BCB PREVIEW: HURRICANES HEAD TO READING IN BATTLE OF UNBEATENS; EARLY TROPHY REMATCH IN HEMEL

After four rounds of BCB Trophy action, the League season begins this weekend with a packed programme.

Summary

• Hurricanes head to Reading after their unbeaten Trophy start
• Hemel and Milton Keynes battle it out in Trophy rematch
• Playoff winners Newcastle head to Essex in tricky opener
• Last season's BCB Trophy Final rematch in Yorkshire

Preview

After finishing the group stage of the BCB Trophy unbeaten, the Bristol Hurricanes travel along the M4 in Sunday’s only fixture to face the also unbeaten Aldermore Reading Rockets to start the brand-new League season

In what should be an exciting matchup, the Hurricanes enter this contest in a drastic change of fortune, having picked up their first win in the BCB last season in December.

Now they enter the new season, unbeaten at 4-0 in the Trophy, with a quarter-final to look forward to and oozing with confidence, led by Ben Baker McCann (18.5ppg) and Dennis Flowers (14.4ppg, 1.5spg).

But they come up against the reigning League champions, Reading, who also finished a flawless 4-0, boast their leading scorer Jaxon Nap (18.8ppg, 9.8rpg) and Mo Walker (18ppg, 7.8rpg).

On Saturday, we will see an early rematch between the Hemel Storm and Milton Keynes Breakers in Hemel Hempstead. The two teams put on an instant classic, which the Storm edged 99-93 to finish unbeaten in the Midlands group of the Trophy.

But the Breakers will be keen to exact revenge. Nickolas Woodard led the way for MK with 23 points, supported by Jonas Dieterich’s 22 points and 11 boards and will look to hit the ground running. However, they will need to contain Victor Olarerin, who had a game-high 26 in the meeting.

Two teams that will want to start the season off with a win are the Loughborough Riders and London Cavaliers. Both teams missed out on a quarter-final spot in the Trophy, so will look to the League campaign off positively.

The same goes for the Nottingham Hoods and Derby Trailblazers, who put on a classic on the season’s opening weekend, with the Hoods hanging on to a 79-76 win. They also narrowly missed the last eight and will be eager to get going on Saturday.

The Playoff winners, Newcastle Knights face a difficult road trip to start their season, as they travel south to face the Essex Rebels, who will be looking to Aliou Cisse (20.3ppg) and British sharpshooter Kyron Martin (18ppg, 47 percent, three-point) to contain Newcastle’s Luke House ( 22ppg) and AJ McGinnis (20.5ppg).

The Bristol Flyers II managed only two wins last season, and one of those was against the Worthing Thunder in their final game of the campaign. The two meet again in the south-west.

Up north, the Yorkshire Dragons will host the City of Birmingham Rockets in a rematch of last season’s BCB Trophy Final. With both teams keeping a core of last term's players, the Dragons will be keen to gain some revenge and start their season with a win.

Whereas the Rockets’ Trophy defence was halted at the group stage, they will look to this game to lift their season.