Basketball: Boomers coming for pre-Olympic workout

By PETER JESSUP

Basketball New Zealand has confirmed a three-test tour by the Australian Boomers as a pre-Olympic build-up for both teams, who are on opposite sides of the Athens draw.

They will play the Tall Blacks at Mystery Creek, Hamilton, on July 9, at the Westpac Centre in Christchurch on July 10 and the Southland Events Centre on July 11.

That allows the Tall Blacks two weeks' preparation following the NBL final on June 27. The squad assemble the following day.

Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron, meanwhile, continues to struggle with a calf strain that has bothered him for months, but will play against the Wellington Saints tonight at Te Awamutu.

Cameron pulled out of the Australian NBL All Star game in Melbourne tonight to back the Titans, who lose imports Geordie Cullen and Mike Chappell to the All Stars, and was determined not to succumb to the injury.

The Waikato Titans will also be without forward Puke Lenden, who has suffered a head knock and has a lingering neck injury.

North Harbour Heat have a one-from-two score on the baby front, Jeff Niwa's wife giving birth on Monday night and Rob Tuilave's wife 11 days overdue.

The pair missed last week's road trip to Nelson, but Niwa was expected to go to Christchurch today for the game against the Rams, with Tuilave staying home.

The Rams, two days under a new coach, will no doubt try what the Nelson Giants did, in shutting down centre Axel Dench, but do not have the same power to achieve that.

The Manawatu Jets, meanwhile, have bolstered their line-up with a significant American, apparently playing for free. Anthony Lever is two years out of the University of Oregon and just missed selection for the Phoenix Suns.

He arrived mid-week and Basketball NZ said he should be registered and able to play against the Auckland Stars on Saturday.

* The Sydney Kings are back-up NBL champions after a come-from-behind 90-79 win in game five of their series with the West Sydney Razorbacks. The Razors led 28-14, 49-37 and 62-56 at the breaks, before a fourth-quarter revival by the defending champs, with import Ebi Ere the hero with 14 last-quarter points.