No prizes for guessing what the talk has been about this week - Rico Alderson and his triple-double as we recorded our latest win, at home to the Leicester Riders.

What a great occasion that was with so many of you turning out to show how much you appreciated our efforts in winning the National Cup. I could not believe the turnout but that sort of support was well deserved by the players and staff.

That came out of nowhere, nothing to do with back room marketing stuff. We really appreciated you all coming to the game. It was really cool and a lot of fun.

Now it is time for the Bears staff to get out there, keep working and really market this club big. It's too bad we don't have another game at the Brighton Centre until March so we can do this downtown. We are not at home again until February 15, against Scottish Rocks at The Triangle, so mark that in your diaries right now.

As I said, great occasion, great support but, as far as the game itself went, I thought it was just okay. I will go no further than that.

Our energy was good but I don't think we were really sharp with our shooting. We missed some wide open shots which we normally make.

I thought Wil Johnson and Sterling Davis were good. Ralph Blalock and Mike Brown were a bit off but again made their contributions at both ends of the floor. Then Bud Johnston came in and wrapped it up nicely with his three three-pointers.

Rico, of course, was awesome. He is entertaining and, when he is out there, we are pretty good. We will have a chance to win if he stays out of trouble. He finds shots for everybody so easily and that is really valuable.

I have not witnessed too many performances like the one he came up with against Leicester. Look at that 34 points and 25 rebounds for a start. I'm not sure I have seen a double-double of that magnitude from any of my players in my whole career.

The thing about Rico is he is such a difficult player to play against. I know I didn't like him when I played against him but our guys sure like playing alongside him now. He is competitive in games and just as competitive every day at practice. He brings a lot to the team and he is a funny dude too who keeps us laughing.

I said in my programme notes for Saturday's game that the cup win was over and done with. Maybe that was a little premature because we enjoyed showing the cup off to you fans at the end of that game. We also staged our cup winners' party at Henry J. Bean's on Tuesday when many of you will have enjoyed a re-run of the Chester game in the presence of the players.

Now, though, it really is over and done with and we turn our full attention to the league. We cannot afford to do otherwise, especially with three away games coming up, including Leicester on Sunday.

It looks like it is going to be a three team race for the title with ourselves, Chester and Sheffield fighting it out. Chester had a hell of a week after losing to us in the cup final. They went to Newcastle and won, went to London Towers and won and also beat Scottish Rocks. That's three pretty good teams and they won all three.

Make no mistake, this league is going to take some winning. With your help, we believe we can make it.

Go Bears