Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders head coach Rob Paternostro remains grounded, despite his new-look team’s impressive start to the current BBL season.

Although having played just two Championship games thus far, Riders have progressed to the quarter-finals of the BBL Cup and won all of their league games, both of which have been away from the John Sandford Sports Centre.

In addition, new signings Cameron Rundles and Ayron Hardy have made all of British basketball’s headlines in the season’s opening months – being regular names in the BBL’s Team of the Week whilst Hardy was named the league’s Player of the Month for October.

However, whilst admitting his excitement of working with his new group of players, the charismatic Paternostro emphasises the long path ahead until the end of the season.

“I’ve been around this league a long time for me to know that, when you’re in November, there is a very long way to go,” he told Soar Magazine.

“I think it’s interesting that, even for teams that have started off slow, it’s so easy to either panic or get excited. I think that you need to find somewhere in the middle, because it is a long, long season. You don’t know what is around the corner, as far as injuries to personnel and other teams’ situations go. We’re approaching it week-by-week and we’re not looking too far ahead.”

“What I will say is that I like this group that we have now and the way that we have been able to play together at both ends of the floor has me excited about the continuing process of getting better.

“I think that one of the challenges of being a BBL coach, and there are many challenges of being a BBL coach, is getting through the whole season and playing your best basketball as the season goes on.

“To get too high or too low at this point in the season wouldn’t be the right thing to do. I know that our fans are excited about our start, but they should be more excited about watching us play because so far, it’s been pretty enjoyable. There’s a long way to go and the importance is getting better for the long haul. That’s what the season is about for me. It’s all well and good doing well in trophy and cup competitions; it’s exciting and fans love that, but as a coach, you need to prepare yourself for the long, hard season that it is – but we’ve made an encouraging start.”

Riders take on London Leopards and Cheshire Jets on the road this weekend, before returning to John Sandford Sports Centre on Saturday 19th November where they will face the reigning BBL Champions, Mersey Tigers. Tip off is at 7:30pm. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.leicesterriders.co.uk.