RAMBLINGS:
Off-Season Edition 12
21 FEBRUARY 2002
by Piet Van Hasselt1. RAMS 2002 SQUAD
SELECTED TONIGHT - WITNESS IT
Final Trial Tonight: Thu 21 Feb, 8:00-9:30pm,
Cowles Stadium
Rams Fans are invited to catch the final trial
and the announcement of the preliminary squad for
the upcoming season. All of the Rams players,
including star recruit Terrence Lewis, will be in
action except American John "Pope"
Whorton who will arrive mid-March. At the first
two trials this week Coach Watson and the Rams
coaching staff have had trialists perform a timed
mile, beep test and a number of full court game
scrimmages. A squad of 17-19 players will be
selected to train with the team. All Rams Fans
are welcome at the final trial and entry is free.
2. RAMS PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE
The Rams have a busy pre-season schedule, taking
in matches against three National League teams:
Nelson Giants, Otago Nuggets and Wellington
Saints. The Ashburton and Rangiora stadiums are
expected to be full once again when the Rams play
two intersquad matches at the end of next week.
Along with the regular Easter Tournament games at
Cowles Stadium, the Rams will play a series of
matches in a mini tournament at Nelson. These
games will give the players a chance to gel
together and implement the new style of play
under Coach Watson.
Fri 1 March - Intersquad game @
Ashburton
Sat 2 March - Intersquad game @
Rangiora
Sat 9 March - Rams vs Otago
Nuggets @ Timaru
Sat/Sun 16/17 March -
Teambuilding overnight trip
Fri/Sat/Sun 22/23/24 March -
Rams/Nelson/Wellington tournament @ Nelson
Fri 29 March - Rams vs Otago
Nuggets (Easter Tournament, Cowles Stadium)
Sat 30 March - Otago vs Nelson
(Easter Tournament, Cowles Stadium)
Sun 1 April - Rams vs Nelson
Giants (Easter Tournament, Cowles Stadium)
3. BASKETBALL IN NEW ZEALAND UNITES
 BBNZ - After nearly 20 years
of being run as separate organisations the
National Basketball League will join with the
national body - Basketball New Zealand. NBL
chairman Burton Shipley, one of the key players
in orchestrating the move, says the NBL
shareholders agreed to the shift at the annual
general meeting in Wellington last weekend. Mr
Shipley, who was asked to take on the role of NBL
chairman two years ago, says it's time for
basketball to front as one sport in New Zealand.
"We've got to capitalise on the increased
awareness we've got in (the) last year with the
success of the NBL and the success of the Tall
Blacks and Tall Ferns with both teams getting to
the Olympic Games and doing well there. Then
there was the Tall Blacks beating Australia to
qualify for the World Champs for the first time -
a lifetime dream for every kiwi basketball fan.
" he said.
4. JUNIOR RAMS CAMP FOR UNDER 7's
The Rambo Charitable Trust is proud to bring you
the 4th Rams Junior Camp for young basketballers.
This is the first time the Rams have offered a
specialised camp for those aged under seven
years, and it should a great chance to learn some
skills and have fun. The two-day camp will
operate 9 to 12noon on April 2 and 3 at Pioneer
Stadium. Those participants under 5 will need to
be accompanied by an adult/guardian. The cost for
both days is $30 and includes a camp t-shirt.
Numbers are strictly limited. For more
information, please e-mail [email protected]
5. WATSON NAMED TO NZBL BOARD
At the New Zealand Basketball League meeting last
weekend Rams Director and Head Coach John Watson
was elected to the board. This is recognition of
the tremendous amount of work and successful new
initiatives that John Watson and the Rams
Organisation have established over the past two
seasons.
6. NZ MAORI TEAMS WIN POLYNESIAN
TOURNAMENT
Last week the NZ Maori Tall Blacks and NZ Maori
Tall Ferns were champions at the Polynesian
Tournament in Manukau City, Auckland. SEMI FINALS
(M): NZ Tall Blacks 146 NZ Maori Under 23 99; NZ
Tama Toa 96 NZ Samoa 76. FINALS: NZ Tall Ferns 62
Samoa 51; NZ Tall Blacks 125 NZ Tama Toa 84.
7. PENNEY LEADS WISCONSIN TO FIVE
STRAIGHT
Tall Black Kirk Penney has continued his
outstanding form this season, propelling the
Wisconsin Badgers to five straight wins. Penney
scored 27 second-half points to propel the
Badgers to a win over Minnesota 67-62. That
effort combined with a game winning three-point
basket against Iowa earned Penney his third
Conference Player of the Week award.
Photo: http://www.uwbadgers.com (right)
8. DICKEL TO PLAY AS AN AUSSIE
This week it was announced that Tall Black Mark
Dickel will be able to compete in the Australian
National Basketball League in 2003 as a local
player, rather than count as one of the team's
two restricted players. This does not mean that
Dickel can represent the Australian National
Team, and he will continue to play for the Tall
Blacks. Dickel has been kept side-lined since
January with a left calf muscle injury for his
Victoria Titans team.
The Season and 4-game Ticket Application Form can
be downloaded here: http://www.mang.canterbury.ac.nz/rams/2002RamsTicket.pdf
Please
feel free to forward this information to your
basketball friends. Newcomers can subscribe to
Rams News by sending an e-mail to [email protected] with
"sign me up" in the subject line.
Comments about the newsletter can be sent to [email protected]
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