LATEST RAMS NEWS
For all of your NBL, Tall Blacks and NZ
Breakers news check out:
www.kiwihoops.co.nz
13 June
2004 - RAMS FALL IN SEASON FINALE
Waikato Titans 95
(Mike Chappell 28, Pero Cameron 16, Andrew Goodwin 15)
Canterbury Rams 82 (Clifton Bush 19, Damian
Matacz 16, Kenny Walker 15)
12 June
2004 - BUSHFIRE SILENCES TARANAKI
by Chris Patten
Taranaki Mountain Airs Correspondent for Kiwihoops
The Taranaki
Mountain Airs finished their season on a disappointing note
losing to the Canterbury Rams 112-91 at the Snake Pit. Clifton
Bush led the Rams with 32 points but was supported well by
Kenny Walker who continues his recent good form with 27 points
and 18 rebounds. The Taranaki Mountain Airs were never really
in the game after a slow start with the Rams coming out firing
on the back of some early baskets from Bush and Walker. With
the Snake Pit filled to capacity it was a disappointing end to
the Airs season that promised so much. The Airs have been in
great form of late but against the Rams the Airs
were relatively flat against a Rams side keen to finish their
season on a high.
Frank Barr had his best game in a Airs jersey with 21 points
but the Rams were able to hold the hot Willie Banks to 14
points on 5/8 shooting. Link Abrams had his typical
workmanlike performance inside, contributing 24 points and 10
rebounds in a never say die effort. The Taranaki Mountain
Airs can look back on a season that ebbed and flowed with
consistency night in and night out something that will need to
be looked at for next year. Frank Barr played what will likely
be his last performance for the Airs and he has been a solid
addition to the team.
With Michael Tompson signed for next year and with Banks,
Abrams and Rampton certainties, the Airs will retain a solid
nucleus of players for 2005. The likely retirement of Foster
will mean the Airs will need to look to recruit a solid PG and
they may look offshore to fill this spot.
Canterbury Rams 112
(Clifton Bush 32, Kenny Walker 27, Nat Connell 16)
Taranaki Mountain Airs 91 (Link Abrams 24,
Frank Barr 21, Michael Tompson 16, Willie Banks 14)
Halftime 52-46
BOXSCORE
6
June 2004 -
GIANTS KEEP PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE AGAINST POOR
FINISHING RAMS
By Piet Van Hasselt
A reenergized second half from the Nelson
Giants and poor shooting from the Canterbury
Rams allowed the Giants to pull away in the
final quarter, to win a crucial match with semi
finals implications in Christchurch, 89-78. The
game was played in a playoff atmosphere and
Nelson proved they wanted the game more, as
Canterbury mustered only 21% from the field in
the second half, with just seven successful
shots. Giants and Tall Black sharpshooter Phill
Jones did the early work with 23 points, six
rebounds, four assists and four steals, and
American Darnell McCulloch was everywhere in his
25 point, 15 rebound performance. The Giants
supporting cast came through in the second half
with Lance Baker, Tu Umaga-Marshall and Mika
Vukona combining for 23 points. Canterbury's
American Kenny Walker saved his best effort for
last with 25 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks
and three steals, in what will likely be his
last game in a Rams singlet at home. The Rams'
dynamite Clifton Bush could only manage eight
points going 2/11, and Nat Connell failed to
score in the second half, after grabbing 12 in
the early going.
While the Rams shooting stats appear to be
respectable overall, the first half 66% success
rate was dragged down to 43% overall. Nelson
did their damage from three point range (5/12)
and the free throw line (14/15) in the second
half. The Giants out rebounded the Rams 45-36,
mainly due to the high number of misses by
Canterbury in the second.
Nelson looked like they were going to go down
after an uninspiring effort on defence in the
first half, allowing the Rams to take a 39-27
lead midway through the second quarter. Jones
and McCulloch combined for 34 of the Giants 44
by halftime and only two other Nelson players
had logged a point, while Canterbury had eight
players with points on the scoreboard. However,
no doubt after a talking too from Coach Nenad
Vucinic, Nelson came out fired up on defence and
jostled their way back to a tied ballgame at
55-all with a 11-0 run. The Rams tried to
respond with a rare offensive outburst from
Damien Matacz, but missed free throws and
turnovers kept Nelson in the game, despite a
65-63 lead with 10 minutes to play. The Rams
lacked a go-to scoring option despite some good
touches from Kenny Walker in the first three
quarters as Nelson had four three-point plays to
open up a 76-69 lead. The first of these was a
freakish play from Mark Jones who while going up
for a right handed layup, was fouled and
partially blocked, so that the ball ricocheted
off his left hand and then over the rim and in
for two points! He nailed the free throw, and
three pointers from Ollie Hill, Lance Baker and
Darnell McCulloch quickly followed as the Rams
had turnover issues. Canterbury could only get
to the free throw line, while the Giants
supporting cast to Phil Jones continued to put
daggers into the Rams cause with Umaga-Marshall
scoring a three with two minutes to go, for an
unassailable 83-72 advantage. The game ended
with a comedic moment when Umaga-Marshall ran
straight into Baker who was waiting for a pass
from Jones for a three-pointer in the final
moments.
The result pushes Nelson to 11-6, and completes
2-0 sweep of their Southern double-header which
is even more impressive with the absence of Tall
Black big man Ed Book, who is in the USA due to
a family illness. Nelson can solidify a semi
final spot with a win over the Stars at home in
the final round. Canterbury (6-10) finish the
season on the road against Taranaki and
Waikato. The Waikato match could decide if the
Titans make the playoffs.
Nelson Giants 89 (Darnell
McCulloch 25, Phill Jones 23, Lance Baker
16, Mika Vukona 11)
Canterbury Rams 78 (Kenny Walker
25, Damian Matacz 12, Nat Connell 12)
30
May 2004
-
BUSH SUPER AS RAMS ROLL NUGZ
By Piet Van Hasselt
Canterbury Rams swingman Clifton Bush was back to his usual cool
"in the zone" strut and mischievous grin as he torched the
hapless Otago Nuggets with 32 points on 6/8 shooting from
downtown, including 18 third quarter points, as Canterbury
thrashed Otago for the second time this week in Christchurch,
101-74. Bush saved his best effort this season for a match
where Southern pride was on the line, with both teams
languishing near the bottom of the ladder. Rams Coach Peter
McAllister was very excited with the win, noting that four
players had reached double figures in points, along with
Co-Captain Rewi Manahi on eight. This reflected the result was
a team win despite Bush's outstanding effort, and no doubt the
streaking Rams will be a tough prospect for Nelson, Taranaki and
Waikato in their remaining games.
Canterbury have now won five of six matches, a huge achievement
to a side that was 1-8 at the mid-point of their season. Coach
McAllister, Assistant Eric Rees and Manager Dene Robinson have
helped instil confidence in the side, and the players have
responded through playing as a team and putting together more
polished efforts.
After a
relatively close first quarter, in which Otago kept pace with
the Rams with a trio of three-pointers, Canterbury burst the
game open in the closing stages of the second. The Rams went on
a 14-4 run to finish the half, with American Kenny Walker
posting eight points in the quarter as Canterbury led 45-32.
Otago were struggling with 14 first half turnovers which
Canterbury burned them for 14 points. The Nuggets reluctance to
go inside was also hurting them, as they had only attempted five
free throws (2/5) compared to 16 for the home side (9/16).
