Paternostro and O’Reilly earn October awards

Rob Paternostro was awarded with the Molten BBL Coach of the month award for October after guiding his Leicester Riders team to the top of the table with a 7-0 start.

The player equivalent was given to Colin O’Reilly after his impressive start in Plymouth.

The 6″7 Irishman averaged 23 points per game during the month with three consecutive double-doubles. O’Reilly’s best performance came in the Raiders 105-74 home win against Manchester with an impressive stat-line of 28 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists as well as 3 steals.

O’Reilly has been in fine form for his new team; averaging 19.8ppg and 9.5 rebounds per game shooting at 59% from the field. The 28 year-old had played for the Cheshire Jets for three seasons in a row before making the switch in the summer.

Plymouth suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend which resulted in Leicester having the only perfect record in the league.

Paternostro’s side won all five games during October including a 75-63 win on the road to Newcastle in front of the cameras. The American playcaller is in his fifth season in charge of the Riders and earlier in the season became the club’s first headcoach to record 100 competitive victories.

October also proved to be a good month for the Surrey Heat with Creon Raftopoulos’ men third in the table with a 6-1 record. Chavis Holmes has proved to be a valuable all-round asset for the side, leading the league in steals (3.0 per game) and assists (6.0 per game) whilst adding an average of 17.4 points a game.

Alex Owumi and Orlan Jackman continued to display their scoring prowess during October with John Fraley another top performer before his recent injury setback.