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RAMS
@ TITANS (SEMI): NEWSLETTER
by Piet Van Hasselt
26 July 2002
1. RAMS FACE NIGHTMARE ROAD SEMI
by Piet Van Hasselt
Tomorrow night, while electoral votes are being tabulated
and counted, the Scenic Circle Hotels Canterbury Rams
face a daunting task when they travel to Hamilton to take
on the Waikato Titans in a do-or-die Burger King National
Basketball League Semi-Final.
Unfortunately for Rams Fans there will be no television
coverage of the game, so the planned gathering at the Vic
& Whale has been called off. The other semi-final
between the (1) Nelson Giants and (4) Manawatu Jets will
be shown LIVE on TVOne this Saturday with coverage
beginning at 1:45pm. Profiles of all of the four
semi-finalists (including the Rams) will also be on the
broadcast.
The Titans, as well as having the home advantage, pose
the toughest challenge for the Rams so far this year. The
match will be played in the “friendly confines”
of the Hamilton YMCA, well-known for the intensity of its
small and tightly packed-in crowd.
The Rams Thunder and Lightning duo of John
“Pope’ Whorton and “Mr Clutch”
Terrence Lewis have exhibited their dominance of the NBL,
combining for 48.3 points, 19.4 rebounds and an
incredibly accurate 56.5% shooting percentage. While this
one-two punch is formidable, the Rams supporting cast
will need to bring their “A” games to topple
the Titans. Captain Dave Langrell has worked very hard
this season down in the trenches and set a new career
high in rebounds at 7.3 per game. Point-man Carlo
Varricchio led the league in total assists and also set a
new personal best. The Rams will need the industrious
skills of Andrew Gardiner, who averaged 10.6 points in
just 18 minutes per game this year. Long-armed Boyd Smart
is expected to start and the energetic Tim Edmonds has
shown impressive defence and penetration skills.
Waikato have perhaps the deepest roster in the NBL, with
all players having unquestionable scoring ability, and
can thrive in the up-tempo game. Do-it-all swingman
Dillon Boucher is the gel that holds the Titans together
and sacrifices his body for the cause at every
opportunity. The Titans forward-line will be missing Riki
Strother but Tall Black hero Pero Cameron and American
DeWayne McCray will no doubt pick up the slack.
The coaching contest should add colour to the match-up
with both Titans’ leader Jeff Green and the
Rams’ John Watson verbally sparring since the
pre-season. The full 14-man Rams squad will travel to
Hamilton along with four of the coaching staff.
The Rams had the opportunity to secure home advantage
throughout the playoffs last week but fell in the closing
stages to a strong Giants side at the WestpacTrust
Centre, 75-80. The Rams ended the regular season with the
same record as the Giants and Titans, 11 wins and 5
losses. However, the Giants and Titans had better results
in the games played between the teams so moved ahead of
the Rams in the final standings. Canterbury can still
host the final next weekend (August 3) if the Jets upset
the Giants in Nelson and the Rams beat the Titans.
2. RING OR LOG ON FOR THE RESULT
The result from the match will be available as soon as
possible after the final buzzer sounds, through two
sources. If you live in the Christchurch area you can
ring the Rams on (03) 358-3865 as a message will be left
on the answering machine.
3. RAMS AMONG NBL AWARD NOMINEES
Canterbury dominate the annual NBL season awards with
four personnel being nominated for the nine awards on
offer. Terrence Lewis: Most Outstanding Guard, Most
Outstanding NZ Guard, MVP NZ Player, All-Star Five. John
“Pope” Whorton: Most Outstanding Forward,
All-Star Five. Carlo Varricchio: Most Outstanding NZ
Guard. John Watson: Coach of the Year. In addition, Lewis
and Whorton must be leading candidates for the Burger
King NBL Championship MVP.
4. FINAL STATS ON-LINE
The final regular season statistics have been added to
Rampages and player pages are up-to-date.
http://www.rans.org.nz/22stats.htm
https://rams.org.nz/22players.htm
5. HOME DOUBLE-HEADER FOR WILDCATS
The Canterbury Wildcats face strong two playoff
contenders this weekend at Cowles Stadium, Christchurch.
Tonight (Friday 7:30pm) the Auckland Sonics comes to town
to reunite the Farmer sisters, with the Wildcats Gina
facing off against Auckland’s Sally. The Wildcats
will be looking to avenge an overtime loss to Auckland
earlier this season. On Saturday night (7:30pm) last
season’s WNBL champion the Wellington Swish will
take on the Wildcats. The Wildcats will be welcoming back
point guard Leslie Favre who was absent in the loss to
the Waikato Lady Titans last weekend.
6. NZ TEAM IN WOLLONGONG INVITATIONAL
A New Zealand “A” team will take part in a
four-team Wollongong International Basketball Challenge
from September 11-14. None of the World Championship
bound Tall Blacks and coaching staff will be a part of
the team as it takes place just days after the final
game. However this should give an opportunity to the
players that just missed out on the World Champs. The
team will be known as the NZ Koru Men’s team, using
the name which has been used exclusively in the past for
Junior teams participating in Australian tournaments. The
four-team tournament will also feature Australian NBL
teams Wollongong Hawks and West Sydney Razorbacks, and
Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius.
7. COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN 2006
Did you know that Basketball will be a part of the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Melbourne? This should be an
excellent opportunity for the Tall Blacks to take on the
Australian Boomers, Canada and England.
 SCENIC CIRCLE HOTELS
RAMS SUPPORTERS: WEEKEND SPECIAL
Stay at any Scenic Circle Hotel New Zealand Wide and pay
only $99 incl. GST per room (2 person per room), extra
person rate applies. Please make your bookings through
0800 NZ Owned (0800 69 69 63) and quote 'RAMS'. Special
conditions apply. Subject to availability. Special valid
from 1/4/02 - 1/9/02.
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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