With the regular season now complete, attention switches to the play-offs where the format is
simple – win or go home! The teams with the best records from across the season are rewarded
with home advantage at the quarter final stage, with first hosting eighth, second at home to
seventh and so on and so forth.
After Derby finished eighth in the Championship table, a trip to Reading Rockets awaits with a
simple question. Can they push the champions one basket harder than they did in the penultimate
game of the league season just two weeks ago?
The 74-73 loss at the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre was heart-breaking at the time, but it proved
just how good this Derby team can be. They pushed the Rockets closer than any team had done
since their 76-64 home defeat to Yorkshire Dragons on March 1st.
They also had two decent looks to win the game in the dying seconds. The first was an off-balance
shot from Malcolm Smith which fell just wide, but an offensive put-back from Mo Walker looked set
to swish through the hoop until it was swatted away by Cooper Creek as the buzzer sounded.
The result handed Reading the league title with a game to spare and whilst painful for the home
faithful to watch, it proved the Rockets can be beaten, although will be a much harder task at
Loddon Valley on Sunday afternoon.
Jax Bouknight was the star of the show in that league game, just as he’s been throughout an
impressive rookie season, racking up double-digits in all but seven league games. Intriguingly, he
was held scoreless by an under-strength Milton Keynes side last weekend, in a game the Rockets
only won by four points.
Finding a way to limit his effectiveness will be key to Derby’s chances of success and they must
also try to do a similar job on Victor Olarerin, who was held to just five points a fortnight ago. The
pair have started all 26 league games, with Bouknight averaging 14.5 points and 4.9 assists, while
Olarerin adds 18.8 points and collects 5.7 rebounds.
It’s not just about those two though, as the Rockets are stacked with talent across what is probably
the deepest roster in the league. Malik Bryant, Cooper Creek and Yusef Salih all average double-
digits in scoring, while Ty Nsangu leads the team in rebounding and Simon Chamberlain leads the
team in three-point shooting, at 48.1%.
Trailblazers Head Coach Kyle Henderson is looking forward to the challenge:
“The last time we faced them, we only lost by one point, so we do have a lot of confidence going
into the game. We’ve had a couple of sessions this week where we’ve focused on the game plan
and what we want to achieve against them.
“We’ve seen throughout the league season that whoever turns up on the day has a chance of
winning the game, and that’s even more of the case when it’s playoff time. We’ve got to maintain
the high standards we’ve shown over the back end of the season when we’ve executed and
performed really well,” he said.
Sunday’s match is a 4:00 PM tip at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre, and for those who are unable to
travel, LiveStats will be available via CLICK ME, and the game should be available to
watch via CLICK ME!
