KEY POINTS:
Waikato may be forced to give up home advantage for the National Basketball League semifinal against Nelson on Saturday.
Hamilton YMCA is Waikato's official home court but it is marginal in terms of league regulations and certainly sub-standard for hosting play-off games.
It is the only gym in the competition without transparent backboards, falls far below the required seating capacity (1000), is too small for suitable corporate hosting and does not have enough lighting for television coverage.
Alternatives such as the Te Awamutu Events Centre and Mystery Creek are unavailable.
If Waikato cannot come up with a suitable venue up to the required standard, the NBL will decide in the next couple of days whether to move the semifinal to another venue, possibly even to Nelson's Trafalgar Centre.
"Here again, we have a high-performing team among the best in the country during the past few years but we still have to play in crappy facilities," Waikato general manager John Davey said yesterday.
"It just highlights the embarrassment Hamilton and the Waikato face when it comes to hosting major indoor events. We just can't."
Waikato (13-5) finished second in the league after a dramatic final round of the regular season in which defending champions Hawkes Bay (12-6) were upset by lowly Canterbury at home.
Waikato, who take a five-game winning streak into the semifinals, finished with the same record as Nelson, but enjoyed a one point difference advantage in a countback.
"Unless we can come up with a stadium by the end of Monday, we will almost certainly have to concede our home semifinal and travel to Nelson," Davey said.
NBL commissioner Bryn McGoldrick said: "From our point of view, it is a tragedy that we even have to contemplate taking this game away from [Waikato].
"The league has provided a sensational competition this season and these guys have done a great job to earn a home semifinal.
"We want to respect that but, ultimately, the league deserves a better standard of presentation and we need to ask ourselves is there a venue good enough?"
Tentatively, the Waikato Pistons will host Nelson in the first semifinal at an unconfirmed venue on Saturday.
The second semifinal between top seeds North Harbour and Hawkes Bay is set for Sunday at North Harbour.
- NZPA
