In The Huddle January 25 2008

Tait On Road To Recovery

One Wollongong IMB Hawks player that hasn’t been under the spotlight the last two months is promising New Zealand international guard Lindsay Tait.

Tait went down earlier this season with a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the 2007/08 NBL Hummer Championship.

After starting out the season in great form and providing that much needed spark off the bench, Tait proved to the league that he is a legitimate NBL player. His quickness, exceptional court vision and great shooting touch made him a danger for any challenger ahead of him.

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Breakers Slay Pigs

Hayden Wood, Sportal
The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers have defeated the West Sydney Razorbacks 109-95 in the all important Hummer NBL Championship match in the playoff race at the North Shore Events Centre.

The Breakers led at every change, and were never seriously threatened by a disappointing Razorbacks outfit.

Phill Jones top scored for the Breakers with 22 points, while Kirk Penney and Derrick Alston chipped in with 21 points apiece.

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Juniors Gather

National junior teams - particularly the Junior Tall Blacks - begin their busy 2008 schedule over the next 10 days as they assemble for the third All-NZ Camp in Palmerston North.

With Basketball New Zealand intent on providing more international opportunities for its up-and-coming players, these youngsters carry the hopes of future Tall Black and Tall Fern programmes.

Current national senior coaches Nenad Vucinic and Mike McHugh will attend the camp to cast their eyes over the young talent.

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Injuries Don't Faze Breakers

The prospect of another Hummer Championship NBL game without a key player through injury isn’t fazing Harvey Norman NZ Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis.

The Breakers tackle the West Sydney Razorbacks at the North Shore Events Centre Thursday night and are likely to be without legendary forward Tony Ronaldson, who is shrugging off an Achilles strain.

If Ronaldson can’t play for the second match in a row, it will be the 19th time in 25 games that Lemanis has not had a full roster to choose from.

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Tigers Maul Breakers

Jonathan Healy, Sportal
The Melbourne Tigers have displayed their Hummer NBL Championship credentials with a comprehensive 112-98 victory over the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Saturday night.

Although they trailed early, the Tigers outscored the Breakers 30-12 during an enterprising second term to lead by 26 at half-time, before holding the visitors at bay for the remainder of the match.

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Kiwis Prevail

North Harbour’s Logan Poloai led all scorers with 17 points as the NZ Kea captured the U14 Boys title at the Australian Junior Country Basketball Cup in Albury, NSW.

Building a seven-point lead over the opening quarter, the Kiwis held on to secure a 65-52 result over Vic Bushrangers in the final. They had already beaten the Rangers in a pool game earlier in the week.

Poloai was supported by Kurt Heatherley (Western Bay of Plenty) with 16 points and Delroi Heu (Waikato) on 15.

Wanted - Comps Manager

Basketball Waitakere City is seeking expressions of interest in its role of competitions manager.

The key functions of the position are …

1. leagues & competition operations

2. financial accounting

3. office management

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X's & O's - Serbia U19 Defensive Philosophy

By Miroslav Nikolic, world champion Serbian U19 coach
I would like to talk about the zone press 1-2-1-1, with the transition to a combined 3-2 zone defence. Let's start with the principles of the 1-2-1 zone press.

My philosophy is to establish the 1-2-1-1 zone press with the defenders set at the threequarter-court mark. We invite the opponent to inbound the ball with a short pass at the free-throw line level. At that moment, the defenders start applying the following defensive principles of this zone press.

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