Garth books

Yes, yes it is. My very first Basketball  game  I attended was in 1983, I hopped on my little Raleigh 20 and biked to the game, and fell in love with the sport. Little did I know that New Zealand also would end up loving the sport. The following few years, our little arenas would be packed out for every game, those with season tickets (like myself) were lucky, the Canterbury Rams would end up virtually selling out every game over a three year period. The imports were the stars, Clyde the Glide Huntly shooting from the outside, the big men like Ben Antony, Willie Burton, players like  Ronnie Joyner Kenny Perkins, Kerry Bogani, Kenny McFadden, wowed the crowds, as fans couldn't contain their excitement. Our own Kiwi players soon became stars, John and Stan Hill,  Dutchie  Radermakers, Bert Knops and the great Gilbert Gordon. Then the TV coverage started to happen, highlight packages on a  Sunday sports show, Live coverage of the final, kiwis started to notice...

I'm speechless, I'm without speech.  This is massive news, I hope the New Zealand media knows how huge this is. The greatest High School Player on the planet is coming to play for the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian NBL. He was activity recruited by Kentucky, Duke and Kansas and was expected to go to Kansas, when he annoucned he didn't want to go to college it was widely expected that he would go straight to the NBA. Instead he announced he wants to play Pro ball outside the USA, and the team that has landed this superstar is our very own the New Zealand Breakers!! Every game should be a sell out to see this young man who will achieve superstardom.  What this also does is change history, players leaving High School, who aren't interested in college, now have a option to play professional ball overseas. As a Basketball fan this has floored me, I was literally stunned and speechless. So many great things are happening with New Zealand Basketball at the moment, and ...

Why oh Why didn't the spurs foul???  The Nuggets got the rebound with 27.8 seconds left, they got the ball over halfcourt with  17.9 seconds, and the Spurs just didn't foul. This is basic Basketball, I mean it should be automatic, it should come naturally, it should be stuck deep somewhere in the subconscious, in this suitation you foul and you foul as quick as possible, this is not Basketball from the 50's, you can pull back a lead quite easily. The Spurs had an outside chance here,  but couldnt get up a shot even when the Nuggets missed, they let the Nuggets run out the clock. I'm speechless, I'm without speech. Not since the Nelson Giants  who were once down by four and had possession and didn't even get up a shot, have I been this much in shock. Staggering!! Maybe its time to do a #ClassicNBA  tag along with the #ClassicNBL tag? Gotta Love the Playoffs.

First off, let me state, I'm just a basketball fan, I have no connection to any NBL team, player or coach. I'm originally from Canterbury and now living in Nelson, so of course I support the Giants and the Rams. I have a niece who was a member of the 2016 Junior Tall Ferns who plays in NCAA D1. That's my  sole connection to anyone invovled in Basketball New Zealand. IMHO the allegations of match fixing  between Taranaki and the Rangers are not cemented in reality. For the following reasons, players on a Jeff Green coached team would die for him on court, the passion and pride he has shown for every team he has coached is beyond belief.  If he had any sense that a player was trying to match fix, he would be the first to report it. Trent Adam's team has had a hard season thru injuries, he's coaching the last game of the season, the game is virtually over, but the other team calls a timeout, then hits a last second three, to win by double digits, well Trent of course i...

Chris Goulding needs to be banned for a long period of time, for the Flop that started a massive Brawl in the Australian versus  Philippines game. Goulding has a history of flopping, but not just in  cruical stages of games, but at any point of a game.  It's his style of flopping that causes games to get out of hand, you just have to  touch Chris Goulding and he goes down like he's been shot by a German sniper in WW2. He causes more fights than any other player in  the History of Basketball, and like all gutless cowards who flops, he can dish it out, but he cant take it. FIBA needs to take a stand, hell the Australian NBL needs to take a stand, and stamp out the BS that Chris Goulding does. Australia was up by 31 points for pete sake, but he still felt the need to go down in a Oscar winning performance, and now he has the audacity to claim to be the victim, and the Rhode Scholars on Twitter are now saying there was ten players on top of him throwing punches??? C...

Congrats to the Tall Ferns for winning Bronze against Canada at the  CW Games. The team bounced back after getting walloped by Australia in the semi. M. Cocks once again led the way and had to be player of the tournament, her class shined thru. Where to now for the Tall Ferns,  they must look at our players overseas, the gulf between us and Australia was horrible, the local players just dont have the competition to improve their game, they must get to the states or Europe or Asia, that is the only way we can at least compete with the powerhouses. That's for the future though, in the mean time, I hope the Tall Ferns enjoy their bronze medal. Well done to them!!

