Basketball in N.Z. has unlimited potential

Press, 18 April 1981, Page 23

Basketball in N.Z. has unlimited potential

Basketball in New Zealand has an unlimited potential according to the sport’s national director of coaching, Mr Dick'Walsh. Mr. Walsh, who is based with the New Zealand Basketball | Federation ’ in Christchurch, informally addressed basketball, coaches in the Christchurch area at the King Edward Barracks re-

cently. His talk, entitled “The New Zealand Player — strengths, weaknesses and needed improvements,’’ was directed at making coaches aware of what basketball players in this country should be aiming at. Mr Walsh, an American and former college coach, said he saw a great potential in New Zealand basketbailers, men and women, but at the moment this potential' was being “canned.” New Zealand basketball could be part of the world basketball scene, but it had some catching up to do. The main reasons cited by Mr Walsh for this country's basketbailers being helc back were;, the lack of coaches, the lack of facilities, the lack of time put into the

sport by players for practice, and the lack of development in the sport in the lower levels. In spite of these constraints on the sport in this country Mr Walsh said that the potential to become a leading . basketball power was there. Among the strengths of basketball in this country listed bv Mr Walsh was the

willingness of players to learn and their willingness to work hard. “If they (the players) think a coach knows what he or she is talking about they are very willing to work hard,” he said. “New Zealanders are willing to extend themselves physically, although they won’t do it unless someone is pushing them.”

Among the weaknesses of the New Zealand basketbailer was a willingness to accept one level of expecta-

tions and not to push themselves further, Mr Walsh said. In the United States, basketbailers were expected to be intense during a game and to push' themselves to new levels of competitivenss, whereas New Zealanders tended to accept that they had reached their own expectations arid stop there. The lack of coaches, who would be able to get this extra performance, compounded the problem. A large percentage of basketbailers had good game skills, and were reasonably good shooters, but they

tended to limit themselves during games, Mr Walsh

New Zealanders were fairly good passers of the ball, although sometimes their timing and judgment needed improvement. Basketbailers tended to have good

physical abilities and a good level of endurance. One of the biggest areas of improvement needed to be court sense, Mr Walsh said. An ability to know where each player was in relation to the ball and the goal was

important: “Even at the national trials (held recently) we had to work on this for longer than we had planned,” he said.

Adjusting to match play was another area that players had difficulty with.

Some of the remedies Mr Walsh proposed, which he hopes to pass on to the Basketball Federation, include pushing for more basketball goals to be provided in public parks.

He said he would also like to see basketball at the high school level practised every day during the season. Some adjustment to the

basketball season might also have to be made so that basketballers around the country could get more promotion and practice facilities. The formation of a national league. would also give players something to. aim for. Mr Walsh said there was a great potential for basketball in New Zealand and the country’s international standing could easily rise, “but it will only happen if people want it to happen.”