sides enjoyed comfortable victories at the weekend as Wolves trounced Surrey United 117-60 while Leicester cruised past Birmingham Knights in similarly impressive fashion, 90-56.

It will now be up to Director of Basketball Paul James to apply the antidote to Leicester Riders’ ‘winning formula’, saying: “This game will give me a chance to really see where we are as a team. I fully expect the Riders to be right up there as one of the teams to beat again this season and we want to be right there with them.

“We know that they had a winning formula last season and I expect them to play the same way again this. They won things because they had the best defensive record in the league and so we will need to be prepared for this as a team.

“They have not changed too much from what they had last season, so they have some continuity going into this season. We have changed considerably, but this should be a very competitive and exciting game.”

Wolves’ new forward Will Creekmore, who had a huge 32 point and 17 rebound debut performance against Surrey, is expecting Friday’s game to be a much sterner test, commenting: “We know that Leicester is going to be a tough challenge and we need to be ready for a much tougher game.

“I know that they won pretty much everything there was to win last year. For me personally, I am just going to focus on doing my job in the post and I know my team-mates will be ready to do theirs as well.”

Meanwhile Leicester coach Rob Paternostro is also ready for a hard contest, saying: “Coach James has a lot of experience and knows what it takes to be successful in this league. He looks to have put together a nice roster and that was evident in their first game on Saturday.

“It’s our first road game of the season so it will be important that we are intelligent on both ends of the floor.”

Fans can guarantee their seats for Friday’s big showdown by ordering online through the Wolves’ website: www.worcesterwolves.org