Cocks 4/12 30%  Purcell 2/7 28%  Hunter 3/3 100% Toni 1/5 20%  Taylor 3/7 42% Paalvast 1/8 12%  Bygate 0/2 0% Stockill 1/4 25% Walker 4/12 33%

Ya cant sugar coat it, ya can't get positives from it, this was a hiding, this was embarrassing, I was so nervous before this match, I didn't watch the start, then I saw twitter people suggesting we were playing brilliantly, we weren't. Not sure about some twitter comments, they seem to be over the top, but I have been guilty of that too. If you want the Tall Ferns to compete on a International level, send the young players, the players who are 16/17 years of age to the USA, have them play a season or two of AAU, where they can compete against the best young players on the planet. It's not going to do them any good to play their last year of high school and score 40 points against Linwood High school  or Porirua  High School. If the player has talent, have them go against the best 16/17 year olds from New York, New Jesery, Philly or CT.  They will also be seen by the top college scouts. Seriously this cannot happen again. If you want to be the best, you have to play aga...

The Tall Ferns have to find the best shooters, they have to pass the ball quick, they have to find open players,  they have to play tough tough tough defense,  New Zealand has never beaten Australia, but this team has a great mixture,  my fingers and toes are crossed, will we win... Time will tell.                                                                                           

Tall Ferns go 3-0 in pool play,  great passing, solid scoring, and standout performances  has seen them breeze thru pool play. Micaela Cocks has been the standout player for New Zealand, but praise must also be heaped on the coach for using his bench. Basketball in NewZealand can be quite insular and there can be calls on social media that the focus should be on one or two players, this team though has over half a dozen players standing out. The pressure to get a  medal is going to be huge,  the players have to keep their heads, can we do it? One thing that has to happen, is players must not only look for the open player, but look for the player that is shooting hot  Sure you can say hey I score between 10-15 points,  but if you are shooting below  30%, that doesnt help, and I hope the players have the maturity to realize this. So bring on the knockout stages, and go the Tall Ferns.

What a way to start the Commonwealth games. The Tall Ferns thrashed Malaysia 86-44.  A total team effort.  Cocks lead the way with 15 points, along with Stockill who scored 13. Charlisse Leger-Walker   scored nine points from 4/13 shooting and also grabbed 5 rebounds, and handled her first international game well. Standout player though had to be Purcell, grabbing 12 massive boards,  she is the key for a medal for the Tall Ferns. The shooting stats are below.  Cocks 15pts 6/17 35%  Stockill 13pts 4/4 100%  Edmonson 11 pts 3/9 33% Palvast 9 Pts 3/8 38% Walker 9 pts 4/13 31% Hunter 8 pts 3/7 43% Taylor 6 pts 2/8 25% Bygate 6 Pts 2/2 100% Every game for the Tall Ferns, now get harder and harder. The semi which should be against England or Canada may be a step too far, but if we can improve our field goal percentage which isnt brilliant, we should at least be playing for a Bronze medal, which will be a fantastic achievement. Which...

Meet 2018's version of Brendan Telfer, her name is Dana Johannsen, she used to be nzherald's main sports reporter she is now with Fairfax's  stuff's  website. If you would like to compare her to any other Journo, Brendan Telfer would be the one, like Brendan Telfer she has a history of lying about certain sports, and totally ignoring others. Bredan Telfer was the Journo who loved to tell the NZ public that Netball was this global sport. He loved to mock League calling the league world cup worthless, while cheering on any world cup victory in Netball, he would state Rugby is huge, league is nothing, yet wouldn't make the true comparison  with Netball and Basketball. Today stuff's, Dana Johannsen did this piece on how Netball which has long been the number one sport for girls is under threat from other sports, Rugby in particular, but she mentioned other sports as well are challenging Netball in New Zealand for girls. Yet, she didnt mention the main threat and tha...

Please tell me if you're a coach and you only have a group of players for a few years,  and you know a couple of players will soon be leaving your programe, would you make sure those two players  take 80-85% of the entire team shots, and not give any bench players court time. Would you also take a player who shoots  90% from the free throw line,  make them change their shooting style, and turn them into a  20% foul shooter, while letting the couple of other  players shoot the same style. Would you take a 50%  three point shooter, change their style and turn them into a  15%  three point shooter, while letting the couple of other players shoot the same style. If your team cant make the playoffs, and your ahead by 30 in a game that means nothing, will you still keep the couple of players on, without giving the bench a run. Would you tell players, next year is when we will give you court time, so stay with our progamme and next year comes, and y...

Dear TVNZ sports Journalists. I understand you will be sending a full team to cover the Olympics, even though Sky has the rights to show the events. I hope Andrew Saville and Jack Tame, cover the Olympics with the respect it deserves, and more so, with accurate reporting on what the world's media is focused on. Here is what the public doesnt want to see and hear. Please don't lie and tell us that the Rugby Sevens is the most popular sport in the Olympics. Please don't lie and say it's Rugby mania in the Olympic village, and the Sevens player's are the world's superstars. Please don't lie and say, Usain Bolt, Kevin Durant, Michael Phelps and the other International sports stars are in awe of the New Zealand sevens team. Please don't lie and say, most the world's media is focused on Rugby and nothing else. If your interviewing a Kiwi Cyclist, a rower, a swimmer, our track and field team, please ask them questions about THEIR events, not if they saw the...

