Basketball: TV adds bounce to basketball

By PETER JESSUP

The national basketball league tips off tonight having already received the biggest fillip possible - television coverage.

Backing from TVNZ promises to lift the game to a new level, with the broadcaster committed long-term after research showed basketball to be the big winner with young people, including the nation's rugby stars.

The sport had withered for several seasons after it lost television coverage, but the loss of rugby and rugby league by TVNZ has worked in favour of basketball.

Nine teams are in the 2000 league. Northland have gone and Hawkes Bay have satisfied the organisers of financial viability after a year off.

There are 14 new imports, the most ever. New Nugget Monte Hardge is the biggest ever, an All Black front row all by himself - 145kg and 2.08m and aged only 23.

Several New Zealanders who have been playing overseas have or are planning to return to try to force their way into the Olympic squad.

Among those is Pero Cameron, Auckland and sometime Tall Black captain, back from a season with English side Chester Jets. The weather was terrible, the food was awful, but the ball was good, he reckons.

He says it was a competition stacked with Americans trying to force their way into the more lucrative European leagues, Italy and Greece in particular, so the standard was high.

Cameron, who gained his start care of Scottish ancestry, may look at going to Europe next off-season, but his focus this year is firmly on Sydney.

Tall Black guard Paul Henare has had a successful learning experience at Utah Valley. Kirk Penney, from North Harbour, will be back after going to the National College quarter-finals with Wisconsin.

Burton Shipley, a former Canterbury player and offsider of the former Prime Minister, is the new league chairman and was at the TVNZ Auckland studios yesterday to shoot baskets with players. Television's commitment starts at a weekly highlights package and will grow with ratings, although head of sport Denis Harvey guaranteed full coverage of all finals games.

Auckland must again start the league as favourites, although Cameron pointed out they had had several team changes, losing veteran Kenny Stone (retired) and import Scott Benson (studying in the United States) and, with two new imports, would take some time to settle in.

The two newcomers are guard/forward Bryan Christiansen and forward/centre Matt Barnett, both from Colorado State University, where they played with Benson.

Christiansen, 24, 118kg and 2.06m, is highly rated as an athlete, with some saying he is the best they have seen in the league. He came here on Benson's recommendation after a season in Belgium and five at Colorado and is looking to play in Australia - and is expecting a standard that will help him to get there.

Nelson have major changes but retain top talent and will be competitive; the Jets will benefit by picking up former New Plymouth players after the demise of the Oilers; and Otago also look to have gained in the off-season trade. But there is talent all round and the experts are picking a much more homogenised league, with no real easy-beats and all sides with some depth.

The court-time starts tonight with Waikato going to Nelson and the Kings visiting Palmerston North. The Warriors play Canterbury tomorrow while Auckland travel to Dunedin for their opener against Otago, and the monster Hardge, the Kings returning home to host Wellington.

Team rosters: North Harbour Kings: Purnell Perry, Robert Wilson (restricted), Steve Campbell, Brendon Cathie-Pongia, Dylan Chase, Wayne Fausett, Nathan Foote, Jeff Niwa, Kirk Penney, Brad Riley, Jonathan Southey, Robert Tuilave. Out: Chris Ensminger, David Daniels, Andrew Parke (Otago), Kenny Perkins (Wellington).

Rebel Sport Auckland: Matt Barnett, Bryan Christiansen (restricted), Dillon Boucher, Pero Cameron, Daryl Cartwright, Paul Henare, Prem Krishna, Mason LePou, Simon Mesritz, Haydn Smyth, Damien Takao-Shelford, Brett Wadsworth. Out: Scott Benson (US), Iona Enosa (Samoa), Kenny Stone (retired), Dylan Chase (North Harbour), Puke Lendon (Hawkes Bay).

Waikato Warriors: Adrian Boyd (restricted), Tony Brown, David Hopai, Darryl Johnson, Rangi Kowhai, Earle Smith, Paora Smith, Riki Strother, Chris Tupu, Leon Tuala. Out: Konrad Ross, Jeff Niwa (North Harbour), Joseph Tuala.

Hawkes Bay Hawks: Troy Coleman, Chris Webber (restricted), Shane Brown, Cleveland Hapi, Keith Harrison, Puke Lendon, Greg Luscombe, Shaun McCreedy, Henare O'Brien, Chris Pollard, Tzar Smiler. Out: Murray Barker (Palmerston North), Aidan Daly (Wellington).

Palmerston North Jets: Ed Book, Rick Randall (restricted), Murray Barker, Callum Brock, Tyrone Brown, Willie Burton, John Disher, Daryl June, Darron Larsen, Kent Mori, Zeb Nicklin, Shane Penford. Out: Mason LePou (Auckland), Jamie Jenkins.

Wellington Saints: Terrence Lewis (restricted), Warren Adams, Aidan Daly, Andrew Gardiner, George Le'afa, Troy McLean, Malcolm Opie, Kenny Perkins, Peter Pokai, Tony Vaofusi, Julian Virtue. Out: De Wayne McCray, Tyrone Brown (Palmerston), Brook Rapson, Scott Rapson.

Nelson Giants: James Hamilton, Damon Johnson (restricted), Michael Fitchett, Judd Flavell, Brendon Heath, Oliver Hill, Phil Jones, Tony Rampton, Jonathan Russ, Lance Toma, Nenad Vucinic, Mika Vukona. Out: J. D. Huleen, Joe Wyatt, (US) Ralph Lattimore, Michael Thompson, Tim Johnson (retired), Peter Pokai (Wellington), Brad Riley (North Harbour), Luke Ruscoe (Canterbury).

Canterbury Rams: Malcolm Leak, Alex Lopez (restricted), Nathaniel Connell, Craig Farrant, Andrew Johnstone, David Langrell, Shane Lawrence, Luke Ruscoe, Arthur Trousdell, Salasopo Tulua, Carlo Varricchio. Out: Robert Wilson (North Harbour), Clifton Bush, Robert Hickey (Otago), Jason Kyle, Lionel Hopgood, Brett Turner (Kaikoura CBL).

Otago Nuggets: Monte Hardge, Lynwood Wade (restricted), Hayden Allen, Murray Clarke, Robert Dahlberg, Matthew Gillan, Robert Hickey, Stacey Lambert, Andrew Parke. Out: Phill Jones (Nelson), Robert Tuilave (North Harbour).