The "Clifton Bush
show" took centre stage in the third quarter as he outscored the
Nuggets 18-16 by himself. He nailed 4/5 from long range and
didn't hold back his emotions, raising his hands on every
success to the delight of the appreciative Rams Fans who have
been subjected to some lacklustre shooting by the team this
season. The Rams scored the final 12 points of the quarter,
including the final eight by Bush, with a comedic moment
highlighting his final three-pointer. Bush didn't look like
missing a shot as his high arching threes found nothing buy
nylon. Before his last shot, Bush was lurking around halftime
making it clear to his teammates and coaches that he was going
to take the last shot of the quarter at all costs, with his
infectious smile. Otago coach Marshall heard this and told his
young charge Cowan Finch to defend Bush at the top of the zone,
but Bush simply dribbled the ball as the clock ran down and
coolly sunk a three-pointer, falling away hard to his left, as
the crowd and Rams bench erupted and Canterbury led, 77-48. The
fourth quarter developed quickly into garbage time, and the Rams
bench players all received court time. For the record, Otago
won the quarter 26-24, but the result was over early and Tim
Edmonds slammed home the final basket to push the Rams over the
century mark.
Walker finished
the game with 15 points and nine rebounds, as he continues to
improve statistically late in the season. Point guard Jeremy
Kench performed admirably through a sore back and improved his
respectable assist to turnover ratio of recent weeks with five
assists and only one turnover. Andrew Johnstone went 2/2 from
long-range and his deliberate drives to the hole were rewarded
with 14 points. The Rams grabbed 12 steals with Kench, Bush and
Johnstone each nabbing three. Otago lacked any real scoring
punch and direction with naturalised American Leonard King
missing the game with injury. Australian Michael Kingma did a
sterling, blue collar effort on the boards and assembled 17
points and 13 rebounds from the trenches. Australian Andrew
Latimer showed some fine touch from the outside in the fourth
quarter as he racked up 23 points, with 13 points coming in
garbage time. Nuggets coach Todd Marshall gave his bench plenty
of time for one of the first times this season, including local
Christchurch products Daniel Kong and Joe Hammond (who was
wearing Mark Dickel's singlet).
Fellow Kiwihoops Correspondent and hoops junkie Dave Goosselink
from Otago made the trip north for what was shaping up to be an
intense rematch after Otago fell to Canterbury on Wednesday in
Dunedin, 97-71. Unfortunately the team couldn't match his
dedication, but Goosselink feels the young Nuggets have a
positive future in the coming years.
Canterbury
Rams 101 (Clifton Bush 32, Kenny Walker 15, Andrew
Johnstone 14, Damian Matacz 10)
Otago Nuggets 74 (Andrew Lattimer 23, Michael
Kingma 17, Hayden Allen 14)
Halftime 45-32
BOXSCORE
26
May 2004
- UGLY, UGLY UGLY ...
By Dave Gooselink
Otago Nuggets Correspondent for Kiwihoops
Every player has the odd "off game". That's a given.
However, it's normal to take turns with your "off nights", and
not have almost every player in your team decide to "check out"
on the same night. The Nuggets versus the Rams clash in Dunedin
tonight should have been a close match. Both teams were sitting
at the lower end of the NBL table, with 4 wins and 9 losses
apiece. Otago welcomed back Leonard King from a hamstring
injury, which saw him miss last weekend's northern double
header. The gameplan from Otago seemed to be to try and exploit
their 'relative' strength at shooting from outside (Nuggets:
36%, Rams: 24%). However, neither King, Lattimer or Allen were
having a whole lot of luck with that, while the Rams made sure
any misses were picked up inside. Leonard King started the
second quarter with a nice 3, but the ugliness continued. Nat
Connell (Rams) and Mike Fitchett (Nugs) each clocked up their
3rd fouls during the second quarter. And while the Rams shooting
wasn't always on target, Otago were being polite ... offering
Canterbury second, third and even fourth chances on a number of
occasions (Rams out rebounding Otago 29 to 14, and scoring 11
2nd chance points to Otago's 2).
The Rams halftime
lead was a healthy but not unbeatable 14 points. However, only
two players were putting up any sort of fight for Otago... the
reliable Hayden Allen, and wildman Aussie Mike Kingma, who
seemed to have inherited all the luck of his teammates, with
pretty much anything he threw up managing to find the hoop. Come
the fourth quarter, and a 19 point deficit looked pretty
impossible for Otago given their night... and so it proved. The
Nuggets looked tired with their only midweek game of the season,
and turned to passing the ball straight into the hands of the
Rams, who were only too grateful to extend their lead. Nuggets
coach Todd Marshall decided to give his regulars an early seat,
and sent out his bench boys to finish up the match (Kong, Finch,
Robinson, Gillan ... and Ben Simmers - for his first game of the
season! ;-) They might not have lit up the boards, but at least
they had some energy and fight, which the starting pack could
well have done with. The Rams didn't quite crack the ton, but
proved they're capable of more than their results this season
might indicate. It looks like new coach Peter McAllister has
managed to get his players to be accountable for themselves this
season, and play more as a solid unit with a lot of
understanding. Five Rams scored double figures (Connell, Bush,
Johnstone, Manahi, Walker), while Jeremy Kench showed Otago a
little of how a point guard should play. The teams meet again in
Christchurch on Sunday afternoon, and Otago should be pretty
fired up to try and take some revenge.
Canterbury
Rams 97 (Clifton Bush 21, Kenny Walker 18, Nat Connell 16)
Otago Nuggets 71 (Hayden Allen 19, Michael Kingma 18)
Halftime 46-32
BOXSCORE
22
May 2004 - RAMS CLIP JETS
By John Thomson
Jets Correspondent for Kiwihoops
Videos - courtesy of John Thomson - smart editing!
1) Miles 'Angry Man' Pearce - going to
work down low (1.1 megs)
2) Highlight reel of some Rams layups (0.9
megs)
Left click to open, Right click
to save
The Canterbury Rams have now beaten the Property Brokers Jets in
Both NBL Round robin games this season with a
75-69 win in Palmerston North
tonight. In front
of the biggest home crowd this season,
the
Jets let another game
slip. The Jets were without swingman Jon
Disher & forward
Chris Hart for this game. Things started well for Jets going on
an opening 11-2
run
and forcing the
Rams to have a couple of shot clock
violations. Nat Connell helped the locals with a couple of air
balls before
the Rams
came back to be just 3 points adrift at
the end of the first quarter.
David Cooper & Miles Pearce owned the boards.
The second quarter
had some nice offensive plays from both teams with Miles
'Angry Man' Pearce
throwing down numerous dunks on the Rams
defense (see
video). Clifton Bush kept the rams within
striking distance of the
Jets and at half time the
Rams only trailed by 4 points.
The
third
quarter was the best for the home team as they
put pressure on the rams at both ends of the court.
The Jets lead the Rams 63-54 at the end of
the quarter.
David Cooper
and Miles
Pearce again owned the boards and the offensive put backs while
Super bush keep on getting to the basket
and making
everything for the Rams.
The fourth quarter
was going along fine for the home team
until Jon Southey
blatantly elbowed
Jeremy Kench right in front of an
official. Southey got a
technical and a seat on the bench
.Coach Brown was livid and let Southey
have it. However Southey them
proceeded to talk back to coach
which only matters worse and Coach Brown
really lost his
rag at Southey. This was a stupid
play from
Southey and it really shifted the momentum
towards the
Rams. Miles Pearce fouled out
with 5.30 left in the game,
but had his best effort
for the Jets this year. Stupid
turnovers in the fourth quarter
cost the Jets, and a couple of players
did not want to shoot the
ball. This loss is the
7th
this year for the Jets and this one will probably seal their
fate for this
year. For Canterbury
the entire team never gave up and really seemed
hungrier for the win.
