Basketball: The Bishop's move

Paora Winitana. Picture / Mark Mitchell

It's been a busy but exciting year for Paora "Bishop" Winitana. He's at the peak of his game, and back in March, the "Bishop" tag that teammates gave him because of his commitment to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints took on more meaning when he was officially ordained in his hometown of Hastings.

Winitana has been in camp with the Tall Blacks this week as coach Tab Baldwin forces competition for the 12 spots in his team for the World Championships in August. And tomorrow Winitana plays for Hawkes Bay against Auckland for the 2006 NBL title. It continues a busy year.

"It's been a humbling experience all round," he said after being named NBL Most Valuable Player on Wednesday. "Every player in the league puts in the time, trains hard, goes hard on the court so to be considered the best, that's awesome."

When the Hawks' regular captain Paul Henare unexpectedly received an offer to play in Turkey and left after one game, Winitana was asked by coach Shawn Dennis to do the job - and he did it admirably.

He said it was a privilege to lead the Hawks but agreed you needed the trust and respect of players if they were to listen and follow the lead.

Veteran Willie Burton, just turned 44, would retire after this game and seeing the old adviser out on a winning note provided great motivation, Winitana said. "There's a font of knowledge right there."

Burton had held the team together and, with A.J. Majstrovich and Henare, had helped the team to steadily improve through the season.

The Hawks use what they call a "Can I?" concept as mantra. "Can I play any harder, can I shoot better, can I improve week by week ... "

Winitana said it had instilled a confident culture. And because the core of the team had been together for some time, most backing up from last year's final, there was cohesion in their play.

Because of his Mormon beliefs, Winitana did not play in the semifinal win over Nelson last weekend. But because he was comfortable with the team systems and the players, he felt no disadvantage in missing that game nor in not being in training with the team this week.

He joined them last night after the Hawks travelled north. They would have just two practices before the final.

The Hawks and Stars knew each other's games well and the result would come down to which team was better at countering the other, he said.

There was some element of revenge at stake, he agreed, after the Stars won last year's final 69-68 in Napier.

"It really hurt when they beat us on our home court - they cut down the net, we remember that quite vividly."

Tomorrow's final at the North Shore Events Centre will be Winitana's 13th playoff game but he is yet to win a title.

He started in the league with North Harbour in 1996 after being spotted while playing for Church College in Hamilton, the source of many NBL players.

Then-Auckland coach Baldwin wanted him to play for the Stars. Winitana ended up at some Harbour practices with mentor Byron Vaetoe who was playing for the Heat and he ended up signing there. "Tab said he would continue to follow my career and he did."

His playing number has always been 8. "I always wanted to play rugby like my dad, Barney, and he was a No 8."

But after Winitana's success on court his siblings followed and 2001 turned out to be a special year. He has two sisters and two brothers and that year all of them made New Zealand or Maori representative teams in basketball. Winitana completed his mission of two years for the Mormon Church in Sydney in 2000 and 2001, as his basketball opportunities were expanding. Then followed another big year when he married Tia (they met at Church College), and returned to the NBL with the Hawks.

In 2002 he made the Tall Blacks for the world championships in Indianapolis and he was part of the campaigns at the Athens Olympics and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

"I've been blessed," he said of his sporting career - and his life.

Providing leadership to his congregation could be an exhausting business but was rewarding. His body was "a bit sore" this week after the rigours of the NBL season, topped off by a physical testing in the TBs camp.

"It's part of the package," Winitana said.

"I wouldn't miss any of it."

Paora "Bishop" Winitana

Born: December 6, 1976, Hastings
1.95m shooting guard/small forward.
NRL debut for North Harbour 1996, won Rookie of the Year title.
Harbour 1996-98, Hawks 2001 and 2003-06.
Tall Black debut 2002, 29 games including 2002 world championships.
2004 Athens Olympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Breakers 2003-2004, 30 games.
Played 12 play-off games, no titles.
2006 averages 15.6 points, 50% field-goal average, 39% three-point average, 3.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals a game.