Canterbury basketbailers win again

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 14

Canterbury basketbailers win again

By

FRANK DUGGAN

If success in sport has anything to do with a broad grin, the Canterbury senior men’s basketball coach, Murray Mackay, had a smile which almost encompassed Cowles Stadium on Saturday afternoon. An ecstatic Mr Mackay had just finished watching 3ZM Canterbury “blitz" a strong IZH Hamilton team, 86-57, and retain an unbeaten three-match record in the Countrywide basketball league and stamp itself as one of the main contenders for national honours. “We have now beaten the teams which finished in the main placings in last year’s league,” Mr Mackay said. “We will know next Saturday evening if - what most critics thought was impossible before the start of the league — we are good enough to reach the grand final.”

Mr Mackay was referring to next week-end’s match against Auckland Metro, described as probably the “toughest” team in the competition. One of its key Sers is Stan Hill, a former Zealand and Canterbury representative. “Saturday will be the crunch game," said Mr Mackay. “If we can get past Auckland Metro I am confident we will reach the final in Lower Hutt and Metro will probably be our fellow finalist,” he said.

“Having two of the three games on television has really brought the best out of the players and, besides, we have had a great deal of support from the public (Saturday’s crowd was capacity, 636, for the stadium) and when you have your home crowd behind you what else can you do but play the best ’ball’ you can.” Although Canterbury’s winning margin was 29 points, Mr Mackay still has one or two reservations about the team’s performance. “We took a time to settle down, lost a lot of points under the boards in the first 10 minutes, and then went flat in the first 10 minutes of the second half. We messed up a lot of turn-rounds; that is one area I will look into this week.” When Canterbury drew out

with a clear lead. Mr Mackay allowed himself the luxury of giving his “benchwarmers” a chance of interprovincial experience. They did not let him down. “I was only too grateful to give them their chance, because on Saturday against Metro we will need all the players and skills available,” Mr’Mackay said.

Canterbury also tried, for the first time this season, two new offensive moves. They worked and they could be combined with the plans for next week-end, Mr Mackay said.

Mr tom Dore, the American television commentator, was somewhat bewildered after the match. “This is the third time I have been proved wrong," he said. “In the last week I have picked Canterbury’s opposition to win, and each time I’ve been wrong,” he said. “Canterbury plays to its skills and by that I mean every man is in the game. They use their heads and their confidence is growing,” he said.

Mr Dore, whose clothes, made by his wife, ideally blend with his 2.2 m (7ft 2in) slender frame, on Saturday picked Hamilton to halt Canterbury's unbeaten record. “Dave Usmar, Gilbert Gordon, and Andy Bennett will have quite a handful with the Metro forwards, particularly Stan Hill. They won’t be able to go over the top on Saturday as they did against Hamilton, and the passing in the keyhole will have to be positive and with few blemishes,” he said.

Mr Dore has played against Metro — “They are good" — and has watched the side four times.

“Man for man they are slightly bigger than Canterbury and this could, in the end, be the advantage,” he said.

Still, Mr Dore sees that a Canterbury success could happen. “With this great Canterbury support and if John Hill can get 15 or 16 points, it should be all on."

At this stage, the match is not scheduled to be televised. However, because of the intense public interest it is expected that negotiations will be carried out this week for the match to be televised.