Canterbury Rams 75 (Clifton Bush 23, Kenny
Walker 18, Nat Connell 18)
Manawatu Jets 69 (David Cooper 24, Miles
Pearce 20)
21
May 2004 - HAWKS SHOOT THE LIGHTS OUT
By Simon Bingley
Hawks Correspondent for Kiwihoops
1) Paul Henare converts on these two
inside opportunities (1.9 megs)
2) Ben Jeffrey scores the three as the
buzzer sounds - to the delight of the "lone Rams Fan" - GREAT
STUFF SIMON! (1.6 megs)
3) Kenny Walker misses a jam and then
spiking a shot at the other end (which must have surely been a
goal tend (2.4 megs)
4) FROM HAWKS - Paroa Winitana delivers
a facial on Kenny Walker (1.4 megs)
5) FROM HAWKS - Kenny Walker on the
Alley Oop (1.7 megs)
Left click to open, Right click to save as
Almost 2000 fans came out tonight for the Hawks
match-up with the Rams in
Taradale! The Hawks were without
Aidan Daly, recovering from a minor knee problem, which forced
Tall Black and Breakers point guard Paul
Henare into all the minutes he could handle, as he
sought to break out of his recent form slump. The Hawks
blasted out of the gate with 3 consecutive
Majstrovich hoops to get out to an
early 60 lead in the first 50 seconds of play, and sought to
put pressure on young Rams point Jeremy
Kench by posting the bigger Henare
on him
.this eventually led to Kench
fouling out later in the game. (Henare
posts Video clip) Paora
Winitana found his three point
range immediately and the Hawks absolutely blew the Rams away
in the first 8 minutes, racing out to a 28 10 lead. The Rams
press and trap ploy was ineffective thus far. This run
featured the most daring posterization
of an American restricted player I have ever seen, as
Winitana ran the break and
challenged a waiting Kenny Walker. Curses, my camera was still
in my pouch! I will obtain the footage from Hawks management
and post here as soon as possible to share
Winitanas sensational fast break
dunk.
Walker
tried to respond soon after but his dunk flew off the iron and
set off another Hawks break (video clip), summing up the Rams
fortunes for the quarter. Mo Bell spun and faded his way
regularly into the
score sheet (Video clip) and the
Rams Ben Jeffrey made this steal and running, hanging
three pointer to beat the buzzer
(Video Clip). Hawks
30-17. The
second quarter was just as dramatic, with Walker viciously
spiking an
Henare attempt (goaltending appeal turned down video
clip)! Clifton Bush and Walker worked hard to put the Rams
back into the match, connecting on an alley-oop
dunk. Henare lobbed one to Bell
too, and the action was great for basketball lovers
..then
with the Hawks ahead 57-39 at
Halftime, uglyball made an
appearance
..
The second
half was a vastly different spectacle, with a clear change in
attitude by the Rams. Physical play by both teams sent the
foul counts up, the coaches leaping out of their chairs, and
Walker and Kench off with 5 fouls.
Nat Connell looked like a pinball, bouncing off a
midcourt
Majstrovich screen and rebounding off the ball-carrying
Henare, ending up sprawled on the
floor. Mo Bell got knocked down too, and by quarters end the
lead was only 8, 71-63 Hawks. The final quarter featured
another attempt at a Rams trap, this time yielding a few
turnovers and buckets. The Hawks absorbed the pressure though
and the lead never got below 8, finally blowing out to the
96-78 final scoreline when the
fouling dried up and the running game recommenced.
Boodnikoff drained a really long
one to finish the action. Good effort and shooting percentage
from
Hawke's Bay
tonight, and an excellent return to form from Paul
Henare. The Rams will gather
themselves for the Jets on Saturday night, keen to put a
spanner in their playoff hopes with their fourth league win.
Hawks 96
(Adrian Majstrovich 28, Paora Winitana 22, Morgan Bell 18)
Canterbury Rams 78 (Clifton Bush 24, Damian Matacz
19, Kenny Walker 16)
14 May
2004 - RAMS THUMP SAINTS IN TIMARU
By Piet Van Hasselt
The Canterbury Rams produced a
great team effort with five players reaching double-figures as
they handled the Wellington Saints in Timaru, 93-74. This was
the first time in the Rams 23-year history that the team had
played a home game outside of the Christchurch area. Clifton
Bush led all scorers with 20 points and had a double-double
with 10 rebounds. Canterbury shot the ball extremely well
going 54% from the field and 78% from the free throw line,
greatly up on their lowly season marks. A number of players
chipped in, with co-captain Rewi Manahi backing up his
24-point effort last weekend with 14 on 6/7 shooting, and
young point guard Jeremy Kench recorded a career high eight
assists to go along with 11 points. Andrew Johnstone had a
strong game off the bench for the Rams, racking up 13 points,
five boards, four assists and three steals in a busy 24
minutes. Troy McLean led the Saints with 23 points, but
Wellington lacked the inside strength of Australian Ben Knight
who was in Australia with a Boomers national camp. The Saints
mustered only 34% from the field in the first half, to trail
53-29, and couldn't overcome that deficit in the second half.
Canterbury pushed the Saints all the way last month in
Wellington, but ended up losing by three 90-87, so tonight's
victory gives a sense of revenge for the Southern men. The
Rams have now recorded back-to-back victories for the first
time since 2002 and move to a 3-8 record. Wellington (7-4)
will have to recover quickly with a game against the Otago
Nuggets on Saturday night in Dunedin, who will not hold back
against the defending champions. The Rams face an away
double-header next weekend against the unimpressive Hawks and
Jets of recent weeks, as they continue their role as playoff
spoilers.
By Daniel McGregor
Live in Timaru
Dismal field goal shooting in the first half for the Saints,
in contrast to the lightning hot Canterbury Rams set the scene
for a blow out in Timaru. The first quarter started in a
dogfight, with the both teams pressing. Canterbury forced
three early turnovers, which led to fast break layups for
Clifton Bush and Jeremy Kench. The Rams blew out the Saints in
the second quarter with a 10-25 scoreline, which was energized
off the bench with Andrew Johnstone grabbing 3 steals and
Kenny Skywalker's 3 massive blocks. The second half started
with Canterbury up 53-29 and was dominated by bad shooting and
turnovers early on, but the Rams were able to hold on to their
lead. Clifton Bush was steady as usual with 20 points and 10
boards. Kench had 11 points and dished out 8 helpers. Troy
McLean was the only shining point for the Saints hitting 4
from downtown for 23 pts. The Rams now move to 3-8, with their
next home game against the Otago Nuggets on the 6th
June.
Canterbury Rams 93 (Clifton Bush 20, Nat Connell 15, Rewi
Manahi 14, Andrew Johnstone 13, Jeremy Kench 11)
Wellington Saints 74 (Troy McLean 23, Brendon Polyblank
17, Adam Caporn 11)
Halftime 53-29
BOXSCORE
8 May
2004 - REWI MANHANDLES JETS - FIRST RAMS HOME WIN IN 2004
By Piet Van Hasselt
It has been a long time coming, but long suffering 2004
Canterbury Rams Fans were finally rewarded tonight when the Rams
did enough to post their first home win from six tries this
season, toppling the Manawatu Jets in a stunning upset victory,
88-80. Blue collar forward Rewi Manahi was the hero of the
night, clocking up 24 points on 11/14 shooting against the NBL's
best defensive big man, Australian David Cooper. Co-Captain
Manahi more than made up for his 6cm height deficit with
fundamental footwork and power moves to the basket and connected
on a variety of short jumpers and hook shots. Manahi didn't
miss in the first half with 18 points and connected on his first
nine shots from the field. The win was also the first for Coach
Peter McAllister since taking over the head coaching role four
weeks ago, and after sitting through two overtime losses and a
narrow defeat in Wellington, the coaching staff must be well
pleased with the result. Despite being undersized across the
board the Canterbury forward-line stood up well, with former Jet
Clifton Bush hitting three long-bombs and accumulating 15
points, 10 rebounds and four assists from 37 minutes. American
Kenny Walker had his best game in a Rams singlet with some short
hook shots allowing him to score 16 points, and grabbed seven
boards and swatted four shots. Jets playmaker Luke Martin was
simply stunning, sending a message to Tall Blacks Coach Tab
Baldwin that he must certainly be in the running for a Kiwi
singlet in the near future. Martin used his deceptive quickness
and regularly froze his defenders on drives to the hole as he
poured in 27 points on 9/14 shooting and also dished out five
assists and grabbed four steals from 33 minutes off the bench.
