Men’s Basketball Qualifying Tourneys Not Wanted For N.Z. Titles

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30478, 27 June 1964, Page 14

Men’s Basketball Qualifying Tourneys Not Wanted For N.Z. Titles

A suggestion that the regional and South Island tournaments should cease to be compulsory qualifying events for the New Zealand championships was placed before the Canterbury Men's Basketball Association by Mr M. A. McDougall, the chairman of the competitions committee and president of the New Zealand Basketball Referees’ Association.

This, and other recommendations made by Mr McDougall In his summing up of the representative situation, will be considered at the next meeting of the association with a view to forwarding a resolution on. the subject to the national council in Wellington. Entries for the national tournament should- be restricted to the best teams available and not on regional discrimination, said Mr McDougall. The value of regional tournaments, where there was usually one team of high calibre playing against weak teams with virtually no chance at all of winning, was debatable. He recommended that teams should not have to face disqualification from the national championships If they did not take part In their regional and Island tournaments.

The national tournament for

1965 should consist of the top 12 teams at the 1964 championships with six of them being placed In the first division and six in the second division. A third division or a n grade tournament could also be held Each team would only play one match a day. Promotion and relegation be tween the divisions and the A and B grade tournaments would be automatic, Mr McDougall continued. The team which fin ished sixth in the first division would automatically be rele gated to the second division and the winner of the second dlvis ion would enter the first division. The bottom team in the A grade tournament would be rele gated to the B grade tourna ment and the top B grade team would be. promoted. This would provide the teams with incentive which was lack Ing under the present system At present, if a team played poorly at the national tourna ment it did not matter greatly All it had to do was win Its regional tournament against relatively weak teams and it was assured of a place in the New Zealand championship tournament, he said.

As far as the Canterbury re presentative season was concerned, the representative squad should be announced at the end of the first month’s play in the inter-club competitions In April Only players who could attend all practices and fixtures should be considered.

Trial games, similar to those held before the television cameras this season, should be held In the first and third week-ends of May. The representative team should be announced in the last week of May and the first representative fixture should not be held before the first week-end of June. Be tween July 1 and the end of August, prior to going to the national tournament, four away matches, four home matches and four rest week-ends could be arranged, Me McDougall said