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RAMS
@ TITANS (AWAY): NEWSLETTER
by Piet Van Hasselt
20 April 2002
 1. RAMS TO FACE
TITANS TONIGHT
The Scenic Circle Hotels Canterbury Rams travel to
Hamilton today to take on the defending champion Waikato
Titans, in round three of the Burger King National
Basketball League Championship. Over the last three
seasons, the Rams have been soundly beaten by the Titans
and will be keen to get one more monkey off their back,
following last weekend’s first victory over the
Manawatu Jets since 1999.
The game should be a match-up of contrasting styles with
the Titans utilising their trio of deadly long range
bombers of Prem Krishna, Brendon Cathie-Pongia and Mason
LePou and fast-breaking with their versatile forward line
of Riki Strother, David Hopoi and Dillon Boucher. The
Rams will aim to use the same effective strategy from
last week with the height advantage inside in the form of
John “Pope” Whorton and Andrew Gardiner.
However, the Rams can also play the running game with the
own “greyhound-speed” line-up of Carlo
Varricchio, Tim Edmonds, Dave Langrell and Craig Farrant.
Co-captain Langrell will start despite suffering an ankle
injury in a club game last Sunday.
Rams: Dave Langrell, John Whorton
(Co-Captains), Gerard Bowden, Tim Edmonds, Craig Farrant,
Andrew Gardiner, Terrence Lewis, Mark McLaughlin, Boyd
Smart, Salasopo Tulua, Carlo Varricchio.
Titans: Dillon Boucher (Captain),
Brendon Cathie-Pongia, Kazlo Evans, Ben Hill, David
Hopoi, Prem Krishna, George Le’afa, Mason LePou,
Earl Smith, Ross Smith, Riki Strother, Tu Umaga-Marshall.
For the final result and boxscore (subject to
availability) please visit Rampages late tonight
 2. POPE NAMED NBL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rams American Centre John “Pope” Whorton
dominating effort last weekend against the Jets has
earned him NBL Player of the Week honours. His 40 point,
14 rebound display was his best game in New Zealand, and
he was a huge reason for the 15 point victory. We hope
Pope can keep up this extremely high standard and propel
the Rams to further victories this season!
3. NEW PHOTOS ON-LINE
Canterbury Rampages - the official web site of the Rams -
has been updated with photos from the first home game
against the Jets as well as new player portraits and a
team shot. Rams home game photographer Joshua Thorpe is
back for his third season and I’m sure you’ll
agree he’s captured the action extremely well.
For game photos visit: https://rams.org.nz/22photos.htm
For player portraits and team shot visit: https://rams.org.nz/22players.htm
4. RUSCOE TO PLAY FOR BROWN UNIVERSITY
Former Canterbury basketballer Luke Ruscoe will play for
Brown University beginning in the next American season.
Brown is one of the top 10 colleges academically in the
US, and the Brown Bears compete in the Ivy League with
such schools as Yale, Harvard, and Cornell. Brown is
located in Providence, Rhode Island and has a current
enrolment of just over 7,000 students. Ruscoe is joining
the team after one of its best ever seasons with a 17-10
record and will play alongside Ivy League First Teamer,
Senior Guard Earl Hunt who also led the conference in
scoring.
Over the last season, Ruscoe has been playing and
studying at a New Hampshire preparatory school, Brewster
Academy. His stellar play earned him the honour of being
nominated as a McDonalds All-American, which is only
awarded to the top 1500 High School players across the
entire USA.
Ruscoe’s comments from the Brewster Academy News
Release:
http://www.brewsteracademy.org/Pages/Athletics/basketball_boys.html
"It felt like a good fit with a basketball program
that is up and coming," Ruscoe said of his decision.
"I also liked the size of the school and the size of
the city. It's a great opportunity," he added.
"Coach Smith gave me a great opportunity to come
over here and play basketball. Being at Brewster has
given me greater exposure to schools and a greater choice
of schools."
For more on Brown visit: http://www.brown.edu or http://brownbears.fansonly.com
5. SEAN MARKS FINDS MINUTES IN NBA
Sean Marks, the first New Zealander to play in the NBA,
has earned playing time in the last three games of the
just completed 2001-02 regular season. The Miami Heat
Centre had four points and three rebounds in 14 minutes
against the New York Knicks, eight points and 11 rebounds
versus the Charlotte Hornets and six points and two
rebounds in the finale against the Orlando Magic. His 11
rebound total matched his NBA career high, which was also
reached this season against Minnesota and San Antonio.
Marks has been troubled by injury for much of the season,
but was able to make appearances in 21 games, starting a
remarkable six, and averaging 4.6 points and 3.6 rebounds
from 15.2 minutes per game. His best outing came against
the Seattle Sonics, starting in the place of Alonzo
Mourning, scoring 15 points with at least three slam
dunks featured on SportsCenter. Marks also had two games
with an astounding four blocks! Marks is now a free
agent, and will be one of the key players for the Tall
Blacks at the World Championships in Indianapolis later
this year (August-September).
 6. RAMS ON CTV
Make sure you catch replays of the Rams home games on CTV
this season. Full coverage is shown on Monday nights at
7:30pm and Tuesday afternoons at 2:00pm. The crew of Bob
Manthei and Terry Brunel are back to provide expert
comments.
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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