Paul Henare (left) and Zico Coronel will simply take stock when the dust settles at the PG Arena tonight. Photo/Photosport
Basketball
By Anendra Singh
• All the stakeholders in the National Basketball League will have their eyes on the Hawks versus the Saints round 12 encounter in Napier tomorrow night to see how much gulf exists between the top two-placed contenders.
• The second-placed Hawks have a lot more to prove than the undefeated Saints but both coaches are mindful there's been a lot of water under the bridge since the NBL tipped off in April.
No, you're not going to find players from either team thumping their chests too much when the blood drains from the electronic clock at the Pettigrew-Green Arena in Napier tomorrow night.
Yes, the Taylor Corporation Hawks and the Wellington Saints will reservedly extol if they prevail in the round 12, top-of-the-table National Basketball League (NBL) encounter but the coaches will reflect as teachers do when wide-eyed pupils return from sitting a mock exam before the externals.
"The Saints have the capacity to pose a greater number of problems than all of the other opponents so that's going to be interesting," says Hawks coach Zico Coronel before the 7pm televised tip-off.
Fundamentally, Coronel expects captain Jarrod Kenny's troops as well as counterpart Paul Henare's charges to perform faster and with more precision to help elevate their worth.
As boring as it may sound to the NBL faithful, the mentors are chanting a similar mantra of consistency despite the mouth-watering match-ups between Brandon Bowman and Nick Kay or Daniel Kickert and Thomas Abercrombie or Kenny and Shae Ili, not to mention EJ Singler and Reuben Te Rangi as well as Ethan Rusbatch and Jordan Ngatai.
However, Coronel believes it'll be more a case of the sum of their differences that'll become key indicators of where and what they should focus on with the Final Four playoffs beckoning in Christchurch late next month.
"When we played them we didn't have Brandon then and Kicks only played 12 minutes while Shaquille Thomas had flown into Wellington just the night before so we're quite a different team on paper now," says Coronel who believes the Hawks have mutated significantly from their 106-79 loss in the opening round on the road.
Although Abercrombie is a key inclusion for the Saints, he likes to think the Hawks have metamorphosed more than the perennial favourites.
"From a fan perspective a lot of people have been anticipating so for Paulie and myself, we're both are trying to improve every day and not look too far just yet."
As much as Coronel wants the Hawks to start with a hiss and roar, he isn't reaching for the panic button on three sluggish first-quarter beginnings when compared with the other outings when they posted double-figure leads.
The Saints, on a 13-game winning streak, he says are arguably the most stacked team in NBL history but lapses from the Hawks, on an eight-match run, will be costly.
Coronel is anticipating having a full squad to select from tomorrow.
Henare says in the greater scheme of things the clash doesn't mean much other than a little bit of bragging rights.
"We're under no illusions of the challenge that's in front of us because Zico's done a great job with his team," he says. "They are not the same team that we saw in round one."
He labels US import Bowman a fantastic pick and Kickert untapped after his short outing in round one.
While the Wellingtonians haven't stumbled it isn't something they talk about. If anything, the visitors have talked about having done that two seasons ago.
"It's not that we can create history by doing it again, can we?" he asks. "So for us it's just about coming out the right way to try to play the best brand of basketball we can."
"Extremely competitive and internally driven", the Saints exude patience not just individually but collectively.
"Whether it be a game of indoor soccer as part of our warm-up or a game of tag the guys compete in every single way so there's no need to add any extra spice to our game ... "
Consistency is what Henare is seeking because there have been matches where his men had looked scratchy in facets.
"Probably apart from the game that we played in Southland, we haven't been ruthless and consistent throughout the whole 40 minutes, so that's what we're striving for really," he says after the beat the defending champion Sharks on May 19 in Invercargill.
Consequently games against other playoff contenders becomes a yardstick to gauge their incremental gains.
Henare says the Saints are mindful of the Hawks' three-point philosophy and their ability to chance their arms from just about anywhere outside the arc.
"Ethan Rusbatch is obviously having a standout year and he's shooting the ball extremely well," he says.
"Then you have Kickert and Singler there who are exceptional shooters as well so the addition of Bowman has just added a bit of an X-factor to their team."
He feels Bowman is "a little bit more unpredictable in a good way in terms of what he can do in a game" and can pose match-up issues.
"He can score in multiple ways so his athleticism can create some issues in the positions that he plays."
Having added Abercrombie a fortnight ago, Henare says the Saints were settled well before that even though they knew the Tall Black was going to be in their equation before the NBL tipped off in April.
The load sharing is falling into place with the latest signing but tweaking will require a little bit more time before the Final Four.
The Saints, Henare likes to believe, play an up-tempo, defensive brand of basketball with the goal of putting oppositions under pressure for the entire 40 minutes to make offensive gains from rebounding.
"We've found a way that we enjoy playing and is a winning formula."
BOTH TEAMS
■ Hawks (starting 5): 6. Jarrod Kenny (c, point guard), 15. Brandon Bowman (power forward), 12. Ethan Rusbatch (swingman), 25. EJ Singler (small forward), 14. Daniel Kickert (centre).
Bench: 3. Nick Fee (guard), 5. Everard Bartlett (shooting guard), 13. Dion Prewster (swingman), 7. Darryl Jones (forward), 11. Jamal Mikaio (forward), 9. James Levings (guard), 21. Geoff Heather (forward).
Coach: Zico Coronel.
Ast co-coaches: Morgan Maskell, Rob Hartley.
Manager: Jordan Wise.
Physio: Colin Tutchen.
■ Saints (starting 5): 55. Shae Ili (point guard), 11. Jordan Ngatai (swingman), 7. Reuben Te Rangi (forward), 2. Nick Kay (power forward), 14. Rob Loe (centre).
Bench: 15. Leon Henry (forward), 3. Sunday Dech (guard), 13. Anzac Rissetto (centre), 9. Theo Johnson (forward), 10. Thomas Abercrombie (forward).
Coach: Paul Henare.
Ast co-coaches: Kenny McFadden, Troy McLean.
Manager: Phil Hartley.
Physio: Jamie Beleski.
Napier City Rovers' hopes of making the National League final are in their own hands.