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RAMS NEWS: SEASON LAUNCHED & PRE-SEASON RESULTS
by Piet Van Hasselt
16 April 2003

1. SEASON LAUNCHED IN STYLE
On Tuesday night, the Scenic Circle Rams officially launched their 2003 season hosted at the Christchurch Casino.  Sponsors and special guests witnessed the naming of the squad and enjoyed the great hospitality at Club Aspinall.  Rams Coach and Director John Watson gave a run-down of the season and programmes of the Rambo Charitable Trust.  The squad is as follows (alphabetical order):

Guards: Glen Bremner, Travis Dixon, Tim Edmonds, Joel Hart, Ben Jeffery, Jeremy Kench, Mark McLaughlin, Myles Sutherland & Gerard Bowden (conditional on eligibility with US colleges).

Forwards/Centres: Clifton Bush, Andrew Gardiner, Ritchie Howell, Dave Langrell, Rewi Manahi, Carl Nicholson, Luke Osborn, Boyd Smart & John “Pope” Whorton (still in Germany – due back in May),

Coaches: John Watson   Assistants: Pete McAllister & Dene Robinson.

2. TESTING WEEKEND IN WELLINGTON
The Scenic Circle Rams coaching staff emerged from their highly compacted pre-season with some important information about the squad and potential strategies to work on.  Canterbury played six games in a four day period and ended with two wins.  One of the bright spots from the weekend was Captain Dave Langrell who continued his championship winning Irish league form, scoring 15 or more points in four of the matches and pouring in 39 against the Manawatu Jets in the final game.  The point guard position is up for grabs and all five point-men were given the opportunity to demonstrate their playmaking ability throughout the games.

Unfortunately Clifton Bush was unable to participate in any of the Wellington games as he suffered an injury in the game against Nelson on Thursday.  An update on Bush indicated that his injury was not serious.  Other injuries that occurred during the weekend was Travis Dixon being spectacularly “knocked out” and Glen Bremner losing parts of his teeth!

In the absence of the Rams frontline of Andrew Gardiner, John “Pope” Whorton and Bush, Rewi Manahi had a superb weekend and his leadership skills and veteran nuance was noted by Rams Coach John Watson.

SCORES:

Nelson Giants 69 (Judd Flavell 22, Damon Rampton 19)  Rams 63 (Dave Langrell 22, Luke Osborn 13, Boyd Smart 13, Clifton Bush 10).

Rams 96 (David Langrell 17, Luke Osborn 15, Rewi Manahi 15, Glen Bremmer 10)   Taranaki Mountain Airs 90 (Willie Banks 28, Carl Green 21, Ben Van Oosten 17, Link Abrams 11)  Halftime 59-49

Waikato Titans 116 (Prem Krishna 16, Ben Hill 15, Puke Lenden 15, Nat Connell 12)   Rams 97 (Carl Nicholson 12, Boyd Smart 11, Travis Dixon 10)  Halftime 70-43

Rams 85 (Tim Edmonds 17, Luke Osborn 15, Rewi Manahi 13, David Langrell 10)   Auckland Stars 71 (Lindsay Tait 19, Casey Frank 16, Mike Homik 10)  Halftime 38-34

Wellington Saints 117 (Troy McLean 21, Terrence Lewis 16, Craig Bradshaw 14, George Le'afa 13, Michael Tompson 13)   Rams 95 (David Langrell 17, Rewi Manahi 16, Boyd Smart 13, Joel Hart 11)  Halftime 61-45

Manawatu Jets 120 (Mika Vukona 31, Jon Southey 21, Darron Larsen 16, Chris Hart 14, Miles Pearce 14, Stacey Lambert 10)   Rams 82 (Dave Langrell 39, Ben Jeffrey 21)   Halftime 55-54

3. KIWIHOOPS LIVE ON GOOD FRIDAY

http://www.kiwihoops.co.nz

This Good Friday will see the launch of the number one information and interactive website dedicated to New Zealand Basketball.  The site will feature:

• FREE Fantasy League - earn points based on the actual statistics of the NBL players.  You get a page for your team and compete against others in the country.
• Columns that discuss the key issues and profiles of leading Kiwi basketballers.
• The latest news, scores and statistics for the Tall Blacks, Aussie NBL Team, NBL, CBL, Tall Ferns, WNBL and high-flying kiwis who are playing overseas.
• An interactive forum where you can chat with fellow basketball junkies.
• A page for every Kiwi Hoopster - statistics, bio, and a Kiwihoops scouting report.
• An email newsletter sign-up page so that you can receive the latest news direct to your inbox.
• Polls, quizzes, plus many more features that will be announced during the season ...

About the Creator:
Kiwihoops is brought to you by Piet Van Hasselt, the creator of Canterbury Rams and the Canterbury Basketball Association (CBA) websites.  Piet is a self-confessed "hoops-junkie" and has been involved with the Rams since 1995 with a number of responsibilities.

4. FREE KIWIHOOPS NBL FANTASY LEAGUE
You don’t have to wait until Good Friday to enter your team in the FREE Kiwihoops Fantasy League based on the Burger King National Men’s Basketball League (BK League).  Simply pick eight players and collect points based on the actual statistics earned during games.  Compete against fellow basketball fans around the country, including basketball celebrities such as Canterbury’s own Bob Manthei and Terry Brunel.  You can follow your progress throughout the season in this section and you'll even have a separate page for your team with your line-up and overall score.  It’s easy to sign up and only takes just five minutes.  Be quick as the season begins on 23 April.

To sign-up your team, visit the home page of Kiwihoops NOW!
http://www.kiwihoops.co.nz/

 5. BIG FUNDING FOR BBNZ
Yesterday Basketball New Zealand announced their plans to take advantage of the increased publicity created with the Tall Blacks success in Indianapolis last year.  The result is "My Game", a marketing strategy that incorporates international itineraries for our men and women, new corporate branding and new sponsorship packages for the next 2-4 years.  BBNZ announced yesterday:

• $1.4 million funding from SPARC over the next two years to ensure the Tall Black and Tall Fern programmes are properly prepared for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
• A new four-year contract with TVNZ, including coverage of Tall Black, Tall Fern and national league games on TV2. This year's NBL coverage will see live games screening on Sunday afternoons, starting in June.
• Renewed naming rights sponsorship from Burger King for the Tall Blacks and NBL. This year's national league will be known as the Burger King League.
• An itinerary of games for the Burger King Tall Blacks, including a three-match tour of New Zealand by the Czech Republic from July 6-13, attendance at the Istanbul World Cup tournament in Turkey (August 20-24) and Olympic qualifying matches in September.
• Continued efforts to schedule a home series for the Ezibuy Tall Ferns before their Olympic qualifying series in September and a bid to enter an NZ-based team in the Australian WNBL.
• A new basketball "anthem" and branding exercise, which will see new logos for all Basketball New Zealand products (Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns, national leagues, development programmes etc).

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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