In The Huddle December 21 2007

Friday December 21, 2007

Hi there

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the team at Basketball New Zealand. We hope you enjoy a great holiday season ... see you for more hoops action in '08.
Chappy

BBNZ AGM Scheduled

Basketball New Zealand is pleased to advise you of its 2007 Annual General Meeting on Saturday and Sunday, March 1/2, 2008 in Wellington.

Read More ...

Breakers Pip Hawks

Joel Tiller, Sportal
The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers went 2-0 against the Wollongong Hawks this Hummer NBL Championship season with a nail-biting 105-103 win in the dying seconds on Thursday night at the North Shore Events Centre.

It was business per usual for marquee shooting guards Kirk Penney (27 points, eight rebounds) and Phil Jones (25 points, 11 rebounds), who led the way for the Auckland-based franchise, and they had staunch support from Australian veteran Tony Ronaldson, who backed up his 20 points versus Brisbane on Sunday with 22.

Read More ...

Lightning Steal Sirens' Thunder

Geoff Longley, Christchurch Press
The Christchurch Sirens suffered an Adelaide Lightning strike last night - blitzed 92-66 to lose their unblemished Australian Defence Force WNBL league home record at Cowles Stadium.

Shooting for seven wins in a row at the Cowles Cauldron proved one too many for the Sirens, who bowed to the front-running Lightning, a warm favourite for the championship crown.

Read More ...

Wanted - Referee Officers

Basketball New Zealand is seeking applications to fill these regional roles.

If you are an experienced referee with a passion for the game and a desire to increase the quality of officiating in your area, we would love you to get involved.

As a regional referee officer, you would be directly in charge of all BBNZ registered referees in your local area in terms of courses, information and tournaments, acting as a mentor and coach to junior referees.

Polyblank Doubles Up

Former Tall Black Brendon Polyblank had a “double double” to help BBC Monthey to a 79-63 win over Vevey Riviera Basket in the Swiss Ligue Nationale de Basket.

In his third game since rejoining the club this month, Polyblank compiled 15 points (6/13 FG, 2/6 3pt, 1/2 FT), six assists and three steals in 34 minutes.

Monthey ran up a 12-point advantage by the end of the opening period and were never challenged as they improved to 7-4 for the season.

Marino, Lighting On Target

Tall Fern point guard Angela Marino enjoyed her strongest game of the Australian Defence Force WNBL season to help Adelaide Lightning account for a depleted Perth Lynx 100-66.

Marino, who played for the Lynx last season, had 14 points (3/10 FG, 2/5 3pt, 6/6 FT), four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes as Adelaide retained their position atop the league table with an 11-3 record.

Read More ...

Sirens Survive Assault

Geoff Longley, Christchurch Press
The Christchurch Sirens made hard work of finally defending their home court for a sixth successive win, edging out a persistent Perth 66-61 in the Australian Defence Forces WNBL match at Cowles Stadium.

In a match that at times seemed like neither side wanted to win, the home side secured victory with 4.5 seconds left.

Fittingly, it was a pair of free throws from Toni Edmondson, the Sirens player of the night, that sealed victory to lift the Sirens’ season record to six wins and nine losses, while Perth is anchored at the foot of the table with three wins.

Read More ...

Brisbane Show Wright Stuff

Sportal
Nigerian Ebi Ere continued his dominant form as Brisbane’s quest for a place at the head of the Hummer Championship NBL ladder continued with a 125-93 win over the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers.

Brisbane shot ahead of Melbourne on wins, courtesy of the comprehensive victory against its trans-Tasman rival.

Ere was in slashing form as he drained seven three-point shots on his way to 42 points for the night to go with 10 rebounds for a double-double night out.

X's & O's - Australian Offensive Sets

By Brian Goorjian, Australian Boomers coach

Our first priority at the 2006 FIBA World Championship was to move the ball very quickly down the court with the point guards handling the ball.

The wing players sprinted ahead of the ball to keep pressure on the defence. We also took advantage of our agile power forwards, who sprinted to the offensive basket and looked to receive the ball as close to the basket as possible.

In addition, our quick ball reversal was one of our best offensive assets, combined with the dribble penetration of our guards and small forwards.

Read More ...