Every Kiwi must of loved this. Game two of the Conference Semi Finals, The Thunder needing the win, after losing Game one. Spurs passes the Ball to their Aussie player Patty Mills, wide open for three, and as takes the shot, THE BIG KIWI, Steven Adams comes from no where and makes the little Aussie throw up a air ball. Adams tried to get back to the loose ball, but was hold back by a fan. Didn't matter though, because the Thunder won! He had 17 Rebounds in the game, and 12 points, but it was his heart and his courage that won the game for the Thunder tonight. Let that be a lesson to all Aussies, you never try to get one over a Kiwi, you just cant win. THUNDER UP!

The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand's leading newspaper is doing a series of reports on Women's sport. This blogger thinks its about time too. Women's sport doesn't get a  fair deal in this country, unless you play Netball or Rugby Sevens or your name is Lydia Ko. There is one sport that is the second most competitive team sport on earth, and we have our National Team in that sport about to try and qualify for the Olympics, they've never gotten any amount of significant coverage from the  media, they're the Tall Ferns and they play, Basketball. I find it quite ironic, that the New Zealand Herald's piece is called 'shegotgame' a saying taken from Basketball, yet that is a sport that our Women's team has had such an obscene lack of coverage. There is hope, a  tweet sent out from a  NewZealand Jounro on Twitter said the Tall Ferns will be part of the agenda, and I should hope so. It's hard to explain to non Basketball people, how huge the sport ...

The Nelson Giants have lost to the Canterbury Rams by 96-85 after one of the worst coached Third Quarters in NBL history. The Nelson Giants are now 6-6 and struggling to be in playoff contention, while the Canterbury Rams move to 7-4 and are looking good. Make no mistake, the game was lost for four  reasons. 1: Coach Tim 'Ten Hands'  Fanning who decided the best option in the third quarter would be to make sure all five players touch the ball, and no one would shoot until there was four seconds left on the shot clock. Well a shot clock anit compulsory Tim. You dont have to use all 24 seconds before you shoot. 2: Transition Defense. Ya Gotta get back, so many layups for the rams was because no one got back on D. 3: Raymond Cowels 111  was amazing, 34 points, he was all heart, but with around 2.30 on the clock when Nelson had cut it to six, he hesistated and didn't shoot for three. That moment ended Nelson's comeback. 4: Nelson played with heart for the first half, but wh...

Make that the Travel of life. Worst performance by any NBL ref in History. How the Southland Sharks were allowed to travel for the whole game is beyond me. In future hope the refs know you cant dribble the ball on the ground and then pass it, I hope the Refs know you cant pass the ball in the air and catch it yourself and you certainly arent allowed to run with the ball to the bucket. How did they miss this? What were they thinking?? The Nelson Giants season is now on the line, thanks to the pathetic display by the refs. Sure Nelson turned the ball over a few times, and sure they tried to shoot over Seven Foot Pledger, but any team in any league in the world, will have there heads drop if a team is allowed to travel the way the Southland Sharks did. The Giants now have to regroup, for the Canterbury Rams, a team that dominated the mid 80's to early 90's. Heres hoping  They can bounce back because what happened to them tonight was criminal.

0.1 of a second. That is what stopped Kiwi Basketball player Steven Adams from getting the game winning shot against, the Dallas Mavericks. How heart breaking is that, it would've been his first buzzer beater of his NBA career, the ref's counted at first, then after checking the video reply he was denied in the most cruelest  of fashion. Steven Adams will bounce back though, he is one hell of a player, there is a reason he was drafted in the number ten spot after playing a season for Pitt. All kiwis should get behind him, he is playing the second most competitive team sport on the planet, all other sports are light years behind, despite what the New Zealand media may think. So what does the Thunder have to do to win game three on the road. Well Durant has to shoot well, he wont repeat the horrible performance of game two. Adams himself will be so fired up, I'm expecting a lot of boards from  him in game three, I think it's a safe bet to say a double double may be on the...

Jeff Green is the Rangers coach and he hasn't changed one bit since he was the Hutt Valley Lakers Coach in the mid 90's. He loves banter with the crowd, he also loves to take the p*ss out of the refs, like he did last night at the Nelson Giants versus Super City Rangers game. You see Jeff loves to walk on the court, and not  just one step over the yellow line, he really loves to walk on the court, I mean walking towards half court, now normally you would think a Ref with half a brain would call a tech, but it doesn't seem to be the case when it's Jeff Green. Towards the end it got to the satirical stage, the crowd was screaming at the Refs to get him off the court, he turned around and mocked the crowd copying them  chanting "Get off the court Jeff". He then did a little dance, all in front of the Refs. The Ref decided his best course of action would be to wet himself  laughing. There's been talk about the standard of the Refs in the NBL, and this proves a...