Vucinic Eyes Championship
Tagged in: Kiwis Abroad, Tall Blacks
Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic has won three National Basketball League titles as a player and coach in New Zealand. And now he is four wins away from a championship in Estonia.
Vucinic’s BC Kalev/Cramo swept their way into the Estonian KML finals series against bitter rivals TU/Rock, starting Sunday (NZ time), beating TTU KK 3-0 in their best-of-five semifinal series on Monday.
Kalev, who reached the playoffs in the Baltic Basketball League (BBL) for the first time in club history in March, routed TTU KK 105-84, 106-63 and 89-78 in three games, with former NBL MVP Josh Pace averaging over 11 points per game.
Vucinic and Kalev went 4-5 against TU/Rock during the KML regular season and BBL regular season and best-of-three quarterfinal series, lost in agonising fashion on a buzzing-beating three in the first overtime of the deciding third game.
The KML finals series tips-off on Sunday, with games one and two on TU/Rock’s home floor in Tartu, before the series returns to Tallinn for games three and four on May 21 and May 25.
In Spain, Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw and his Grupo Begar Leon club cling to their LEB Gold playoff spot with one round remaining in the regular season.
Bradshaw had three points (0/3 FG, 0/1 3pt, 3/4 FT), three boards, an assist and block in 17 minutes as Leon defeated Caceres 2016 Basket 72-70 in round 33 of Spain’s second tier league on Saturday.
The win lifted Leon from 10th to ninth, currently in a three-way tie for eighth at 17-16. Leon play at seventh-placed Ford Burgos on Sunday in the final round, with a win likely confirming their place in the promotion playoff.
Across the ditch, Zeke Meehl produced 10 points (4/8 FG, 1/3 3pt, 1/4 FT) and four rebounds in 15 minutes for the Maroochydore Clippers, in a 111-79 road loss against the Brisbane Capitals in round three of the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) on Sunday.
The Clippers, coached this season by Warrick Meehl, a former Tall Black, and soon to feature oldest son Zane Meehl, a former Emerging Tall Black, have started the season 0-3, after going winless in 2008.
Down the M1, former Otago Nuggets guard Shaun Tilby had four points (2/7 FG, 0/1 3pt), five boards, three assists and two steals in 18 minutes as his Gold Coast Goannas fell 113-101 at home to the Mackay Meteors, coached by former BBNZ high performance head coach Leonard King, on Saturday.
Tilby, the 2006 NBL Rookie of the Year, had 10 points (5/10 FG), four dimes, a steal and rebound in 26 minutes as the GC defeated the Bundaberg Bulls 108-105 on Sunday, leaving the Goannas eighth at 2-2.
In the Big V Youth League, former Waikato junior Te Puao Silver managed five points (1/3 FG, 3/4 FT), five rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes for Melbourne in a 118-84 home win over Hume City in round seven on Saturday.
The following day he had two points (1/3 FG, 0/2 FT), two boards and a block in 14 minutes in a 95-84 road win over the Bulleen Boomers, which saw Melbourne regain the league lead at 8-1.
