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Round one was full of notable performances such as the 49 points scored by Waikato Pistons Eric Devendorf and 20 rebounds from fellow team mate Alex Pledger, also the debutants Southland Sharks taking the Hawks to overtime.

Round Two should be even better when it begins this Thursday when the Christchurch Cougars host the Wellington Saints at Cowles Stadium (Tip Off 7pm). Cougars had a gutsy 3 point win over the Bay Hawks last Thursday after trailing by as many as 20 points. Their captain Paora Winitana was instrumental in the comeback scoring 27 points and the Cougars also welcomed back hometown boy Jeremy Kench who tallied 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.

Saints meanwhile cruised to a 34 point rout of the Manawatu Jets, although it came at a cost losing their franchise player Lindsay Tait who suffered a severe ankle sprain and could be out for up to a month. Nick Horvarth was outstanding after a one year hiatus scoring a game high 29 points. Horvarth was complemented by emerging star Leon Henry who scored 28 points at a field goal percentage of 76.9%.

The Cougars Kench, Winitana and Aidan Daly will have to look to run and put pressure on the Saints with the loss of Tait. Whereas the Saints will like to keep the game in the halfcourt getting inside to the likes of Horvarth, Casey Frank and their new import from the Gold Coast Blaze Erron Maxey.

Head Coach Pero Cameron will be taking the reins for the first time this season and will want to keep his unbeaten record against the Cougars beating them three times last season as a player for the Pistons.

On Saturday there will be four games around the league and it begins at 6pm in Palmerston North when the Jets host the Bay Hawks. Jets will need to forget last week and hopefully have the services of their import big man Ronald Allen who did not play against the Saints with a back injury. They will also need to forget preseason when the Hawks romped them a couple of weeks earlier.

The Hawks will be relieved that they did not give away a second game when they blew a 14 first quarter lead against the Southland Sharks in regular time, eventually winning in overtime by 15 points. Coach Shawn Dennis will be pleased with his team’s fortitude winning on the road in most probably one of the toughest places to play this season Invercargill. Dennis will also be pleased with his new signings Dave Langrell and Nat Connell who averaged 16 and 15 points on the road trip respectively. Jets split the games with the Hawks last season winning at home 107-93. Jets Richard Jeter showed glimpses of brilliance last week scoring 17 consecutive points and 20 in the second quarter against the Saints.

A rematch of last year’s semi final will take place at 7pm when the Nelson Giants host the Saints. Saints seemed to have had victory in the semi only for the Giants to snatch it away with a late tip by Tony Rampton off a missed free throw on the buzzer. The Giants will hopefully be welcoming back the services of Tall Black Mika Vukona who was sorely missed in the Waikato game where they were out rebounded 57-32.

Vukona will go head to head with his fellow team mate at the Gold Coast Blaze Erron Maxey, both bringing similar hard working no nonsense attributes to their teams. Another interesting match up to keep an eye will be between the Giants Phil Jones and the Saints new import Darryl Hudson who showed he can play defence grabbing 11 rebounds and 4 steals on debut. Hudson will have his hands full marking Jones who is one of the most crafty players ever to play in the league and he proved this when he scored 37 points also going to the line 16 times against the Airs.

In Te Awamutu the Waikato Pistons look to take the Taranaki Mountainairs to 18 consecutive losses, but it will be no easy task with this much improved Airs side. Airs showed a lot of character against the Giants last week losing only to a Michael Harrison jumper with one second remaining, final score 84-82. This game could be a shoot out between Pistons Eric Devendorf and Airs Jack Leasure who are arguably some of the top shooters in the league.

Pistons meanwhile look very strong to make 2010 a three peat with the additions of Devendorf, Tony Ronaldson, Hayden Allen and former Cougar Gerard Bowden. Pistons never looked like losing in their 92-73 win over the Giants, winning every quarter.

After a year absence in Dunedin, the OceanaGold Nuggets return to the league to host the Cougars at the Edgar Centre. Even though the Nuggets lost by 17 against the Harbour Heat they showed promise being down in the first quarter by 17 closing the gap to 5 at the half.

Cougars will most likely be without the services of their import big man Tim Behrendorff who is currently with the Wollongong Hawks in the Australian NBL. This will mean the likes of Lionel Hopgood, Trent Wurtz and Mark Morrison will have the assignment of trying to shut down big man Antoine Tisby. Tisby scored 32 points and grabbed 19 rebounds against competition of the quality of Breaker import Rick Rickert and Tall Black Beny Anthony.

Round two concludes on Sunday afternoon when the Harbour Heat play Southland Sharks at the North Shore Event Centre. The Heat has a new front line of Rick Rickert, Dillon Boucher and Reece Cassidy to compliment young stars Corey Webster and Beny Anthony. Heat showed they can quickly put points on the board scoring 34 points in the opening quarter against the Nuggets.

Sharks meanwhile had a strong fourth quarter versus the Hawks restricting them to 12 points. But it was a different story in the extra period when they gave up 21 points losing by 15. Sharks can ill afford to do the same with a team with the offensive capabilities of the Heat. Sharks Mike Rose impressed last week with 29 points and he will match up against Webster who scored 34 in round one.

Import guard for the Sharks Rene Rougeau has been compared to Boucher in is style of play, but struggled to get decent court time for his team fouling out in twenty minutes. Big man Rickert had a solid 18 points and 10 rebounds last week, he will go up against young big man Martin Iti who had 8 points (4/4 FG) and 8 rebounds.

More Information click on Media Guide Pdf. 2010 NBL Round One Media Guide (420 KB pdf)