NZL - Dominion Finance NBL, temperature rising

AUCKLAND (NBL) - The honeymoon is over for Appliance Shed Harbour Heat. For the past two weeks, they have been the only unbeaten team left in the 2007 Dominion Finance NBL, although buried down the table due to their comparative lack of games.

Based on their success at the pre-season BLITZ and a 4-0 start to the regular season, the Heat have quickly established themselves as the team to beat, but coach John Dorge admits their newfound elite status is about to be tested.

"We're probably one of the lucky few that have had the majority of our group together since January," says Dorge. "We have been able to get a head start on the other clubs by putting a lot of things into place early in the season and building on that.

"But that advantage has gone now. If you look at the teams playing well, they're the same ones that are up there year in and year out in this league - Wellington, Nelson, the Hawks and Auckland."

Harbour were perhaps a tad fortunate to steal a road win over Easy LPG Bay Hawks in Round Two at a time when the defending champions were still assembling the pieces of their roster. The Youthtown Auckland Stars lost their opener without starters Dillon Boucher and American Tashaan Forehan-Kelly, but now appear to be firing on all cylinders.

Blue Chip Nelson Giants are now over a spate of early-season injuries and the added intrusion of Mika Vukona's wedding, while Century City Wellington Saints are surely now past their annual rotation of imports.

Round Six should see the NBL lift a peg or two in intensity, starting with the traditional Battle of the Bridge where Harbour put their unblemished record up against the Stars' five-game winning streak next Saturday.

"They know how to win basketball games," assesses Dorge. "You don't play off for that many championships without knowing how to get the job done.

"Their core has been together for a long time and we're going to have to be at our best to get the job done."

The Heat probably haven't had an ideal preparation for the obstacles to come. Since opening with road wins over TET Taranaki Mountain Airs and the Hawks, they have returned to the North Shore Events Centre "Furnace" for effortless victories over Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams (94-73) and, on Saturday, Inspire Net Manawatu Jets (104-73).

They barely raised a sweat against Manawatu, who seemed flat after running the Stars so close in Thursday night's SKY TV encounter. Harbour led 30-19 after the first quarter, Aussie centre Tim Behrendorff needed just 21 minutes to register his team-high 20 points (9/12 FG, 2/3 FT), while only Hayden Allen logged more than 30 minutes on court.

"I don't think it has been an ideal situation for us," admits Dorge. "We've had only four games in six weeks, so that hasn't been the best preparation.

"I like to play games on a regular basis. We seem to have had nine or 10 days off between games ... now we have two big games coming up within a week."

Beyond Auckland, the Heat host the Hawks for the Round Seven TV spectacle.

"We've been preparing for the league for three months now and are looking forward to the challenge ahead of us," says Dorge.

A feature of the Harbour's play this season has been their defence. They have yielded a league-low 72.0 points, well clear of nearest challengers the Hawks (77.2), while holding opponents to an obscene 36.4% FG.

Entering Round Five, U Park it Waikato Pistons were the next stingiest with 42.1% FG.

"We spent a lot of time defensively, trying to get it right," says Dorge. "I'm a big believer in playing defence, and we've got a good group that has bonded together and bought into that philosophy."

Harbour have also had the most efficient offence (50.9% FG), but in Auckland, will strike the competition's most prolific scorers (90.0 points).

"We have to play collectively on defence and collectively on offence," observes Dorge. "We just don't have players like Lindsay Tait, for example, who can break down a defence one-on-one.

"We have to execute."

Dominion Finance NBL (Round Five)

Thursday, April 5

Auckland
Youthtown Auckland Stars 99 (Lindsay Tait 27, Tashaan Forehan-Kelly 19, Casey Frank 18, Dillon Boucher 15, Danny Lambert 15) Inspire Net Manawatu Jets 89 (Brandon Payton 19, Stacey Lambert 17, Reece Cassidy 17, Josh Goodwin 13)

Quarter 26-20
Halftime 45-39 (19-19)
Threequarter 67-72 (22-33)
Fulltime 99-89 (32-17)

Napier
Easy LPG Bay Hawks 93 (Everard Bartlett 21, Kareem Johnson 19, Andrew Rice 14, Paora Winitana 13) Cartridge World Otago Nuggets 81 (Justin Bailey 32, Darryl Jones 15, Miles Pearce 14, Shaun Tilby 11)

Quarter 34-12
Halftime 54-35 (20-23)
Threequarter 69-53 (15-18)
Fulltime 93-81 (24-28)

Friday, April 6

New Plymouth
Century City Wellington Saints 82 (Bakari Hendrix 19, Adrian Majstrovich 14, Troy McLean 10) TET Taranaki Mountain Airs 79 (Garry Hill-Thomas 28, Link Abrams 15, Damon Rampton 13)
Quarter 18-14
Halftime 29-37 (11-23)
Threequarter 52-59 (23-22)
Fulltime 82-79 (30-20)

Saturday, April 7

North Shore
Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 104 (Tim Behrendorff 20, Hayden Allen 17, Nat Connell 15, Brant Charleton 12, Oscar Forman 12, Daryl Cartwright
10) Inspire Net Manawatu Jets 73 (Brandon Payton 26, Aaron Nowell 15, Reece Cassidy 10)

Quarter 30-19
Halftime 57-33 (27-14)
Threequarter 76-52 (19-19)
Fulltime 104-73 (28-21) 

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