Horvath Gets Nod
Tagged in: National Teams, Tall Blacks
Wellington Saints centre Nick Horvath has won the hotly contested naturalized spot on the NZ Tall Blacks roster for their last-ditch bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
Coach Nenad Vucinic has opted for Horvath over incumbent Casey Frank as the national men’s team heads to Europe for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens next month.
“This decision was not made on form,” says Vucinic. “We looked at the composition of the team and felt we needed more cover for the centre position … we had the ‘four’ spot covered.
“As far as we are concerned, Casey is still a Tall Black … he is just unlucky this time.”
Frank scooped the forward awards in this year’s Dominion Finance NBL and was named Kiwi MVP after averaging 21.6 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Auckland Stars.
He and Horvath, who obtained NZ citizenship in April, were both named in the All-Star.
Horvath, a former Duke University captain, averaged 17.5 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Saints, then 28.0 points in their finals loss to Waikato Pistons.
After their 57-94 loss to Australian in Melbourne last night, the Tall Blacks will pick up star shooter Kirk Penney in Toronto for the Jack Donohue International Classic against Canada and Lebanon.
