Basketball: League heading for thrilling finals series

By PETER JESSUP

The National Basketball League's planners could not have plotted a better finish to the season.

Three teams share the lead (and two of them meet in the last round) and two of the three teams tied for second are scrapping for a playoff place.

Nelson joined North Harbour and Waikato on 22 points when they beat Otago in a rescheduled game in Nelson on Tuesday night, with captain Nenad Vucinic nailing a last-gasp three-pointer for a 105-102 win.

The North Harbour Kings go to Hamilton tomorrow night for what will give one side a psychological edge and winning momentum, the other nagging doubts and an undermined confidence ahead of the finals weekend on August 11 and 12.

The Kings are without shooting guard Kirk Penney, who left the Tall Blacks to return to the University of Wisconsin for a tour of Italy.

Purnell Perry has promised to make up for what was an ordinary showing in the 20-point loss to Auckland last weekend. He had lost fitness after several weeks out with a bad knee, but has been better in training this week.

New signing Mark Dickel will play, after the league approved his registration this week. He had fitted in well at practice, said coach Tracey Carpenter.

The Kings will need speed to beat the Warriors, who Carpenter rightly regards as one of the most all-round and athletic teams in the league.

"We were off our game against Auckland, out of synch all round," he said. "This weekend we just want to lift the game all round and hope the wins follow."

North Harbour host the Palmerston Jets, who are locked in second spot on 18 points with Auckland and Wellington, on Sunday.

Waikato, undefeated at home this season, feel guard Chris Tupu was unjustly left out of the Olympic Games team after playing all 14 Tall Blacks' internationals this year, and will go all-out for him.

Coach Jeff Green told Tupu the best means of redressing the wrong was to put it over those players who were chosen in this game and the finals weekend. With that on board, Tupu and his team will be dangerous.

"It's ridiculous to say he's too short [Tupu's height, 1.7m, has been cited as a reason he was shaded]. He has the best outside shooting stats in the league," Green said.



Wellington's Terrence Lewis, likewise, has something to prove to the Tall Blacks' coach, Keith Mair, when the Saints come north for a game that will put one side into the finals and give the other an early summer.

Lewis, aged 30, has lodged a citizenship application and was hoping to make the Tall Blacks, but Mair said yesterday that he did not think the Saints shooting guard was serious about that because he had left to play in England in the off-season.

Lewis, with an average 29 points and 12 rebounds a game, is a major component of Wellington's effort and the Auckland Rebels will need to shut him down and isolate him from Peter Pokai and Andrew Gardiner if they are to slow the scoring.