Basketball: A boy who stopped traffic

Alex Pledger. Photo / Getty Images

Doug Courtney nearly caused a traffic accident. He hastily pulled over after spotting a 2.13m schoolboy walking along the road.

Courtney gawped. There, in school uniform, was a walking, talking basketball prospect. The kid was enormous. Seven feet tall in the old measure. He couldn't get out of his car quick enough.

The schoolboy was Alex Pledger, then not even a basketball player but now a 23-year-old star for the Waikato Pistons, in US college basketball, the Breakers and the Tall Blacks. He was in his Fraser High School gear but all Courtney - then coaching the rival Hamilton Boys' High School team - could see was opportunity; for him; for Pledger; for the sport.

His vision was spot on. This season has been a breakout year for Pledger, the tallest person in New Zealand sport, and a late season star for the New Zealand Breakers during their amazing run to winning the Australian National Basketball League finals. The points and rebounds have kept coming for Pledger and his Pistons team in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL).

Pledger has averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds a game in the NZNBL. Included in that highlight reel has been a series of spectacular dunks, one running the length of the court and catching the ball one-handed, and finishing.

"I am confident and injury free and it reflects in the way I am playing. Last year I was troubled by a knee injury and it has taken a while to come right," said Pledger. "The confidence comes from the great coaching I have had from Andrej [Lemanis; at the Breakers] and my team-mates and the coaching staff and team at the Pistons."

Courtney, now an assistant coach with the Pistons, was quick to encourage the youngster to attend Hamilton's Fraser High School basketball trials later on the day he spotted him.

"Yep, that's when things started to get serious for me," said Pledger. "I didn't know who Doug was but he was really enthusiastic and convinced me to attend my school trials and that's where my basketball career really began."

Pledger has seen a lot of different basketball gyms since that chance meeting and a lot of different coaches but still remembers the many early morning skill sessions with Courtney.

"Even in my sixth form year at Fraser, I did three skill sessions a week with Doug. Jamie Barnett [a current Pistons team-mate] and I did these sessions where we learnt a lot of different skills. I learnt to shoot the ball at those sessions and it's a skill I've continued to work on."

Pledger transferred to Hamilton Boys' High School in his seventh form year and his hard work paid off - he was selected for the Junior Tall Black team and then won a full academic scholarship in the United States.

"I spent four years in the States but ended up only playing for three due to injury. I hurt my ankle and elbow and had surgery on both of them. The rehabilitation facilities at the USA schools were amazing and they really looked after me."

The US experience did more than that. It turned Pledger from a gangly, maybe rather awkward mover, into an athlete and lifted his confidence enormously.

"The whole college experience was amazing. I arrived weighing 100kg and got into the weights room and doing my skills training five days a week and came home weighing 115kg."

Pledger is the starting centre for the Pistons and his improved body weight, height, arm reach and prolific scoring ability around the basket has been a handful for opponents. Having great passing guards in the Pistons like Jason Crowe and Jerry Smith has seen Pledger excel when running the court in transition offence and posting up opponents and scoring at will.

"Things have really just clicked for me in the last few months, finishing the season on a high with the Breakers and I'm having a great time here with the Pistons.

"At the Breakers I have a guy like CJ Bruton around me who is a very confident player and makes you believe in your own abilities and the ability of the team. He has had a major influence on me - as he has made me a better player and person.

"This Pistons team are also a great group to be around. In any team, it's also how tight a unit you are off the court that counts and we are. We are a well-balanced team with Jason, Jerry, Hayden (Allen), Tom (Abercrombie) and BJ (Anthony) plus a proven bench of NBL players."

It's a family affair, almost. Abercrombie and Anthony are also team-mates at the Breakers. Pistons head coach Dean Vickerman is assistant coach of the Breakers. The Pistons are on a roll-winning 10 consecutive games-and are on target for the NZNBL finals weekend in Wellington in three weeks.

Pledger has overcome his troublesome left knee injury with the assistance of the strength and conditioning and physiotherapist staff of the Breakers. Ice has become a close friend of Pledger's - he methodically ices both knees after every training session.

Extensive gym sessions and a lot of stretching exercises have seen Pledger show improved court and lateral speed around the basket.

"I spend a lot of time on a foam roller stretching out as the body takes a pounding with all the games and trainings. I have a stretch routine I have to do before and after every basketball and weights workout. If I don't do my stretching routine, I wake up the next day and I can't move.

"I have played two straight back-to-back seasons with the Breakers, Pistons and Tall Blacks and, with the stretching exercises and acupuncture, the body is in pretty good shape at the moment."

Having "no body issues" is a catch phrase commonly heard in basketball-and when you are 2.13m, it's something to enjoy.

Pledger has two more playing seasons left on his Breakers contract and is firmly committed to staying with the North Shore franchise. An opportunity to play overseas is tempting - but so is maintaining a fit and healthy body and enjoyment in playing basketball.

"If an opportunity did present itself to play overseas, I would consider it - but it would have to be a high level of basketball and also a level where I would consider myself an asset to the team I was playing for."Anthony Corban is a journalist and assistant coach at the Pistons.