Wanted - Rams Coach

The Canterbury Rams are seeking a focused, competitive individual to lead the team in the 2008 Dominion Finance NBL.

The Canterbury Rams have a proud record of competition in the NBL. The team is now under a management agreement with the Canterbury Basketball Association, which provides a direct link between the grassroots and elite programmes of the region.

Expressions of interest are sought from a suitably qualified team head coach for the 2008 season. The coach will be expected to provide tactical and technical leadership to the team, both as a unit and as individuals.

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School Results

Latest results from the Furnware NZ Secondary Schools Championships ...

AA at North Harbour

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Baptism Of Fire

The scoreboard will show it as a mismatch, but gallant Fiji never stopped trying in their showdown against reigning world champions Australia at the FIBA Oceania Championships in Dunedin.

Always battling the odds, the South Pacific champions were able to reward a small, but vocal fan club with moments to cheer about despite the Opals’ lopsided 136-32 victory.

Australia had already scored seven points before Fiji found the basket with a Mareta Mani free throw. If the contest was ever in any doubt, the Opals erased it with 24 unanswered points and a 40-3 advantage after the opening quarter.

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Opals All Gold

Jet-lagged and well below full strength, the world champion Australian Opals showed they had more than enough depth to handle their closest opposition in their own neighbourhood, defeating the NZ Tall Ferns 78-46 in the opening game of the FIBA Oceania Championships in Dunedin.

With their Olympic tickets already booked, the Aussies have used 2007 to develop the depth of their roster behind superstars like Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor. Even with only two survivors from last year’s successful line-up, they proved a class above the plucky Kiwis, themselves without inspirational leader Donna Wilkins throughout this year’s campaign.

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Wanted - BBNZ CEO

Basketball New Zealand is the national body responsible for the development, promotion, governance and control of basketball throughout New Zealand.

To be considered for the chief executive role, you will need to be a leader with energy, vision and integrity with contemporary and professional management skills.

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Tini, Kerr In Charge

Veterans Jody Tini and Aneka Kerr have been handed the joint captaincy of the NZ Tall Ferns for this week’s FIBA Oceania Championships in Dunedin as the Kiwi women attempt to qualify for next year’s Beijing Olympics.

Her promotion completes a unique family double for Tini, whose brother Pero Cameron is NZ Tall Blacks captain.

The pair will inherit the leadership role off guard Noni Wharemate, who has held it through most of the national team’s 2007 campaign during the absence of Kerr, Tini and previous skipper Donna Wilkins.

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Only Awkward By Name

The Press
She may be Awkward by name, but new Christchurch Sirens import Ashley Awkward is not expected to be by nature.

Awkward is a smooth-moving point guard by reputation who will give her opponents plenty to think about in the key ball-distributing position on court when she steps out in the Australian WNBL in a fortnight.

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Greener Pastures

Coaching rebel Jeff Green will add to his colourful career when he takes up the reins of Icelandic second division club Hottur next month.

Fresh from his third consecutive Conference Basketball League title with the Waikato Titans, Green will take fringe internationals Ben Hill and Everard Bartlett with him as he tries to raise his new outfit back into the Iceland Express League.

Hottur dropped to the D1 competition last season and languished near the foot of the table with a 2-12 record.

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Heanre Blow For Breakers

Mike Kilpatrick, Sportal

The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers are going to have to cope without influential point guard Paul Henare for the opening part of the season after the NZ Tall Black tweaked an existing knee injury before the game against the Cairns Taipans on Thursday night.

Henare failed a late fitness test and is scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday as he looks to cure cartilage problems in both knees, with doctors predicting he will be out for four to six weeks.

The injury is a hangover from Tall Blacks duty and was being managed to ensure Henare could play.

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Tait Strong As Hawks Lose

NZ Tall Black point guard Lindsay Tait came off the bench to average 15 points a game for Wollongong Hawks as they dropped both legs of a double header weekend to open their Australian Hummer Championship NBL.

Returning to the league after spending last season in Switzerland, Tait had 14 points (7/10 FG), four assists and two rebounds in 33 minutes of a 101-108 loss to Adelaide 36ers on Friday.

The following night, he amassed 16 points (5/9 FG, 2/4 3pt, 4/4 FT), five assists and three rebounds in 29 minutes of an 88-100 loss to Melbourne Tigers.

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Ricket Has High Hopes

Steve Deane, NZ Herald

When Kirk Penney joined the Breakers he pledged to use his contacts to help the club recruit quality players.

The fruit of that pledge is Rick Rickert, an NBA draftee who never quite made the cut at Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons.

Rickert and Penney played for competing universities in the prestigious Big Ten Conference in the United States and then alongside each other in the NBA development league.

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Frank A Fan Favourite

Nick Smart, Sportal

It has taken just one game for colourful Gold Coast Blaze forward Casey Frank to establish himself as a fan favourite.

It appears the Kiwi international has won his way into the hearts of Gold Coast fans following an eye-catching performance in the Blaze’s Australian Hummer Championship NBL season-opening 115-105 loss to the Brisbane Bullets on Wednesday night.

Frank is known for his on-court entertainment and he didn’t disappoint the home crowd against the Bullets.

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