Titans CBL Three-peat
Tagged in: BBNZ News, Competitions, NBL
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You couldnít have scripted it any better if you had tried … the stuff classic movies are made of with a closing scene that left you tingling with excitement long after the credits had rolled and the lights come on in the cinema.
That was the case at the 2007 Conference Basketball League final in Tauranga as the Waikato Titans inflicted heartache on Porirua with the putback basket made fractions of a second before the game-end buzzer sounded.
While the Titans swung into party mode and the Porirua heads went down in utter disbelief, the 400 strong crowd sat in stunned silence before the reality of the situation hit home and their recognition of a fantastic game was expressed in the traditional manner.
The game certainly was a case of the two best teams meetin in the final with both managing to systematically account for their rivals in section play, then negotiate their way past semifinal opponents with relative ease. This was especially so for Porirua in their trouncing of Mexicali Fresh Harbour Heat Reserves, although the Titansí win over Turanga Health Rising Suns from Gisborne was less convincing to start with, their fourth quarter control better reflecting their status as championship favourites.
The final was destined to be an excellent contrast of old heads (Waikato) versus young bodies (Porirua). That is not to say that either team didnít have a bit of the other, more a case of their strengths being in the opposite ends of the spectrum.
It was also a contrast of coaches with Jeff Green being the experienced campaigner behind Waikato and ex-NBL player Frank Mulvihill in his first season mentoring the talent on the Porirua roster. Both had excellent player resources in the forms of Mason Le Pou, David Burgess, Earl Smith, Puke Lenden and Parlayne Hawea for Waikato against Brendon Polyblank, Brendon Pongia, Damien Ekenasio, Cory Vessey and Randall Bishop for Porirua.
The result really came down to how well the players executed what turned out to be similar game plans at both ends of the court. Integral to those game plans was just how well team enforcers Smith and Ekenasio could do their jobs in the keyholes, either making space off the ball at the offensive end or disrupting their opponents’ flow when defending.
Nicest of gentlemen off the court, but certainly no saints on it.
Waikato Titans took the advantage and ended the first quarter with a nine-point lead, thanks to the finishing of Lenden and Le Pou in particular. This pair did the early damage, with cameo roles provided by Cameron and Burgess in the opening stages before the latter two started imposing themselves more on the game in the second quarter.
Porirua, too, were not without their sense of the unknown with Pongia taking a backseat in the early exchanges, leaving the hard work on offence to Polyblank in the inside and Bishop from the outside. They managed to keep in touch with the Titans and provided some sense of security before Pongia’s introduction late in the quarter and the inevitable rain of three pointers began showering on the Titansí basket.
The accuracy of such an accomplished three-point threat planted a seed of doubt that was enough to keep Waikato on edge whenever Pongia took the court and the desire to close his threat down opened up scoring opportunities closer to the basket for Polyblank and Bishop in particular.
The second quarter saw Porirua charge back at the Titans in an effort to stay close and hopefully be there at the end when older legs might tie up with the pace of the game. The tactic bore fruit in terms off staying with them, but the Titans managed enough smart rotation of players to maintain scoring momentum regardless of who was out on court.
By now, Waikato were without their enforcer as Smith tested the referees’ tolerance levels and was forced to ìtake to the pineî after having three fouls logged against him in quick succession early in the first quarter.
The Titans may have a lot of old heads, but coach Green knows how to put the right combinations out on court and he did this with his introduction of the likes of Burgess, Ray Cameron and Rikki Crawford. All offered plenty of variation on attack and repaid the coachís faith with plenty of points to boot.
So with everyone contributing for Waikato with points or crucial boards, Porirua had to work hard. They did it well and showed plenty of maturity of their own in terms of on-court decision making and option taking at the scoring end. They showed plenty of maturity at the defensive end as well with some magic pressure defense on and off the ball that forced Waikato to execute as well as they did.
A 50% return from the field was proof enough of that.
At the halfway mark, the Waikato Titans looked ready to settle in to the lead with a third quarter in which, on the proof of other games, they normally consolidated their lead and started to pull away.
Porirua, however, had done their homework and came with a different script. So different, in fact, that they not only didnít let Waikato settle, they dominated proceedings and left the Titans wallowing in their wake as they strode back into contention with attitude.
Polyblank continued to frustrate the defense with bullish moves, keeping up a solid return of two pointers in the form of field goals or free throws, while Pongia blasted away at the hearts of the Waikato supporters with his successful volleys of treys. So effective was Pongia that coach Green was forced to ask Pongiaís marker which side he was playing for and not just the once.
For both sides, the glue that kept the respective trains on the track were the lesser lights in name, but leading lights in the game.
Bishop was considered too small to be of much use in the NBL, but that coach was obviously suffering an IQ meltdown because he was anything but a lost cause. On offense he was the playmaker and cameo-role points contributor while on defense he was the dynamo that kept Porirua on fire.
Likewise, Burgess for Waikato was Mr Everywhere at both ends of the court. His generalship was impressive as he guided the far-from-titanic Titans with maturity and vision.
Poriruaís hope that the pace of the game would favour them in the home stretch never eventuated, thanks to Greenís wise subbing, especially of Crawford and Cameron, who took up more and more of the scoring responsibility as the game entered its last phase.
Defense took on far more intensity with not a quarter given by either side. The quality was very, very impressive indeed with gritty defense rewarded by changes in possession without the assistance of a refereeís whistle.
The lead stayed with Waikato and, with five minutes remaining, the fat lady had hymn book open and tuning up for the last verse. Again, Porirua team didnít seen to consider a 10-point deficit (92-82) insurmountable, calling a timeout to rally one last time.
So it was that Polyblank took up the challenge and commanded the game offensively from that point, pulling Porirua right back into it with eight unanswered points to close within two with two and a half minutes remaining.
Waikato took two consecutive timeouts to plan a defensive strategy after Porirua was awarded possession with just four seconds on the clock, but Polyblank scored and the tied game was down to two seconds.
From the inbounds, Le Pou put up the shot that bounced once up on the ring before Cameron’s imposing figure rose up from nowhere to get a touch for the putback and the winning of the game.
In a lot of close games, you can say the winning team deserved their victory, but this was definitely one you just wished could have been a tie.
It was not the first in CBL finals history to be that way. In 1992, the New Plymouth DB Royals ripped the heart out of Mobil Marters Northland in overtime, as did the North Otago Penguins against Trans Alta Wellington in 1997.
They were heartbreakers for the losers and even the winners were not without sympathy for them.
What all these finals had in common was a powerful display of passion and skill performed to an extremely high standard. They were games you could walk away from feeling privileged to have witnessed first hand.
They are what basketball is all about.
Conference Basketball League Final
Saturday, August 25
Tauranga
Waikato Titans 94 (Mason Le Pou 22, Raymond Cameron 19, David Burgess 16, Rikki Crawford 16) Porirua 92 (Brendon Polyblank 34, Brendon Pongia 21, Randall Bishop 14)
Quarter 30-21
Half Time 54-46 (24-25)
Three Quarter 77-75 (23-29)
Full Time 94-92 (17-17)
CBL Final Game Stats (Game Sixteen) (pdf 53KB)
Referees
Donna Brown (Wellington), Yalla Edwards (Wellington), Bo Wills-Choat (Whangarei)
Tournament Team
Willie Banks (Turanga Health Rising Suns), David Clarke (Burger King Northside), Damien Ekenasio (Porirua), Puke Lenden (Waikato Titans), Valance McCarthy (Mexicali Fresh Harbour Heat Reserves)
Most Valuable Player
Mason Le Pou (Waikato Titans)
