Basketball: Dahlberg out to be a winner this time

Nelson basketballer Robbie Dahlberg is sick of second place.

His record in big games isn't pretty.

He was in teams beaten in the national secondary schools final by Napier, national under-20 final by Auckland and the 1997 national basketball league (NBL) final by Auckland.

Dahlberg was in the Nelson squad in 1994 when the team won their first national league title, but only as a promising high schooler, who trained a lot and played a lot less often.

He had moved to Dunedin when Nelson won again in 1998.

"That's all in the past, though. It's not something motivating me for this weekend, there's plenty of motivation already," he said.

Dahlberg has been one of the form players for Nelson as they make their way to the final against last season's champions Waikato in Nelson tomorrow.

He has given the Nelson team some defensive starch off the bench, forming an abrasive partnership with sixth man forward Mika Vukona.

It's been a while coming, but the defensively-minded Dahlberg knows he has found his place in a talent-laden Nelson team.

"I struggled to see where I could fit in for a while.

"My game went off a bit as I tried to work out where I could bring some benefits.

"Now Mika and I know we are in there to hit the floor, get in people's faces, bring some spark to the defence."

Dahlberg is aware of the talk about Waikato's gambling defence and the trouble it could cause tomorrow.

"You can't hesitate, you can't be timid or they will steal the ball and get a lay-up.

"The key is to attack the defence and go through them, push it right at them. You might lose it a couple of times but there's a lot better chance it will be you scoring and not them.

"And if you score, they can't fast break as easily at you, so it's a double payoff," he says.

Dahlberg, who was working in the Japanese financial markets when he was approached by coach Nenad Vucinic to return to Nelson, has a ticket to London lined up following the final.

That's further into the future than he's willing to look, though.

"Saturday at 2pm is my future. Life can wait until after that."

- NZPA