Daniel Hildreth will urge his Worthing Thunder side to keep the pace high in their play-off bid.

And he reckons the start could not have been more promising with a fast-track to the semi-finals of the National Trophy.

Thunder are already in the last four after group fixture wins over Reading and Solent.

The National League campaign starts at home to Leicester Warriors tonight (7.30pm) and Hildreth hopes to give the crowd what they want.

Worthing’s head coach was known for his defence during a playing career which also took in Brighton and Derby.

Proactive, energetic and disciplined defence is still very much on the agenda.

But the Worthing crowd traditionally thrive on a fast-paced game in front of them rather than a grind-it-out battle.

And that is what Thunder led by their one American signing, rookie Lyonell Gaines, look to serve up.

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Hildreth told The Argus: “We try and play at a very fast pace offensively.

“We move the ball and share the ball very well.

“We try to create lots of space on the floor for our players to shine individually within the team pattern. We have some very good shooters on the team.

“We are very diverse in the ways we can score with some inside presence as well.

“Lyonell has done a fantastic job so far. He is causing lots of mis-match problems for the opposition just with his versatility.

“He is too big for a lot of the guards and too quick for a lot of the bigs.

“We like to play exciting basketball, we are very team-orientated and defensively we really try to get after it.

“We try to dictate what the offence is doing rather than react to what it is doing.”

Thunder play in the semi-pro second tier of British basketball and have plenty of Sussex-based talent on their roster.

Local boys such as Jack Sunderland and Tom Ward are joined by point guard Brendan Okoronkwo and Southampton based Louis Allen in the line-up.

But, inevitably, much will hinge on the one player on whom Thunder have spent significant funds, their lone professional Gaines.

Hildreth said: “It’s a very drawn-out recruitment process.

“I’m sent many lists of players and I filter through them, then through the video highlights, then full-game tapes.

“I watched two full games in which he played.

“Anybody can look amazing in a short highlights package taken from four years in college.

“Then you go through the discussions, then there is a very lengthy administration programme of trying to obtain a visa and get clearance from America.

“It is a very costly and timely process but it is one that, when it pays off, it is very worthwhile.

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Lyonell Gaines

“I also find coaches and players who have played with and against the player I am looking at to get character references.

“At the moment, he has come over and been the ultimate professional.

“He is shooting every day, he is working out every day. He has got a great attitude towards the other players.

“One thing that was very prominent for me was he said ‘I am here for us to win’.

“He knows if the team doesn’t win, he can’t progress his career as he wants to.

“That is already showing in the way he is carrying himself in practice and games.”

Manchester, Derby and Reading tend to be the teams to beat and finished in the top three, in that order, last season.

Thunder came tenth out of 14 with the same 10-16 record as tonight’s opponents.

Hildreth said: “The league has had a lot of changes but I am very happy with what we have got.

“We have started fantastically well in the Trophy.

“But our focus is one game at a time.

“We play Leicester and we expect them to try and make us play out of our comfort zone with trapping defences and things like that.

“We are preparing for that and, if we play like we have been, good things can happen for us.”