Riders get their Christmas wish in Allen
With the Christmas holidays winding down, the Leicester Riders have received a huge gift in Teddy ‘Buckets’ Allen. The CEBL MVP provided an instant offensive spark with 32 points on his debut against Caledonia and followed that with 21 points against Manchester.
After the Riders had released Xavier Pinson, Caleb Asberry and Braelen Bridges, reinforcements had to be on their way due to the short-handed roster. Sesan Russell was added as another ball handler off the bench, a member of the Riders family who had been at Charnwood College and played for the Loughborough Riders before having a four year collegiate career in Florida.
Teddy Allen came in with high expectations having recently won the CEBL MVP. Having played a few games with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in 2021/22, he really shone in the 2022/23 season where he averaged nearly 28 points and 8 rebounds a game. A stat line like this would’ve alerted Rob Paternostro and the Riders organisation as they have a good relationship with the CEBL.
This was a great addition to the team and according to Teddy after his debut he didn’t quite have his legs underneath him yet after the conclusion of the CEBL in August, so it is scary to think the level he will be at when he is fully fit.
Not only is he an elite scorer, but he is a willing passer. When the league starts to become more aware of Teddy double teams may start to come, in which case the likes of Holmes and Thomas will be open. As the team chemistry continues to build, I fully expect to see this team climb up the table.
In terms of a New Year’s resolution and where I would like to see the Riders improve is the form on the road. Out of the nine wins in the league this season, only three of those have come away from home. rwo of those were the very impressive road wins early in the season against Bristol and Newcastle but after the win against Newcastle, the Riders had to wait two and a half months for their next away win in the recent game against Manchester. Several of the losses were within single digits, which added to the disappointment as the games were so close.
The game that stands out was the defeat to Caledonia back in October. With the Riders up by five with late in the game, former Rider Patrick Whelan hit two late threes and got the assist for the game-winner which sunk the Riders to a tough loss.
Out of the seven road losses, the Riders have lost by single digits five times, which shows they are getting in decent positions to win the game but just not quite executing correctly in late-game situations.
But with a fresh start in 2024 with the new format of the Trophy, the Riders have a chance to fully focus on this competition in search for silverware, which is something that they didn’t pick up last year.