Australian Cooper had a great night statistically with 18
points, including three dunks, 14 rebounds and four blocks, but
the Jets went away from this option once the deficit quickly
grew to double-figures. Veteran Kent Mori, who often thrusts
the dagger into the heart of opponents, failed to post any
points, and Stacey Lambert went 1/8 from three-point range.
Manawatu struggled from the field shooting only 36%, while the
Rams cooled form a hot start, but still finished well up on
their 35% accuracy rate at home this season at 49%.
The Rams began
the game in impressive fashion, jumping out to an early 9-1
lead, with four contributing on the board. The Jets appeared to
be coasting and were failing to execute on many possessions,
turning to one-on-one offence. Meanwhile as the Rams worked
their low post options well and Manahi notched up eight points
in a 20-9 lead. David Cooper was the only offensive force for
the Jets with two huge dunks keeping the Jets in touch, to bring
the deficit back to 20-13. After a Rams time out with 1:07 to
play, Canterbury scored the last nine points of the quarter
including back-to-back three-pointers from Bush, the second of
which came as the buzzer sounded and was a running bank-shot
from just inside half-way (the crowd noise was too loud to hear
if Bush had called "bank" thanks to the crowd noise, but the
writer will give him the benefit of the doubt!) The Jets
shooting woes subsided in the early stages of the second quarter
as Martin put on a clinic with eight points, including two
long-bombs, as the Jets carved out a 12-2 run to cut the
discrepancy to 35-25. But the Rams hot man responded with
Manahi weaving his way through the defence for three buckets and
Tim Edmonds set the tone off the bench with his typical hustling
play to push the lead back out to a 47-29 lead. Martin used his
penetration skills to make three trips to the free throw line,
hitting 5/6, and the Jets reduced the margin to 52-36 at the
half-time break.
While the Rams held 16 point lead, the Jets had lot of potential
improvement that could have easily brought them back into the
game, only connecting on 30% of their shots from the field,
compared to 58% on the Rams side. Cooper and Martin went to
work in the third to bring Manawatu back into the contest,
combining for 14 points in the quarter, but some athletic
baskets from Kenny Walker including a massive tip slam and a
Bush three-pointer maintained the big lead with only 10 minutes
to play, 71-57. The speed wobbles once again began to be
surface in the fourth quarter for the Rams, as the Jets
fashioned a comeback using their three-point bombing ability
with three triples helping create a 15-7 run, to cut the lead to
only 78-72. The Rams turnovers accumulated rapidly (11 in the
quarter) as the Jets were able to push the ball into transition,
but a quick three-pointer from Nat Connell and a Bush and-one
play, followed by his usual "you're too small" sign, had the
Rams up by 12 with 3:30 to play. Manawatu were given more than
their fair share of chances in the final minutes, as Canterbury
only scored two more points in the closing moments. The lead
was trimmed to six points with a minute, but continued long
three-point attempts by the Jets couldn't find their mark.
The Jets (7-4)
will be ruing this lost opportunity with the close nature of the
NBL ladder table, and must recover quickly for the TV2 game
against the Otago Nuggets tomorrow at 3pm. Meanwhile the Rams
(2-8) became the last NBL team to win a home game this season
and will be hoping to keep some momentum going into next
Friday's clash in the unfamiliar surroundings in Timaru against
the Wellington Saints, in the first "home game" outside of the
Christchurch area in Rams history.
Canterbury Rams 88
(Rewi Manahi 24, Kenny Walker 15, Clifton Bush 15)
Manawatu Jets 80 (Luke Martin 27, Davie
Cooper 18, Darryl June 11)
2 May 2004 - TITANS BIG THREE
OUTSCORE RAMS
By Piet Van Hasselt
The Waikato Titans big three of Mike Chappell, Geordie Cullen
and Pero Cameron combined to outscore the entire Canterbury
line-up 70 to 69, as the Titans moved to a 7-3 record and lone
second place on the NBL ladder with an 86-69 victory. Despite a
brave showing in the first half by the home town Cantabs, an air
of expectability filled the Westpac Centre, as even the hardiest
of Rams Fans could have expected the class of the star-studded
Titans to shine through, especially after the Titans upset loss
to the Nuggets on Friday night in Dunedin. Head Coach Steve
Agnew stood in well for Ken Strother who sat out the game for
religious beliefs (Sunday game), as the team methodically and
competently utilised their strengths and remained composed
throughout. Cullen was the star statistically, racking up 27
points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and three assists from 33
minutes, for an incredible 59.0 Kiwihoops Fantasy Points!
Chappell showed his overall offensive brilliance, scoring 27
points as he tickled the Westpac Centre twine with regularity.
Cameron conjured up some memorable moments, even for the Tall
Black hero, as he nearly reached a triple-double with 16 points,
10 boards and seven assists. This included a freakish
three-pointer when Cameron attempted to try to draw a foul off
Rewi Manahi on the perimeter and the attempt went flying out of
his clutches, only to be caught again, and Cameron quickly
recovered and slotted the three-point bomb. The big man also
produced a sweeping, 'show the ball' gliding lay-up, which was
almost executed in slow motion, through the heart of the Rams
defence for two points.
The Rams lacked a
go-to guy when it counted. Australian forward Damien Matacz was
the best on the night, with a blue collar effort under the
boards for 14 points and 12 rebounds, which helped Canterbury
dominate the second chance points 17-4. Kenny Walker could only
muster five points on 2/11 shooting, as the physical play of
Cameron and Cullen forced the American into launching up outside
shots. Former Waikato Titans key performers Clifton Bush and
Nat Connell had their moments, but could only manage a combined
9/30 from the field.
Waikato and
Canterbury combined to shoot poorly in the first half at 35% and
37% respectively, but the Titans adjusted the best in the second
to score 51% of their shots, while the Rams fell to 32%. The
Titans set the standard at the free throw line going 16/17
(96%), while the Rams went 12/20 (60%). Canterbury face the
talented Manawatu Jets (7-4) next Saturday at the Westpac
Centre, while Waikato host the Harbour Heat (2-7) on Thursday.
Scottwood Waikato Titans 86
(Geordie Cullen 27, Mike Chappell 27, Pero Cameron 16)
Scenic Circle Rams 69 (Nat Connell 15, Damian
Matacz 14, Clifton Bush 10)
Halftime 37-35
BOXSCORE
24 April 2004
-
SAINTS WEATHER RAMPAGE
By
Alexander Neilson
Saints Correspondent for Kiwihoops
A monster effort by the Canterbury Rams held the Saints to a
three point win 90-87 in Wellington tonight. Clifton Bush led
all scorers with 19 (8-15 FG 2-6 3PT 1-3 FT), added five
rebounds, three assists, and 3 steals. Also with three assists
was teammate Nat Connell who clocked up 17 points (7-20 FG 2-6
3PT 1-1 FT) and three rebounds. The Saints put up big numbers
as well, with Brendon Polyblank scoring 17 (7-15 FG 1-2 3PT 2-4
FT) and grabbed two boards and a magical three assists. The only
player to break the three assist barrier, was Ben Knight who
gained five along with a huge 11 rebound haul and 16 points
(7-14 FG 1-1 3PT 1-2 FT). Two other Saints also gained 16
points, Terrence Lewis and Adam Caporn who also grabbed four
steals. All three Saints players who finished on 16 points, had
scored ten by half time. The Rams took no time in establishing
that it was going to be a tough match, opening their scoring
straight off the tip and ending the quarter leading 23-17.
