Vucinic Faces Home Challenge
Tagged in: Kiwis Abroad, Tall Blacks
His team split their Baltic Basketball League road double-header and now Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic and his Estonian club face three tough games - at home, in the Baltic and in Europe - in the next eight days.
Vucinic’s BC Kalev/Cramo responded from an 83-60 loss to Barons/LMT Riga on Wednesday with an 82-68 win over third-placed Siauliai in Lithuania on Saturday, improving to 2-4 and eighth in the BBL.
First up is TU/Rock, a fellow BBL club sitting at 4-3, overnight Tuesday in the Estonian KML, a game which could go some way to deciding the domestic championship, followed by Thursday night’s home BBL tilt against ASK Riga, then next Tuesday’s opening game of the EuroChallenge regular season against German club Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
Former Junior Tall Black BJ Anthony and his Herzoge Wolfenbuttel team enjoyed a return to form in the German Bundesliga Division Two Pro B, improving to 5-3 with a 96-83 win over Urspringschule in round eight on Saturday. Anthony had 17 points (5/12 FG, 7/9 FT) and eight rebounds in 32 minutes.
Tall Blacks forward Ben Hill posted back-to-back double-doubles for his Icelandic club, Hottur, over the weekend.
Hill had 22 points and 17 rebounds in a 85-80 win over Thor T in round six of Iceland division one on Saturday, then backed it up with 24 points and 15 rebounds in an 86-84 win over the same opponents in the first round of the Iceland Cup.
Former Tall Black Brendon Polyblank had eight points (3/5 FG, 0/1 3pt, 2/2 FT), four assists, three steals and a block in Lausanne Basket’s 101-74 win over the Lugano Tigers in round seven of the Swiss Ligue Nationale de Basket.
Current Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw was also a winner in Spain, scoring eight points (4/9 FG, 0/1 3pt), with two rebounds, a steal and block in 28 minutes in Grupo Begar Leon’s 86-72 road win over Club Basquet Vic in Barcelona on Saturday.
Through nine games of the LEB Gold, Spain’s second tier league, Bradshaw has averaged 11.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin and Wellington Saint Leon Henry were not so fortunate with U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca in Romania, losing two Divizia A games last week.
Henry had eight points (4/8 FG, 0/1 3pt) and a rebound in 14 minutes in an 83-80 loss to CSU Cuadripol Municipal Brasov on the road on Monday, then went for five points (2/3 FG, 1/1 3pt) and an assist in 12 minutes in an 81-77 loss to CSU Asesoft Ploiesti, a repeat of last season’s Finals series, in round seven on Saturday.
Former Breakers development player Chris Daniel was again top-scorer for the Singapore Slingers in an 80-66 victory against the Malaysia All-Stars on Sunday. Daniel had 21 points (4/11 FG, 2/4 3pt, 7/12 FT), 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists in 28 minutes.
In Australia, Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron and former national teamer Casey Frank worked triple-time in the Australian National Basketball League with the cellar-dwelling Gold Coast Blaze, managing to record the club’s second win of the season.
Frank had two points (1/4 FG), four rebounds and a steal in 15 minutes and Cameron two points (1/2 FG, 0/1 3pt, 0/2 FT) and two rebounds in 15 minutes in the Blaze’s 115-93 loss to Tony Rampton’s Sydney Spirit on Wednesday.
On Friday, Frank responded with 13 points (6/9 FG, 1/1 FT), eight rebounds and an assist in 21 minutes and Cameron six points (2/3 FG, 2/3 3pt), two rebounds and an assist in 15 minutes as the Blaze defeated Tall Blacks point guard Lindsay Tait’s Wollongong Hawks 111-110 on Daniel Joyce’s jumper in the final seconds.
The Blaze dropped to 2-13 at their mid-point of the season with a 108-96 home loss to Paora Winitana’s Adelaide 36ers on Sunday, with Frank going for 14 points (4/6 FG, 1/2 3pt, 5/6 FT), eight rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes and Cameron eight points (3/7 FG, 2/4 3pt), two assists, two steals, a rebound and block in 17 minutes.
Rampton recorded a rebound and assist in seven minutes of action for the Spirit against the Blaze, Tait had seven points (2/5 FG, 1/3 3pt, 2/4 FT) and an assist in 20 minutes in a loss, while Winitana sat out for Adelaide on Sunday.
Winitana did play Wednesday night, finishing with seven points (3/6 FG, 1/3 3pt), two rebounds, two assists and a steal in 21 minutes as the 36ers fell 97-82 to Tall Blacks team-mate Mika Vukona and the league-leading South Dragons. Vukona had a point (0/3 FG, 1/6 FT), three rebounds and a steal in 17 minutes for the 10-2 Dragons.
In the United States, New Zealand under-18 rep James Holland continued to rack up big offensive numbers in Kentucky high school play last week.
Holland has averaged 24.4 points per game in his last five games as his Bethel Christian Academy varsity team has started the season 7-0. Holland had 26 points (9/18 FG, 2/4 3pt, 6/6 FT), 10 assists, five rebounds, a steal and block in an 80-58 win over Trinity in the final of the KCAA Tip-Off Tournament.
With four 20+ point games, Holland scored a season-high 32 points (10/19 FG, 5/9 3pt, 7/7 FT), with nine assists, three rebounds, a steal and block in an 83-45 win over MICAH Christian on Tuesday.
Emerging Tall Blacks guard Zane Meehl provided three points (1/1 FG, 1/1 3pt) and three assists in 18 minutes as Azusa Pacific University fell 74-70 to Cal State San Bernadino on Thursday in NAIA action.
Harbour product Ryan Beesley had six points (2/3 FG, 2/2 FT), four assists and two rebounds in 18 minutes in defending NAIA division two national champion Oregon Tech’s 86-63 win over Simpson University in Redding, California, on Saturday. The Hustlin’ Owls have started their title defence 4-0.
Mada Abdelhamid posted four points (2/4 FG, 0/1 3pt) with a rebound and assist in 12 minutes in Cumberland University’s 69-58 win over Oakwood College on Sunday, lifting the Bulldogs to 5-1.
Former Canterbury coach Caleb Harrison, an assistant coach, saw his Lambuth Eagles fall to 2-2 with a 66-62 loss to William Carey College.
Former Junior Tall Black Rory Fannon saw a minute of action in Utah Valley’s 68-62 home win over Northern Arizona, while Canterbury’s Ben Constable got three minutes court-time in each of Northwood University’s pair of home wins last week in West Palm Beach, Florida, collecting a rebound and assist in a 101-86 rout of Southeastern on Saturday.
