Riders coach Rob Paternostro on...

...the 95-74 win over the Cheshire Jets:

“I thought they came out like we thought they would. They played last week and came out with some confidence and shot the ball really well. But so far this season we've had the ability to turn up the defence at certain points and I thought we did a good job with that. I thought team defence was good.”

“We also did a better job on (Jets Adam) Brown. Ayron Hardy made a switch and I thought he did a good job. In the second and third quarters Hardy and Sullivan really turned it up defensively (and) when they're clicking that way on the defensive end, I think we have the ability to make runs and that's what we did.”

...key aspects of the Riders game:

“The statistic that jumps off the page is the 23 assists and the way we were able to move the ball. We were able to find cracks in the defence and I think that's because of the ball movement that we have and we continue to try to get better at that. I think we will (get better) and I think everyone is on the same page as far as pushing to get better. I thought our ball movement and passing was excellent.“

“I think this is a team that...a lot of times when you look at teams and players, I think people underestimate the ability to pass and I think especially our first five out there, you're looking at guys that can pass from all over the floor. Once we get more comfortable with each other our offense will be even better. “

...Matt Schneck's 6 fouls:

“We talked about taking the ball to the basket because we wanted to establish ourselves in the painted area.”

“For Schneck it's tough because he doesn't really have a back-up and he has to play many minutes so it's inevitable if you attack him that he's going to find himself in some foul trouble and once that happened and the ability to defend the basket wasn't there, we could take advantage of that.”

...players of note in the game:

“Barry Lamble - Royster picked up two quick fouls early in the game and to be able to bring in a 6”10 veteran player off the bench is a testament to us and to where Barry is now. He's comfortable around the floor. I like what he did and that exemplifies what we have with him – we have a guy who is able to step in if someone is in foul trouble or someone isn't able to play.”

“I thought everyone that played, played well.

...reaching the BBL Cup semi-final:

“It's fun. We've given our players the opportunity to play in a couple of games that will have a lot of excitement. We've also given our supporters the opportunity to be a part of these exciting games.

After the game, turning around and looking into the crowd, the amount of Riders fans there was impressive. And the same thing in Guildford.”

“Not only have the results been going pretty well for us on the floor, the excitement around the club and the support we're getting now is a nice thing to see.”

...John Griffin's return:

“He just jumped in, only had one practice with us...half a practice with us...he's an intelligent player, that's what you like about him. The guy can pick things up quick. Even though he doesn't know all our stuff he's able to pick it up on the fly.”

“I thought he gave us good minutes. I thought against the Leopards he hit some shots. And Sunday, even though he didn't shoot the ball, I thought he gave us some really good minutes defensively and I thought he did a nice job of moving the basketball.”

For more quotes from Paternostro where he talks more about Griffin, discusses his thoughts on Wierzbicki so far this season, as well as comments on new boy Jamell Anderson and returning forward Tom Sherlock, please visit the official Leicester Riders Twitter feed at: @ridersbball

Keith Firmin is a freelance journalist who reports for the Leicester Riders and can be contacted at: Keith@leicesterriders.co.uk