Leicester Riders coach reflects on hard week

Paternostro guided Leicester to the play-offs last season

Leicester Riders coach Rob Paternostro says dealing with a hectic schedule and an agonising last-gasp defeat against Cheshire Jets has been tricky.

Riders suffered two losses last week - including an 80-78 defeat by Cheshire.

Paternostro said: "The loss against Cheshire was a heartbreaker. We were up two with 24 seconds to play."

Riders are at Newcastle on Saturday and at home to Worcester on Friday and Paternostro said there is no let-up: "Four games in seven days is tough."

But he wants his side to bounce back from Sunday's reverse against Glasgow Rocks.

We now hope we can find a rhythm with this group and look for improvements each week

Rob Paternostro

He added: "Travelling to Glasgow after a tough loss like that [against Cheshire] is difficult, especially when they hadn't played in six days. In the first half we turned the ball over too much and they took advantage of that.

"But I'll give my guys credit, we never quit and had a chance to cut it to two late in the fourth but were unable to get over the hump.

"I thought Ryan Zamroz and Robert Youngblood both stood out. Zamroz is starting to find his rhythm, and Youngblood was fantastic on Sunday.

He added: "It's almost like a new beginning for us, with Phil Missere leaving and Liam Potter coming in. We now hope we can find a rhythm with this group and look for improvements each week."