Clifton Bush pulled four boards down in the first quarter. The
Saints roared back to take the second quarter 27-16 and to lead
44-39 at half time. The Saints half time lead was made up almost
entirely of turnover points. The third quarter became a battle
of the bodies with the foul count jumping to 13-9 (Saints-Rams)
along with some hotly disputed calls and one technical called on
Terrence Lewis for arguing with the referee. The quarter went to
the Saints by three points 26-23 which saw them leading 70-62
heading into the last ten minutes. The Rams went on the
offensive in the fourth quarter, seven fouls and outscoring the
Saints 25-20. The game was decided on free throws with the Rams
bringing the game to back to within point 88-87 with less than
30 seconds to play. Two free throws hit by Brendon Polyblank
brought the Saints 90-87, and the Rams just couldnt get open to
hit the three they needed to force the game into overtime. This
win takes the Saints to 5-3 and the Rams to 1-7. The Saints play
the Taranaki Mountain Airs on Sunday 2 May 3:15pm tip off, with
live coverage on TV2.
Wellington Saints 90 (Brendon Polyblank 19, Adam Caporn
16, Terrence Lewis 16, Ben Knight 16, Troy McLean 11)
Canterbury Rams 87 (Clifton Bush 17, Nat Connell 17,
Rewi Manahi 13, Kenny Walker 12, Andrew Johnstone 11)
Halftime 44-39
BOXSCORE
17 April 2004 - BANKS SINKS RAMS - TWICE
By Piet Van Hasselt
Canterbury Rams Correspondent for Kiwihoops
Taranaki Mountain Airs 33-year-old silky-smooth shooting
guard Willie Banks proved he is one of the best creative scorers
in the league, sinking two crucial baskets to propel Taranaki to
an enthralling overtime win against the Canterbury Rams in
Christchurch, 82-81. Banks was all class, running rings around
the inexperienced Rams backcourt in his 26-point haul, from a
staggering 10/14 success rate from the field. He scored the
game levelling basket amidst a ring of defenders to force
overtime and a mid-range game winner with 4.6 seconds on the
clock in the extra period. Entering the game, the combatants
had identical disappointing records of 1-5, and both teams were
very hungry for the win, causing the game to become scrappy in
periods. However, the second half and overtime had some huge
baskets and defensive plays to keep the crowd on the edge of
their seats.
While Link Abrams
was relatively quiet at the offensive end with 13 points on 5/14
shooting, his deceptively long arms vacuumed the boards with 16
rebounds and conjured up an incredible seven blocked shots from
all 45 minutes of court-time. Mike Tompson recovered well from
tonsillitis last week, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He
shrugged off some disparaging comments from courtside announcer
John Watson to score four points in the overtime period after
being reminded he was performing well below his 21.2 point
average! This was not the only comment spoken by the courtside
announcer that appeared to spur on the Taranaki players to the
win. Clifton Bush was a consistent offensive threat for the
Rams, connecting on his first two three-point attempts, and
finished with 21 points and eight rebounds. Bush had two long
shots from three-point territory to win the game outright at the
end of regulation and overtime, but the long heaves rimmed out.
American Kenny Walker again improved with 14 points, 14 rebounds
and five blocks, but wasn't the go-to guy that the Rams are
calling for down the stretch of these tight contests. The Rams
will rue their poor shooting, going 39% from the field, 20% from
three-point land and 50% from the free throw line. Canterbury
combined to shoot a measly 7/19 from the free throw line in the
second half and overtime combined, while Taranaki shot an
efficient 15/21 over the same period.
Taranaki (2-5)
now have an opportunity to sweep their away double-header
against the Otago Nuggets at 1pm on Sunday and move to a 3-5
record. The Rams (1-6) face a formidable series of six games
against the major playoff contenders.
Taranaki Mountain Airs 82 (Willie Banks 26,
Damon Rampton 14, Link Abrams 13, Michael Foster 12, Michael
Tompson 11)
Canterbury Rams 81 (Clifton Bush 21, Kenny Walker
14, Nat Connell 14)
8
April 2004 -
RAMS FALL AT FINAL HURDLE
By Piet Van Hasselt
The Canterbury Rams had the game all but sewn up, leading by 10 points
with 3:30 to play, but some lacklustre execution cost the team in the
dying stages, falling in overtime to the Harbour Heat, 88-84. The
Heat went on a 18-4 run to close out the fourth quarter, including the
last 10 points (10-0), and won the overtime period 10-6. Ironically
the same scenario occurred just a fortnight ago when the Heat scored the
last 10 points to come out winners in Harbour, 86-80. The Rams had
led by as much as 14 points and Harbour's defence held them scoreless for
a total of five and a half minutes, before a three-point play by Kenny
Walker with three minutes to play in the overtime period. Tonight's
game marked the debut of Rams' head coach Peter McAllister and the team
showed a vast increase in composure on offence and more desire on defence
for the majority of the game, until the final stanza when the pressure
came on. Harbour appeared to have almost given the game up, looking
dejected on the bench, but a string of Rams turnovers and missed shots
allowed the Heat right back into the game. Harbour eventually went
to their major inside strength in the second half as Axel Dench scored
seven fourth quarter points in his total of 22. Harbour American
Purnell Perry had a great night statistically with 23 points, 10 rebounds
and three blocks from 43 minutes, but at times his individual play tended
to hinder the Heat's progress. However, he came up trumps when it
mattered with nine points in the final quarter and overtime combined.
Andrew Johnstone was a stand-out for the Rams, clocking up 16 points and
five rebounds from only 21 minutes, on some explosive drives to the
basket. American Kenny Walker had his best game in a Rams
singlet and kept the sparse Easter crowd entertained with 17 points, 11
rebounds and four blocked shots, but could only muster a total of five
points in the second half and overtime.
The first half meandered at a crawl with both teams virtually going
basket for basket. Each team staged mini-runs, highlighted with a Rams
9-2 run courtesy of a Clifton Bush three-pointer and two baskets from
Walker to bring up a 34-26 lead. However, the Heat answered with a
9-2 run, which included three long-bombs (two from Perry), but the Rams
lead 44-39 at the half. Valance McCarthy scored six straight points
to open the second half as Canterbury let their lead slip and some
determined play from Dan Ryan saw Harbour to a five-point lead at 53-48.
Johnstone weaved his magic on the court, dominating with his irrepressible
hustle to inspire the Rams back to the front with a 18-3 run as Harbour
shot 3/8 from the free throw line in that period. Canterbury had
amassed a 66-56 lead with a quarter to play. The Heat opened with a
zone defence which was quickly put to bed by Johnstone who knocked down a
pair of three-pointers to open up a 74-60 lead. The speed wobbles
then began to hit Canterbury, and Harbour took advantage with Dench, Perry
and Ryan connecting on three-pointers. The game was very much up for
grabs with one minute as the Rams clung to a 78-76 lead. Canterbury
gave up with a turnover as Flavell stole a Nat Connell pass and quickly
advanced the ball. Dench was fouled after grabbing an offensive
rebound and proceeded to nail both free shots and tie the game up a 78-all
with 40 seconds remaining. After a non-shooting foul, Canterbury had
the ball with 25 seconds on the clock and could conceivably take the final
shot of the game. However, on a drive from Bush from the left wing,
Bush's foot got in the way and the ball bounced harmlessly out-of-bounds.
With 10 seconds on the clock, Perry took the inbounds pass and got to just
outside the three-point line, before putting a foot out of bounds as he
was going to launch a potential game winner. Bush tried a prayer
shot from 30 feet in the final three seconds, but it went unanswered.
The Heat carried their momentum into the overtime period, as a Dench
three-pointer put them ahead 84-81 with two minutes to play.
Canterbury tried to respond at the free throw line, but couldn't, going
2/4 on the next two possessions. Judd Flavell had been quiet all
night, but chucked up a shot from his hip as the shot clock was winding
down just inside the free throw line, to take a 86-83 lead with only 19
seconds left. A quick drive from Connell brought a foul from
Flavell, but Connell missed his first shot, after some ribbing from the
Harbour bench as he strode to the line. Connell hit the second, and
the Rams quickly fouled trailing 86-84. Perry went 1/2, but Harbour
secured the offensive rebound on the second shot with 2.11m Dench getting
a hand on the ball and tipping it to McCarthy. McCarthy was fouled
and went 1/2, but Harbour again grabbed the offensive board again and the
game was over.
