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FAN PREVIEW: vs JETS |
RAMS
vs JETS: RAMS FAN PREVIEW
By Brad Egan
(a rabid Rams Fan and regular caller to Court
Time - the NZ Basketball Radio Show - Sundays at 8pm on
Radio Sport 1503AM).
The Scenic Circle Hotels Canterbury Rams will be seeking
revenge when they clash with the Manawatu Property Broker
Jets in the Rams home opener at the WestpacTrust Centre
on Saturday night.
The Jets had the edge over the Rams last season scoring
two come from behind last second victories over the
Christchurch based side. Both sides made big signings in
the off season with the Rams recruiting prolific point
scoring shooting guard Terrence Lewis from Wellington and
naming John Watson as the new head coach.
The Jets also made prosperous signings, acquiring last
year's league leading scorer and former Ram Clifton Bush
from the championship winning Waikato Titans, as well as
adding Australian Wayne Brown as their new head coach.
They not only boast Clifton Bush but a number of exciting
players in New Zealand/Australian Miles Pearce at centre,
along with gifted three point shooters in former Tall
Black Kent Mori and Jonathon Southey, mixed with the
youthful exuberance of Chris Hart.
Both the Jets and Rams opened their accounts with wins in
the opening weekend of the season. The Rams eased past
the Otago Nuggets 88-68 in Dunedin with Terrence Lewis
registering 23 points in his Ram debut and stalwart Craig
Farrant chiming in with 13 points,5 rebounds and 2
assists. The Jets were too good for the new look North
Harbour Kings in Palmerston North winning 99-86 with
Clifton Bush picking up where he left off in 2001 with 19
points and 7 rebounds while Pearce and Darron Larson each
added 16 points respectively.
Saturday's game should be an intriguing contest with
chances being it will go down to the dying seconds like
last seasons battles between these two evenly matched
sides.
EGAN'S PREDICTION: With the Jets playing
the Nuggets the night beforehand and the Rams in front of
their raucous home crowd, I expect the Rams to register a
close 5-6 point win and move to a 2-0 start. The game is
imperative for Canterbury with the side having to play a
tough schedule of 3 road games over 2 weekends following
this match.
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