New Zealand - NBL timing cutting it fine for Tall Blacks

From stuff.co
Download source here

Now his beloved CPS Nelson Giants are eliminated, NZ Tall Black coach Nenad Vucinic doesn't really care who wins the 2008 Dominion Finance National Basketball League title as long as they do it quickly.

The national mens squad assembles today at the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers North Shore facility for four days of trials, but without six players involved in the best-of-three NBL final series between Century City Wellington Saints and Waikato Pistons.

Breakers shooter Kirk Penney is still on an off-season break in the United States, so only 12 of the original 19 players selected will attend the trials.

The FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament starts on July 14 and Vucinic's predicament becomes even more acute if the finals go the distance. Due to availability issues with Wellington's TSB Bank Arena, game three has been rescheduled for next Sunday - the same day the Tall Blacks assemble for their Ramsay Shield opener against Australia on June 26.

Any NBL finalists selected for the New Zealand team cannot afford to celebrate or grieve too heartily. They will be on the first plane leaving the capital Monday morning.

"Obviously, this is a very difficult situation with the timing of the NBL and the timing of our Olympic qualifying tournament," Vucinic said.

"We have a very, very short preparation, so we are trying to use the national league as a trial and the trial as part of our preparation."

Vucinic has spent the past month in Europe, a visit that yielded a lucrative two-year contract with Estonian club Kalev/Cramo. Before he left, he viewed all available footage of NBL games and has since kept track of players form through regular contact with his coaching staff, Dean Vickerman and Dillon Boucher.

"We communicate on a daily basis," he says. "I know all these players very, very well and know what they are capable of."

The absence of Penney, captain Pero Cameron, Ben Hill, Lindsay Tait, Nick Horvath, Brendon Polyblank and Leon Henry this week will present more opportunities for the development players BJ Anthony, Jarrod Kenny, Rob Loe and Corey Webster invited to trial.

But it will also make comparing players head-to-head more difficult for Vucinic and his staff.

One of the most closely contested positions will be the lone naturalised player spot, a battle between incumbent Casey Frank and former Duke University captain Horvath.

Frank has averaged 21.6 points (44.4 percent 3pt) and 8.5 rebounds for an Auckland Stars outfit that relied heavily on his production, while Horvath provided 17.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in a Saints line-up brimming with talent.

Horvath is taller and provides a bigger inside presence at both ends of the court, but Frank is more athletic, has already played in Vucinic's system and now has another chance to familiarise himself with its intricacies.

At the end of trials, Vucinic hopes to name 14 players for the home-and-away series against the Boomers, then shave two more off the roster for a tour that passes through Canada and Slovenia on the way to Greece for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Players attending the Tall Blacks trials are:

Tom Abercrombie (NZ Breakers), BJ Anthony (Harbour Heat), Hayden Allen (Harbour Heat), Callum Baynes (Bay Hawks), Craig Bradshaw (Efes Pilsen, Turkey), Chris Daniel (Nelson Giants), Casey Frank (Auckland Stars), Mike Fitchett (Nelson Giants), Jeremy Kench (Canterbury Rams), Jarrod Kenny (Harbour Heat), Rob Loe (Harbour), Calum Macleod (Bay Hawks), Alex Pledger, Mika Vukona (Harbour Heat), Corey Webster (NZ Breakers), Paora Winitana (Bay Hawks).