Basketball New Zealand

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Dynamos forward Link Abrams will join The 100 Game Club on Friday night (ImageSport NZ)

When Taranaki were re-introduced to the National Basketball League for the 2003 season, coach Warren Osborne made a contentious decision for one of his import spots.

“The basketball people in New Plymouth were quite skeptical that he could play at the NBL level and as our import at the time,” recalls Osborne, who now owns and operates the franchise with wife Ali.

“The criticism was that he had just one shot, a right hook shot, but he has more than one shot and his stats show that.”

That player was, and still is, now-naturalised American Link Abrams.

Osborne brought Abrams to New Plymouth in 1998 to play for the Taranaki Stormers in the Conference Basketball League, then went with him in Taranaki’s first season back in the NBL despite plenty of opposing advice.

“I had no doubt in my mind, that he could play in the League. It was what he did for us in the second division and I had no doubt.

“They didn’t think he had the skill and they under-rated his rebounding prowess.

“What he didn’t show in the second division but what you need in the division one is individual skill. He has that. I’ve seen him leading our break, making cross-overs, spin dribbles and finishing it off with double-pump lay-ups.”

And on Friday night, Abrams will play his 100th consecutive game when Devon Dynamos Taranaki host the Cartridge World Otago Nuggets at TSB Stadium in round eight of the Dominion Finance NBL, reaching the century in just his sixth season.

The 34-year-old 1.95m power forward has not missed a game since making his NBL debut on April 23, 2003.

Abrams, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, led the Stormers to a perfect 18-0 season and the CBL title in 2002, then averaged 28.8 points and 10.0 rebounds a game in his first NBL season for the Taranaki Mountain Airs, earning All-Star five selection.

He gained his New Zealand citizenship before the 2004 season and in his five complete seasons, Abrams – a maths and economics teacher and hoops coach at Spotswood College – has averaged under 20 points per game just once, 19.7 in 2005, and has averaged double-digit rebounds three times, all while having a 60.5 career shooting percentage from the field.

“We made believers of them. It maybe took them a couple of years but definitely by ’05 we’ve entrenched in their minds that he’s the man,” Osborne said.

“He’s a quiet and unassuming guy and so goes under the radar really. He’s not pumped up by his own self-importance.”

An example of that was when he first arrived, Abrams was offered a chance to step-up and play for the then-NBL Taranaki Oilers but opted to complete his commitment to the team that brought him to New Zealand.

Honours-wise, last season was Abrams’ best, winning the outstanding forward, outstanding Kiwi forward and rebounding champ awards, and making the All-Star Five for the second time after averaging 20.4 points and a career-best 11.5 rebounds.

Abrams is the third player to reach a major games milestone this season, with Easy LPG Bay Hawks point guard Paul Henare reaching 200 in round three and Hawks forward Damien Ekenasio playing his 100th last Friday. Dynamos team-mate Ben Jeffrey and Marley Canterbury Rams point guard Jeremy Kench will likely reach 100 games and Century City Wellington Saints shooting guard Troy McLean 200 games in 2008.

And in nine games this year, Abrams is averaging 19.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 64.9 percent from the floor, second in the NBL behind Appliance Shed Harbour Heat’s Tim Behrendorff. He leads the sixth-placed 4-5 Dynamos in rebounds and blocks, second behind import Keith Salscheider in points by decimals, and has five 20-point games and three double-doubles.

Already in ’08, he became one of the quickest to 2000 career points and surpassed 100 blocks, and more milestones beckon, needing 35 boards to make the 1000 Rebound Club and 10 steals for 100.

Not bad for a dude with just one shot.

NBL Round Eight Guide (1MB pdf)