Pistons Sweat Skipper’s Health

You are here > Home / News / Pistons Sweat Skipper's Health

June 29, 2010

Saints import Erron Maxey marks Pistons import Tony Ronaldson (Photosport)

Martin Davidson, NZPA
The Waikato Pistons are sweating on the fitness of influential captain Tony Ronaldson as they go hunting for a hat-trick of National Basketball League (NBL) titles against the Wellington Saints.

Coach Dean Vickerman remains cautiously hopeful the former Australian international will have a role to play in the best-of-three finals series which tips off in Hamilton tomorrow night before shifting to the capital for the second and third games on Wednesday and Thursday.

He will give Ronaldson as much time as needed to prove his fitness after he injured a knee during the second quarter of their semifinal win over Nelson last Friday.

“He told me he is improving. He’s a tough kid,” Vickerman said of the 38-year-old power forward who is due to retire after the series. “If he can warm up and play we will play him. It could be he won’t be right until the second game but we will keep trying to get him right to play a part in the series.

“This is the finish of his career and he doesn’t want to do it sitting on the bench.”

Vickerman did not attempt to mask Ronaldson’s importance to the two-time defending champions, who have lost twice to top qualifiers Wellington this season.

“He’s our captain, he’s our leader, he makes us stay organised. His presence is really important, but in saying that we played the second half against Nelson pretty well without him.

“Whether he’s there or not we will still be competitive.”

With or without the former New Zealand Breaker, Waikato know they are in for a battle against the Pero Cameron-coached Wellington, who Vickerman said had lit up the league this year.

Cameron’s influence cannot be over-stated as he has moulded the Wellington side into shape after a patchy start to the season, and they enter the finals firing after winning 12 of their past 13 matches.

Vickerman is highly impressed with how Cameron, the former Waikato icon in his rookie season as a coach, has guided a Wellington team posing multiple threats in the form of American import Eric Devendorf, who Waikato jettisoned early in the season, Lindsay Tait, Nick Horvath and Casey Frank.

“He’s going to be a great coach. He’s shown this year that he can pull a group of talented players together. That’s one of his best qualities, he’s very inclusive and he makes people become a major part of his team.”

The finals series will showcase a sharp contrast in styles, with Wellington the league entertainers with an up tempo game and Waikato more pragmatic and deliberate.

“They’re the best offensive team in the league and we’re the best defensive team. Hopefully we can slow the game down a little bit, while they will want to speed it up,” Vickerman said.

“They’re absolutely loaded with talent. They have four imports, two of them naturalised, they have two Tall Blacks and a former Tall Black in Troy McLean. We just have to try to match all that.

“We have to limit their opportunities, take away their fast break baskets and make sure we execute with precision when we have scoring opportunities.” Cameron’s intimate knowledge of the Waikato play sheet has forced Vickerman to implement subtle variations to his own tactics.

“He knows our stuff pretty well so we do have to make a number of counters. He has his ways of defending what we do, so you do have to make adjustments and tinker with your offence.”

Basketball New Zealand