Preview » Bristol Flyers v Plymouth Raiders

Saturday, September 30th 2017

Bristol Flyers v Plymouth Raiders
BBL Championship
Saturday, September 30th 2017
SGS WISE Arena
SOLD OUT

Everything you need to know on Saturday night’s opponents can be found below:

Bristol Flyers open the new BBL campaign at home to South West rivals Plymouth Raiders in front of a SOLD out crowd at the WISE Arena (7.30pm).

The south west derby is renewed on the opening weekend of the season once again. Both sides have had contrasting off-seasons with Bristol retaining the core of last season's squad, while Plymouth have started a new era with Gavin Love back at the helm. Early bragging rights up for grabs.

PLYMOUTH RAIDERS

The summer of 2017 could prove to be a pivotal chapter in the history of the Raiders after a change of ownership has seen a brand new squad, new coach and complete rebrand of the club. With the addition of some exciting new talent and off-court progress, there is a sense of optimism that Raiders can get back on track and seal a Play-Off place this season.

HEAD COACH

Gavin Love - The new ownership made a popular move with fans by calling up former play-caller Gavin Love, who is back holding the coaching reins at the Pavilions – with many thinking he left prematurely during his first spell. His mission is to get Raiders back into the Play-Offs and challenging higher up the table.

LAST TIME OUT

Plymouth Raiders took the season series over Flyers with a 85-62 win in front of the BBC cameras.

LAST SEASON

A mid-late season collapse saw the Raiders go from top four contenders to missing out on the Play-Offs altogether with a 14-19 record only enough for ninth. They reached the BBL Trophy Final before a heavy defeat against Leicester came amongst their poor run of form.

KEYS TO THE GAME

PRE-SEASON FORM

Bristol Flyers - LWWL

Flyers opened pre-season with a defeat against USA Select, before responding with a win against the Welsh National Team. They split home and away friendlies with Worcester Wolves and recently enjoyed a run to the semi-finals at the Betway All-Stars Championship.

Plymouth Raiders - WW

The Raiders took on BBL opposition Cheshire Phoenix twice last weekend and came away with back-to-back wins heading into their season opener.

ONES TO WATCH

Plymouth sent a message with the capture of former league-winner Neil Watson from the Glasgow Rocks, whilst building a core of British talent with ex-Leeds trio Louis Sayers, Zak Wells and Eddie Matthew. Bringing experience from Estonia is Joonas Jarvelainen, while Brandon Penn was a late addition with Dylan Costelloe back at the club.

#5 Neil Watson - Watson averaged 16.2 points per game for the Glasgow Rocks last season.

WATCH LIVE

Saturday’s game will be available to watch LIVE via the BBL’s official streaming partner, LiveBaketball.TV (subscription) - click here to sign up NOW.