The game resembled a club match with a high turnover count, 38 in total,
and players found it difficult to get any rhythm and as a result the
general play suffered. The match was not helped along by a
score-clock electrical malfunction before the game that meant that the
shot clock, game clock and scoreboard could not be used, so the score and
timing was conveyed to the audience by Rams courtside announcer and owner,
John Watson. A manual scoreboard was kept, and Watson did his best,
continually mentioning the score and counting down the shot and game clock
when appropriate.
Harbour had a reasonable shooting night with a 45% overall field goal
rate, but had a shocker from the free throw line going 13/27 (48%).
Canterbury made up for their low shooting percentage (36%) by grabbing 26
offensive rebounds. The Heat move to a 2-3 record and can even it up
with a win over the 0-6 Otago Nuggets in Dunedin on Friday night.
Canterbury now have a 1-5 record and will be in search for their first
home victory this season against the Taranaki Mountain Airs on Saturday 17
April at the Westpac Centre. The team did show signs of improvement
and Coach McAllister and his staff now have an extra week to instil his
values and strategies into the side after having only two trainings
together before tonight's encounter.
Harbour Heat 88
(Purnell Perry 23, Axel Dench 22, Dan Ryan 15, Valance McCarthy 15)
Canterbury
Rams 84
(Kenny Walker 17, Andrew Johnstone 16, Damian Matacz 11, Clifton Bush 11)
Halftime 39-44
Fulltime 78-78
BOXSCORE
7 April 2004 - COACH PETER McALLISTER PROFILE
by Piet Van Hasselt
 The
Scenic Circle Rams
will have a new head coach on Thursday night when
the astute and accomplished Canterbury born-and-bred
Peter McAllister
takes the coaching reigns from
John Watson.
The confidence of the Rams took a massive hit last week during
its abysmal 63-81 loss to Auckland and Rams owner Watson felt:
it was time for a change.
Kaiapoi-based McAllister, 38, certainly has the
credentials for the position and has been a respected member of
the programme since joining as an Assistant Coach in 2002. McAllister was at the helm of
the
Canterbury Knights
successful 2003 campaign in which they took out
the CBL (2nd division) national title with a complete team
performance. McAllister is one of New Zealands best analysers
of the game and prefers the players to take the limelight for
their successes.
The team needed to hear a different voice, and
Peter McAllister is a great coach. We are lucky to have someone
of his calibre to step in and lead the team,
said Watson.
McAllister graciously accepted his new position
at a team meeting on Sunday, so only had a handful of days to
prepare for the upcoming clash with the Harbour Heat. The Rams
have lacked consistency this year and have yet to put together a
full 40-minute performance. The talent is there to compete with
many of the NBL squads, and Rams Fans will no doubt hope this
coaching change brings about a resurgent performance after a 1-4
start.
COACHING CAREER
Third season on Rams coaching staff.
One of the best basketball minds in New Zealand.
His quiet analytical approach makes him respected by his
coaching peers, players and referees alike.
In 2003 coached Canterbury Knights to the Conference Basketball
League Title (National 2nd Division).
Owns a 23-8 overall record in three CBL seasons.
In 2003, the Knights finished with a 13-2 overall record (8-1 in
the Southern Conference, 5-1 in the finals).
Winner of the 2003 Kiwihoops and Canterbury Basketball Coach of
the Year awards along with co-coach Dene Robinson for the
Canterbury Knights.
Coached the Knights to a 7-3 record in 2002, just missing out on
the CBL finals.
The Knights had an even 3-3 record in 2001.
Former NZ Junior representative coach including the NZ Mens U18
Team in 2003.
North Canterbury Junior teams since 1989.
Various Canterbury underage teams.
NZ Koru Development Tour to Australia: U14 Coach 1999-02.
During one tour he won a golf tournament with Tall Blacks Coach
Tab Baldwin who he describes as a golf burglar!.
Basketball NZ High Performance coach 2002-03.
Winner of the 2003 Keith Mair
Coaching Scholarship - which he used to spend a fortnight with
the Sydney Kings during the 2003-04 season.
Checkers Basketball club coach in
the CBA competition.
PLAYING CAREER
PERSONAL
-
Nickname: Steady
-
Born in Christchurch
-
Attended Kaiapoi High School
-
Working at Kaiapoi High School as a PE Teacher.
-
Golf professional and club cricketer
-
Phil Whiteside and Phil Burns had the biggest influence on career
-
Childhood Sporting Heroes: Father and Sir Richard Hadlee
-
First Job: Freezing Works (on the chain)
-
Favourite Book: The Trot Guide
-
Favourite Movie: Field of Dreams
-
If he could do one thing better it would be: gamble!
-
Greatest moment in Basketball: Meeting Larry Bird
-
Philosophy on life: Family first
-
Favourite Rams Aspects: Empowerment of athletes
-
Personal Motto: Winners never quit, and quitters never win
6
April 2004
- WATSON STEPS DOWN
By Piet Van Hasselt
UPDATE: John Watson confirmed
today that he has stepped down as Rams head coach, and assistant Peter
McAllister will take over.
Watson felt the "team needed a different voice" and it was "time for a
change." Watson will remain as Rams owner and will not make a return as
a player, assistant coach or be present at practices or in the background.
"Pete has my full support and I will leave him to get on with the job," Watson
told Geoff Longley in The Press. McAllister has mere days to
prepare for the Harbour Heat who play the Rams on Thursday night at the
Westpac Centre at 7:30pm.
HOT OFF THE PRESS!:
According to an article in The Press by Geoff Longley, Canterbury Rams Coach
John Watson is poised to step down from his position as head coach of the
Rams. The article says that Watson is set to hand over the reigns to Ram
Assistant and successful coach of the CBL champion Canterbury Knights side
Peter McAllister. The article goes on to say "Watson
would not comment on the decision last night, saying there was some
organisational loose ends to be tidied up before any announcement, which could
come today." Kiwihoops will report on this matter as soon as any
statement is made.
2 April
2004
-
STARS
ROCKET AS RAMS STUCK IN NEUTRAL
RAMS HELD SCORELESS FOR
FIRST 7:43! - 20-0 STARS LEAD
APRIL FOOLS COMES A DAY
LATE
By Piet Van Hasselt
LIVE IN CHRISTCHURCH
The Auckland
Stars showed their class
in what could best be described as an 'ugly' encounter against the home town
Canterbury Rams, scoring a knock-out punch in the first eight minutes to lead
20-0, and controlling the game for an extremely stress-free win, 81-63.
The final margin was even flattering for the Rams who showed little of the
form from their surprise win over the Stars last week. A number of Aucklanders stood up and were counted as they looked at their best when
playing an uptempo style of game. Point guard Lindsay Tait led all
scorers with 20 points, including a perfect 11/11 from the free throw line,
five assists, two steals and two blocks and American Casey Frank constructed a
grand double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Even the hardiest of Rams
supporters could have virtually written off their team after only 7:43 of the
contest, as Canterbury failed to notch up a single point and despite
some scratchy moments themselves, Auckland had raced to a 20-0 lead!
While Auckland's defence was solid, there appeared to be a rim on the top of
the Rams basket, with a number of short lay-ups rimming out. The stats
make brutal reading for Rams Fans: The first 7:43 of the game: 0/10 field
goals, seven turnovers (including two 24 second violations) and 0/2 from the
free throw line. It's unknown if this sets an NBL record for the
longest time before scoring a point in the NBL, but it must be a front-runner! If
this was a home match for Auckland and it was an Australian NBL match, where
it is customary to remain standing until the visitors score the first point,
the fans would have had cramp from standing for so long!
