Chasing basketball honours

Press, 21 June 1980, Page 20

Chasing basketball honours

By

EION SCOTT

Competition for the national men’s club basket-

ball championships is so strong this year that any one of the top 13 seeds could win the final. The executive officer for the basketball federation, Mr Joe McLeod, said that this includes all four Canterbury teams who have entered the competition at Wellington next week.

Mr McLeod admitted that the seeding did not necessarily predict the final result, as in last year’s competition, Canterbury University failed to fulfil its ranking. This year, the side to upset prediction i could be Ocean Pacific, the fifth seed from Auckland. Although a sound team, it relies heavily on the talent -of the national representative, Stuart Fergusson, and it is doubtful whether he will get time off .teaching after four weeks in Taiwan. fl

The contesting teams have been divided into four sections with an even spread of seeding in each. For instance, section four, probably the toughest, contains Checkers, the fourth seed, Pacific, Massey University (12th) and Continental Caterers Rangiora (13th). Rangiora will have a hard job to beat both Pacific and Massey, the latter a team that tries to run its opposition off its feet, in order to get past the sections.

The teams are then split into top eight and bottom eight who both play quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals to determine the final rankings, one to sixteen. Teams can afford to lose only one game in the sections.

Drake Personnel, from Auckland, is top seeded because of its depth of exjerience, with three members of the original CocaCola team. It also has a 1.96 m forward in an American, Nelson Burrell, who played for the invitation side against Jugoplastica. Citizen Centrals have second seed as they are leading the competitive Wellington competition. There is plenty of experience in “Basketball Bill” Eldred, who has perhaos passed his prime after six years in New Zealand basketball. If Inns .of the Pacific Universitv could play as it did in the first 10 minutes of the game against Checkers last Saturday, there would not be a .team

in the country that couia beat it. But University will have to produce a more sustained effort over the week to justify its third seeding. Checkers have the best starting line-up .of any club team and Eric Vollmers may well become one of the stars of the championships. Although he is having trouble with his shooting, he puts through a greater workload than Stan Hill and does not have his team-mate’s penchant for fouling out in the less flexible refereeing at championship level.

There is also a question of the availability of Al Manco and John Whelan for the ninth-seeded JaksH. 5.0.8. Old Bovs are not a team to be underestimated, especially with Ray Thomson, one of the astutest coaches in the country, to guide them,