Difficult task facing Canty at week-end

Press, 15 May 1987, Page 18

Difficult task facing Canty at week-end

Soul-searching has played a leading role in the Canterbury Countrywide men’s basketball league team’s training programme this week as a build-up to tomorrow eveniiig’s clash at Cowles Stadium against unbeaten New Plymouth. Last Saturday Auckland shocked Canterbury with a final five minute surge, usually reserved for the Rams, and won 91-89. Canterbury has now lost two of its six games and a further defeat tomorrow evening would make its chances of getting to the finals a precarious exercise.

It is acknowledged that a team can usually suffer

five defeats in the two rounds involving 18 matches, but anything more and it is a toss up whether it makes it.

Canterbury did not play well last Saturday. It was a lack-lustre effort, but even then it should not have lost. It led 11 points at the interval and had an advantage of a few points going into the last couple of minutes. It then made the cardinal sin; it gave away possession. If anything was to be gained by Saturday’s loss, Canterbury must realise possession is nine points of the law and whatever way it is won it must be used to the best

advantage, not frittered away. New Plymouth is a

good side, probably the equal of Saints (Wellington) which defeated Canterbury early in the first round. Undefeated in five matches, one less game than Canterbury, it has scored 487 points (395 against). It is spearheaded by its two Americans of last season, Jacques Tuz, who first played for Nelson when coming to New Zealand, and Hank Siemiontkowski. They are two formidable ■ centre-for-wards and top scorers. The New Zealand and former Canterbury representative, Dave Edmonds, is playing well as well as a guard-forward, Ralph Adams, and John Macdonald, now aged 37, a

national player for many seasons, still considered to be one of the best guards in the country. Others new to the squad are Mike Skinnon (formerly of Saints), Warren Adams (Ralph’s younger brother),. and John Wickham. The last time Canterbury and New Plymouth met was in last year’s semi-finals at Wellington when Canterbury won in the last couple of seconds, 98-97, after trailing 45-61 at half-time. It could be just as close tomorrow evening. The squads are: New Plymouth: Jacques Tuz, Hank Siemiontkowski, John Macdonald, Dave Edmonds, Wayne Tukl, Ralph

Adams, Warren Adams, Roger Harris, John Wickham, Matthew Mac Lean, Chris Pruden, Mike Skinnon, Grant Everest, Henry Slaats and Steven Campbell. Coach: Frank Russell. Canterbury: Clyde Huntley, Angelo Hill, John Rademakers, Lance Dixon, Graham Timms, Terry Brunel, Ralph Lattimore, John Hill, Mark Rainbird, Diederick van Heyningen, lan Webb, Bert KOops and Bill Duggan. Coach: Gary Pettis. The points table is:

P W L F A Pt New Ply. 5 5 0 487 394 10 Cant. 6 4 2 634 571 8 Nth. Shore 6 4 2 644 605 8 Saints • 5 4 1 494 471 8 Auckland 5 3 2 472 484 6 Ponsonby 5 2 3 528 532 4 Hawkes.B 5 2 3 392 402 4 Waikato 5 1 4 388 424 2 Palm.Nth 5 1 4 454 533 2 Nelson 5 0 5 377 454 0