The Rams struggled from
all areas of the game, making the Stars appear unbeatable on offence, as their
intensity on defence was almost non-existent. Canterbury combined to
shoot 19.5% from the field in the first half, with just nine field goals, in
their tally of 20 points. While they shot better in the second, 38%, the
Rams still combined to shoot a miserable 28.1% for the game.
Canterbury did have a late surge, but that wasn't until both teams had entered
"garbage time", which actually started mid-way through the third quarter in
this game. Auckland ran their bench, in order to save their key players
for the back-end of their double header against Otago, and only managed to
score eight points in the fourth, but the result was already very much
decided.
A serious lowlight of the game for the Cantabs, was the disqualification of
guard Nat Connell, whose ongoing one-on-one personal battle with Tait
culminated in Connell being sent to an early shower with 44 seconds left in
the third quarter. Three fouls were called on the play by referee Dallas
Pickering, who originally called Connell for an unsportsmanlike foul for
pushing Tait (which was Connell's fourth personal foul). Pickering then
assessed a technical on Connell after he had strongly questioned the call,
which fouled out Connell. Connell continued his verbal tirade, and was
given a disqualifying foul, which ended up being assessed to Coach John
Watson, as Connell was effectively fouled out. All of this happened in
the space of about 30 seconds. The penalty was five free throws and
possession, and Tait rubbed more salt into the Rams gaping wounds, coolly slotting
all five shots, to take a 73-38 advantage.
Canterbury have some serious soul-searching
required if they are to rebound from a miserable 1-4 start. They have
little time for this with a hungry Harbour team looking for a season sweep,
after a come-from-behind win over the Rams last weekend, when the two teams
meet in Christchurch on Thursday. Meanwhile with a win over Otago
tomorrow, Auckland (2-3) can even their record and move them back into the
playoff race.
Auckland Stars 81 (Lindsay Tait 20, Casey Frank 18, Aaron Olson 12)
Canterbury
Rams 63 (Clifton Bush 16, Kenny Walker 13)
Halftime 44-20
BOXSCORE
27 March
2004 - RAMS WIN IN CONTROVERSIAL ENDING
By Scott Spicer
Auckland Stars correspondent for
www.kiwihoops.co.nz
The Canterbury
Rams picked up their first win of the NBL season, and their
maiden win in five years in Auckland, by defeating the Stars,
77-76. The Rams were playing the second game of their weekend
double-header, but surprisingly it was the Stars who seemed
unable to keep up with the pace in the first half. Auckland
quickly found themselves down by 21 points in the third quarter,
but managed to pick up their defensive intensity and force
turnovers leading to fast-break points. Tempers overflowed at
the end of the quarter when both teams had to be separated by
the referees after Nat Connell was fouled by Lindsay Tait on a
dunk attempt. Shortly after that incident the Stars went on an
11-0 run which included a pair of three-pointers by Tait and one
by Dillon Boucher, cutting the lead to a mere two points.
Auckland then took the lead with a three-pointer by Aaron Olson,
but Connell managed to put his team back on top with a
three-pointer of his own. Australian Damien Matacz scored the
final go-ahead score for the visitors, canning two free throws.
With nine seconds on the clock, Auckland had the ball, and
Canterbury wisely used their two 'fouls to give' to force the
Stars to score off a set play, rather than in transition.
Auckland had one final chance to take the lead in the final
seconds of the game, but forward Daniel Barritt's attempt
missed, and despite protests from a stunned crowd and a number
of Auckland players, the referees didn't call a foul on the play
and the game was over.
Tait had a solid
game for the home side with 26 points (5/5 from 3-point range),
eight assists, two steals and two blocks. Clifton Bush and Nat
Connell scored 20 points each for the Rams. Canterbury attempted
a total of 24 free-throws in the game (converting 15 of them),
while Auckland attempted only nine (converting six). Coach
Watson was pleased with the way his team dominated the "hustle
stats" especially in the rebound (46-32) and points off
turnovers (23-10) categories. These two teams will face each
other again next Friday night in Christchurch.
Canterbury Rams 77 (Nat Connell 20, Clifton Bush 20,
Rewi Manahi 14)
Auckland Stars 76 (Lindsay Tait 26, Casey Frank
17, Aaron Olson 13)
Halftime 44-30
BOXSCORE
26 March
2004 -
HEAT PREVAIL
OVER RAMS IN CLOSING MINUTES
By Piet Van
Hasselt
The Canterbury Rams surrendered a
four-point lead in the final two minutes as the Harbour Heat
scored the last 10 points of the game to scratch out a victory
at home, 86-80. Both teams entered the encounter winless from
two matches, and the Heat (1-2) move above the Rams and Nuggets
who are tied on 0-3. According to Coach Watson, the Rams
largely abandoned their offensive sets and couldn't muster any
good looks in the closing stages. Former Tall Black guard and
newly signed Heat starter, Judd Flavell, nailed the go-ahead
basket when the scores were tied at 80-all. Flavell along with
American Purnell Perry proceeded to 'ice the game' with two sets
of free throws in the last minute. Harbour welcomed 2.11m
Australian Centre Axel Dench with open arms as his registration
papers were completed just moments before tip-off and he was a
dominating inside force with 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven
assists, three blocks from all 40 minutes, despite only shooting
5/17 from the field. Watson felt Harbour's 18 offensive boards
were a factor in the result, as the Heat had 18 second chance
points. Canterbury's newest kiwi citizen, Clifton Bush, had his
finest outing in 2004, with a 'SuperBush'-like 28 points (4/7
3PT), 10 boards and six assists near triple-double haul in 36
minutes. He again received some support from the front-line
with Rewi Manahi, Damien Matacz and Kenney Walker combining for
33 points, but the Rams guard-line contributed only seven points
outside of Nat Connell who had 12 on 5/19 shooting. Canterbury
literally shot themselves in the foot with an abysmal 36% (7/19)
conversion rate from the free throw stripe, while Perry, Dench
and Flavell all had good nights from the line and Harbour
tallied 70% (19/27). The Rams must now quickly turnaround and
face the Auckland Stars (1-2) tonight at ASB Stadium, who will
be smarting from a pair of losses last weekend. Canterbury and
Harbour match-up again in Christchurch in a fortnight on April
8, in what will now be an even more 'heated' contest.
Harbour Heat 86
(Purnell Perry 18, Axel Dench 15, Dan Ryan 13, Judd Flavell 12)
Canterbury Rams 80 (Clifton Bush 28, Rewi
Manahi 13, Nat Connell 12, Damian Matacz 11)
Halftime 46-49
BOXSCORE
21 March
2004 -
GIANTS JOIN JETS AT 3-0
By Piet Van Hasselt
The Nelson Giants let it rain from three-point land to maintain
their perfect start to the NBL season, with a win over
traditional rivals the Canterbury Rams in a derby match in
Nelson, 94-85. Tall Black and Giants sharpshooter Phill Jones
led all scorers with 33 points, and Nelson couldn't miss from
three-point territory, going 15/27 for the game, at an
out-of-this-world 56% conversion rate. Phill Jones was the
chief bomber hitting 7/9, while bench forward Mark Jones went on
a hot streak (3/3). Phill Jones added 10 rebounds, five assists
and three steals, to spearhead his team to victory with Ed Book
sidelined due to injury. Nelson jumped out to a 37-22 advantage
after only one quarter, barely missing a shot. Canterbury
changed from their full court pressure to man and various zone
formations in the second half and closed the advantage to five
points with two minutes to go. However, Nelson was able to hit
their free throws to ice the game in the closing stages. The
Rams had an off shooting night going 2/18 from three, and
mustering only 36% overall, but were rock solid at the free
throw line 21/25 (84%). Nat Connell had 21 points to led
Canterbury, while the other Rams guards combined for 5/26 (19%)
from the field. Nelson Darnell McCulloch had the better of his
American counterpart with 21 points (10/16), seven rebounds and
four blocks from 37 minutes. Rams American Kenny Walker had 14
points (4/13) and 10 boards (of which nine were offensive) in 26
minutes. Nelson face the Saints on Wednesday in Wellington, and
the Nuggets at home on Sunday. Next weekend the Rams travel up
to Auckland for an double-header and in search of their first
win in Auckland over the last five years.
