Basketball: Waikato's season record speaks for itself

By PETER JESSUP

Waikato creamed Nelson 85-58 and the national league regular season, with a 16-2 record that leaves them well clear of all chasers. But coach Jeff Green is unhappy all could be lost in next Saturday's one-off semifinal against Auckland.

He wants a return to a three or five-game series, as was the case in the 1990s.

"The idea of a championship is to find the best team. If we were to lose next weekend it would be a travesty," Green said.

That appears unlikely. The Titans have beaten Auckland twice this season, the last time just two weeks ago in a 101-86 thrashing, and 94-84 in round two. All their players are fit and they go in after the demolition job on the Nelson Giants on Friday night.

"We're confident. But confidence means nothing, the season means nothing now ... anyone can prepare for a one-off game ... we could lose it all," Green said.

He doesn't think they will.

"We played pretty well against Auckland last time but I thought our game against Nelson was the best we've been offensively and defensively all season. We excelled ourselves."

Green said the long season had prompted him to drop trainings from three to two a week and his players appeared to have freshened as a result.

Basketball New Zealand chief executive David Crocker has not dismissed Green's call. The season was reviewed as a matter of course. There were good arguments that more finals games would bring more television and other exposure, sponsorship and revenue.

Next season might be too cramped to implement change, as the Athens Olympics basketball tournament tips off in August. But that might prompt a look at mid-week league games, Crocker said, allowing time for multi-game finals series.

Although the Waikato-Auckland venue is set for the Te Awamutu Events Centre the scene of the other semi between the Wellington Saints and the Manawatu Jets is far from determined.

The Saints' usual home, the Queens Wharf Events Centre, is booked and their first choice alternative, Walter Nash Stadium in Lower Hutt, is not looked on favourably by television. The game is live on TV2 this Sunday.

There was a chance it could shift north to enemy territory, and the Saints could lose the home advantage of their second-placed finish to the third-placed Jets.

They won both roundplay games by similar margins, 88-62 and 86-62.

The venue decision has to be made by tomorrow for ticketing and broadcast preparation.

The Saints earned their spot with a 93-61 win over the Hawks at Hawkes Bay. Michael Tompson had his best game of the season, with 34 points and 10 rebounds, Ben Knight 21 and Terrence Lewis 17, even though he has been asked to sacrifice his shooting game to focus on defence.

The Saints had a 22-point lead after seven minutes and were never headed.

The Jets beat Otago 89-83, with Kent Mori, 22, David Cooper and Stacey Lambert, 16, contributing to a wide scoring spread, while the Nuggets relied heavily on import Mike Pegues, 26, and Tall Black Mark Dickel, 19.

Auckland started slowly against North Harbour in the local derby at Unitec, down 27-14 at the first stop, closing to 46-44 down at the break and going out to 73-58 after a third-quarter blitz where Casey Frank rallied the team and Reece Cassidy started hitting his three-point shots.

He finished with 36, Frank 18 and Lindsay Tait consistent again with 16.

* The Tall Black team to tour Turkey this month and go to the September Olympic qualifying series with Australia are to be named late in the week once issues of availability of key players Dickel, Tony Rampton and Kirk Penney are clear.