Basketball: Auckland injuries vexing Baldwin

By PETER JESSUP

The Auckland basketball team are sweating on the fitness of both their new American imports and veteran Pero Cameron as they tune up for the season's first home game, against Canterbury on Friday night.

Colorado team-mates Bryan Christiansen and Matt Barnett were below their best in the win over Otago last weekend, with Christiansen leaving the court ill on a couple of occasions. Barnett is recovering from shin splints and Cameron is suffering a repeat of the calf muscle strain that dogged him last year.

All three missed training on Monday but coach Tab Baldwin is hopeful they will be able to train tonight and play on Friday.

The retired Kenny Stone has scouted out the Rams and warned Auckland to expect them to come out hard and play fast, backing their youth to move older, bigger teams around.

Baldwin was concerned that hard and fast is exactly what his side were not against Otago.

"Given the standing-room-only crowd and the fact it was our first game, I'd have thought they would have been fizzing and I'm struggling to get to grips with why they weren't," he said, lamenting a slow and sluggish opening two quarters.

"Maybe it was in their minds that some of the main players were struggling and clearly those three were struggling, but it was not with career-threatening injuries.

"We put it to them at the break that they needed to work through that and they did. There were some tough efforts later in the game."

Waikato will play big American Joe Smith against the Jets in Hamilton on Saturday, with coach Jeff Green admitting the player was not the forward they wanted to suit their game-plan but that they would consider his effort and might change their minds as they look to sign a second import to join Adrian Boyd.

Green is wary of the Jets' big front line, with Ed Book in good form, but is sure to try to take advantage of the age of forwards Willie Burton (38) and Tyrone Brown (40) as they tire and to push for points when their smaller replacements come out.

North Harbour Kings coach Tracey Carpenter rated the Jets a playoff team after his side were 12 points up with seven minutes to go before losing by one last Friday.

But he felt the Kings had ironed out many of their early-season problems and were a much better side when beating Wellington on Saturday and would improve for this Sunday's game against Hawkes Bay.

Carpenter knows little about the Hawks, who open their account this weekend, returning to the NBL after a season in the second division while they rebuilt.

In the other games this weekend, Wellington travel to Otago on Saturday and Canterbury on Sunday.