Basketball man ‘ready for criticism’

Press, 10 May 1979, Page 30

Basketball man ‘ready for criticism’

By-

MURRAY OLDS

Cries of alarm from those! teams who have missed out j on selection for the Old 1 Crow national men’s interclub basketball champion- ! ships in Christchurch this June wilt not worry Joel McLeod, the executive ! officer of the New Zealand : Basketball Federation. “We’ll be disappointed if !, they dont’ complain.” he ■ I said in Christchurch yester- ■ day when he announced the ' sides to contest the cham- . • pionships. “But we had to •’make a choice, and we think J we’ve picked the best.” Traditionally, qualifying . tournaments have been held ; to select the top eight club 1| teams in the country, but : these were scrapped this ijyear because of the fuel : crisis. Instead, the teams were invited to enter and the final decision on the 16 sides to contest the championships was left to Mr McLeod and

I “five or six experts around ! I the country.” The com-! ! petition was doubled to in- [ elude 16 teams when the) qualifying tournaments were! abandoned. “Picking the first 12 was no problem,” said Mr| I McLeod yesterday. “Finding I ■ the last four, from the 221 I teams that applied, was the difficult part.” Only five of the 16 teams : will be without the services of an American coach or ■ player, and several will be . packed with established , international stars. Still, Mr McLeod predicted some surprises in the championships, given that some I of the more highly-rated i sides will be without their national representatives for ; a week before the tourna- [ ment begins with games against the touring South , Dakota team. Auckland, the strongest i basketball centre in the! . country, will have four) ; teams in the championships. '

Mount Wellington, on paper probably the best club team in New Zealand, appeals as a likely favourite, but several other Auckland sides are very strong this year.

Coco Cola, for example, is unbeaten this season, and has the well-performed American, Martin Brumme, in its ranks.

Boystown Levis’ American player, Don Orndoff, was described by Mr McLeod as “the most outstanding basketbailer to play in New Zealand,” while Mount Wellington can boast an international starting line-up of Stan Hill, Stu Ferguson, John Van Uden and Tony Smith (who will have returned from the U.S.A, by then) and Steve McKean. Five teams from the South Island have been chosen, while a sixth has been named as the reserve should another side pull out. JaksH. 5.0.8. beat Hadleigh Holmes in the final last

year. Hadleigh has been renamed Crichton Ford. The full list .of teams for ! the men’s championships, to [be held from June 19 to 23, [is: ■■■ ,

Adidas Mount Wellington I (Auckland). Athletic (Nelson), Boystown Levis (Auckland), Checkers (Christchurch), Citizen Centrals (Wellington), Coca-Cola (Auckland), Crichton Ford (Napier), Flyers (Hamilton), Inns of the Pacific University (Christchurch), JaksH. 5.0.8. (Christchurch). KVees (Dunedin), Melville (Hamilton), Ocean Pacific (North Shore). Saint Pats (Wellington), Victoria UnL versity (Wellington), Y.M.C.A. (Christchurch). Ajax (Dunedin) will be the emergency. Notable omissions include Mairehau, one of the top teams in the Christchurch competition, and Aranui, which is also understood to have applied for entrv to the revamped championships.

’Mr McLeod declined to release the names of those ■ teams whose entries were turned down.

Otago University, always a strong contender, did not apply this year.

Mr McLeod said several places in the national team will be at stake for later in the season. Cibona, a top Yugoslavian side, and the South Dakota All Stars, will provide international opposition before the national club championships, but a team for the remainder of the season will be announced by the national coach, Steve McKean, on Saturday, June 23.

A five-test series against the touring Small College All Americans is scheduled for July, and the national team travels to Australia in early August to play three tests. The winner will qualify for a trip to the Moscow Olympics. Also released yesterday was the list of 14 teams to compete in the national

: Hanes women’s club championships in Napier on June 12 to 16. Of the 21 teams who had shown initial interest in taking part, seven had withdrawn because of the high costs involved and the standard of the competition, said Mr McLeod. The teams are:

Boystown Levis (Auckland), Centrals (Wellington), Checkers (Christchurch), Comrades (Counties), Crichton Ford (Napier), Don Rovers (North Shore), Kotuku (Hamilton), MacLeay Duff (Auckland), Mairehau (Christchurch), Naenae (Hutt Valley), Otago University (Dunedin), Rotorua G.H.S.O.P. (Bay of Plenty), Ufala Kingsway (New Plymouth) and Y.M.C.A. Akarana (Auckland). Tennis (Nelson) is the most surprising omission since it has done well at the championships in the past, but the side did not even apply this year, said Mr McLeod.