Nelson Giants 94
(Phill Jones 33, Darnell McCulloch 25, Mark Jones 11)
Canterbury Rams 85
(Nat Connell 21, Damian Matacz 15, Kenny Walker 14, Rewi Manahi
12)
Halftime 55-41
BOXSCORE
13 March
2004 - BELL CHIMES AS HAWKS GO 2-0
by Piet
Van Hasselt - LIVE IN CHRISTCHURCH
The Hawks completed an unbeaten opening weekend
double-header tonight with a second half rout of the Canterbury
Rams in Christchurch, 88-72. The Hawks finished the third
quarter with a dazzling 16-3 run, to lead 67-56, which the home
side never recovered from. Hawks' American Centre Morgan Bell
could only be stopped by foul trouble, shooting a perfect nine
from nine from the field for 22 points and grasped eight
rebounds from 27 minutes against the smaller Rams forward-line.
Playmaker Paul Henare was a key to the turnaround after the Rams
held a 41-30 lead with four minutes to go in the first half,
marshalling his troops on offence. He scored seven in that big
run in the third, including a deep three-pointer as the shot
clock expired. Adrian Majstrovich had another solid all-round
game, with 15 points and 13 boards, highlighted by a hustle play
where he hit the floor hard and got a pass away to Bell for a
basket. All in all, the Rams had a forgettable opening night,
but did produce a strong first half, establishing Damien Matacz
and Rewi Manahi in the post with 20 combined points. The Hawks
responded by fronting the post and Canterbury converted just 36%
from the field in the second half, with Matacz and Manahi being
restricted to four total points. Clifton Bush and Nat Connell
had uneasy shooting nights going 6/15 and 5/16 respectively on
the tough Westpac Centre rims, but were aggressive and could've
scored more had their lay-ups dropped. American Kenny Walker
looked to have a lean athletic frame and a quiet demeanour and
came off the bench for six points and five boards from 22
minutes. Canterbury came up with 21 second chance points,
thanks to their 22 offensive rebounds, but the Hawks shot at a
much higher rate (49%), including six threes, compared to only
two from the Rams. The much vaunted full court press from
Canterbury created some turnovers in the second quarter, but the
Hawks responded by slowing the ball down after Rams baskets and
making sure of their passes. In fact the Hawks looked to run
the ball at every opportunity in the second half after a Rams
turnover or miss, and Paora Winitana and Adrian Majstrovich came
to the fore. Rams Coach Watson subbed in and out his 10 players
in short spurts for the majority of the game, with only Clifton
Bush topping 30 minutes, as opposed to his counterpart Shawn
Dennis who had all five of his starters play at least 27 minutes
each. Turnovers hurt both teams with 20 apiece with a ton of
miscommunications on passes. The Hawks could have made their
night easier by hitting their foul shots, as they had the
advantage in the fouls department (25-19) but only converted 65%
of their 31 attempts.
Hawks 88 (Morgan Bell 22, Gary Boodnikoff 17, Adrian
Majstrovich 15, Paora Winitana 11)
Canterbury
Rams 72 (Damien Matacz 16, Clifton Bush 14, Rewi Manahi 12,
Nat Connell 11)
Halftime 47-45
BOXSCORE
10 March
2004
- RAMS SIGN KENNY WALKER (US)
The Rams have
signed Kenny Walker, 24, a 2.06m American Centre who finished
his playing career with Alabama University in 2002-03. This is
not to be confused with former NBA 1989 Slam Dunk champion Kenny
Walker! Walker will fill the one restricted player spot after
Clifton Bush was named as a kiwi resident this season.
8 March 2004
-
BUSH A KIWI
By Piet Van Hasselt
BREAKING NEWS: The waiting is finally over for Canterbury
Rams electrifying US-born forward Clifton Bush, as it was
confirmed this week that he has become a NZ citizen, allowing
him to play as a local in the NBL. This has been a long wait
for Rams Fans and management alike after Bush sat out the entire
2003 season as his citizenship papers hadn't come through. This
also means that Bush would be eligible to play as the one
allowed naturalised kiwi for the Tall Blacks if chosen, and also
with the NZ Breakers and not count as one of the two import
slots. Bush has been enjoying life in Christchurch with his two
young children and working full-time as Parole Officer. This
could allow the Rams to pick up a restricted player to their
roster, providing they can finance the pick-up. With Bush and
Taranaki big man Link Abrams recently eligible for the
naturalised New Zealander role on the Tall Blacks, incumbent Ed
Book will face a few tough challenges to keep his spot for the
upcoming Olympics. Another player who could fill this role is
the NZ's ultimate scoring weapon and consummate leader Terrence
Lewis from the Saints. Obviously injuries and NZ player
availability/selection will play a role in deterring who Coach
Tab Baldwin will choose for the Tall Blacks.
2 February
2004
- RAMS SIGN AUSSIE DAMIEN MATACZ
By Piet Van Hasselt
The Canterbury Rams have secured the services of West Australian
2.06m young big man Damien Matacz for the upcoming NBL season.
Matacz just missed selection for the Perth Wildcats this season
after appearing for the club twice in 2002-03. In the 2003-04
pre-season, Matacz had 18 points and 11 rebounds against
Brisbane. He plays with the
Wanneroo Wolves in the local SBL club
competition, and was named to the All Star team.
In the 2003
season with Wanneroo, Matacz
averaged 26.6 points, 12.6
rebounds,
4.6 assists, 4.1 blocks, 2.6
steals. He shot 54% from the field
and 72% from the free throw line and regularly clocked up 48
minutes per game. Another player on the 2003
Wanneroo team was guard Matt
Schmechtig
who toured NZ
recently with the Australian Secondary Schools team.
Schmechtig
averaged 8.0 points
for Waneroo in 2003.
Matacz also spent
time with Division II US college Northern Michigan. Matacz will
be expected to man the Centre spot with the Rams replacing John
Whorton's league leading 29.3 points and 16.5 rebounds.
Matacz will join the Rams on February 16, and will link
up with his
Wanneroo club after his Rams commitments
end to play in the later stages of their season.
He
will play as the Australian player with Canterbury under the new
rule. Matacz had this to say to the SBL website
forum about his move to Canterbury: "The
move has not been for the money, but more for the experience,
and for the opportunities it will open up. The coach has
contacts with European agents if i have a good season." Matacz
could get an Irish passport through his grandparents which would
allow him to play as a local in Europe.
23
January 2004
- RAMS TRAINING SQUAD NAMED
By Piet Van Hasselt
-
for more NBL coverage check out
www.kiwihoops.co.nz
The Scenic Circle Rams have named their initial training squad following the
last of three trial nights at the Wharenui Sports Centre in Christchurch.
This squad will be further supplemented with players who were unavailable
for the trials including Dave Langrell who is playing in Ireland, an
Australian forward, playmaker Travis Dixon and players who have not yet
signed with the club. Three newcomers were named who were not a part
of the 2003 Rams or Knights (2nd division) teams: Point guard Jared Rohan
(former Taranaki Mountain Airs) and forwards Mark Smith and Joe Hammond.
This training squad will be trimmed over the coming weeks.
The training squad with more to be named is:
Guards: Jeremy Kench, Ben Jeffrey, Nat Connell, Tim Edmonds, Joel
Hart, Paul McFarlin, Jared Rohan
Forwards: Clifton Bush, Glen Bremner, Mark Morrison, Rewi Manahi,
Ritchie Howell, Carl Nicholson, Mark Smith, Joe Hammond, Scott Howell
Coach: John Watson
Assistant Coach: Peter McAllister
19 December -
Rams 2004 Draw
|
Scenic
Circle Rams