Basketball New Zealand

Pistons Pero Cameron

With only three rounds left in the NZCT National Basketball League regular season, the race to the top will become very interesting in Round 12 when the Waikato Pistons travel on the road to play a couple of difficult road games.

On Friday night the Pistons will be in Wellington to take on the third placed Century City Saints in a rematch of the 2008 Finals. Tall Black Pero Cameron will play his 300th NBL game and will have very fond memories of TSB Bank Arena where his Pistons side won the Championship last year defeating the Saints 84-79.

The Saints will want to improve on composure which was lacking in the fourth quarter against the Giants last week where they were leading by as many as 8 only to lose the lead and the game 79-70.

Pistons have been cruising of late winning seven in a row by and average margin of 21 points and destroyed the bottom placed Devon Dynamos Taranaki 94-60 last week in New Plymouth. They will face stiffer competition when they play the Saints and then travel down to the Trafalgar Centre to play the ecogise Nelson Giants in a top of the table clash.

The ecogise Nelson Giants boast the only unbeaten record at home at 6-0, while the Pistons are the only team in the league to not lose on the road with five wins. Pistons have been playing catch up all season having played fewer games than teams such as the Giants, but they have an opportunity to become top of the table if they are able to secure two wins this round, which is the first time the Pistons have been first since Round Three.

On Thursday the Youthtown Auckland Stars will host the 0800 Easy LPG Bay Hawks in game which will most probably decide who will get the final playoff spot. If the Hawks win then they will have the head to head over the Stars which eliminate the Stars from the playoffs. If the Stars win over the Hawks then the playoff chances are still alive, but still slim more than likely needing to win the remainder of their games.

Hawks will then cross the bridge to play the Appliance Shed Harbour Heat who has been on a roll of late winning three in a row and clinching a playoff spot last week. New import Mike Bell has been a good pick up for the Heat averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds in 4 games. Hawks have also signed a new import former NBL Most Valuable Player David Cooper who played his first game for the Hawks scoring 9 points in the 83-74 loss against the Bartercard Christchurch Cougars.

Cougars will host the struggling McDonalds Manawatu Jets who will need to win to keep their playoff chances alive. It was a successful homecoming for former Hawks Paora Winitana and Paul Henare with the win last week and will be happy to be back at their new home Cowles Stadium where they will be playing the remainder of their regular season games against teams with losing records. The Jets don’t have such a favorable draw playing the Cougars and Giants in two of their last three games.

Below is the Playoff Picture for the teams yet to be eliminated from playoff contention

2009 NZCT NBL Playoff Picture (124 KB pdf)