NBL final four - Semi final 1 - Sharks v Rangers

To open up the final four in Wellington we have the Southland Sharks facing off against the Super City Rangers. As I've mentioned quite a bit during the season I havent seen many games in person since they are not shown on TV nor are they live streamed like last season! But I'm pretty famaiar with the league and most of the players in it so I think what you read below is pretty accurate despite not having stats to back everything up. Here is a look at the two teams.

SHARKS

After a controversial season last year in the deep south the Sharks have bounced back in a big way this season. Recruiting NBL most improved player Todd Blanchfield, last seasons outstanding NZ forward Duane Bailey and Adrian Majstrovich, a former NBL MVP. As well as retaining club legend Kevin Braswell, Shea Ili and find of the century big man Tai Wesley...After a disappointing 1-3 start the Sharks havent lost a game since, going on a massive 14 game winning streak!! Winning 14 in a row is impressive no matter how long the season but with the NBL being just 18 games long, its a pretty remarkable streak! Kiwis know what to expect from players like Kevin Braswell, Duane Bailey and Adrian Majstrovich and they all produced at a high level, new recruit Todd Blanchfield, fresh of his breakout season with the Townsville Crocs, provided a consistent scoring threat finishing 5th in the league at 22ppg. Tai Wesley has been phenomenal and is a top candidate for league MVP! Averaging 18 and 9.5 he has been a model of consistency and efficiency, shooting a ridiculous 66% from the field for the season...on top of that he is the anchor of the leagues best defence and despite not being an amazing athlete (Sorry Tai lol) he blocks 2 shots a game and uses veteran savvy and smarts to make up for the few inches he gives up to most of the players he matches up against. If there is one thing against this team depth might be it, all 5 starters average over 30 mins and Shea Ili is the only player who consistently gets extended playing time off the bench...But that obviously didn't cause to many issues over the course of the season and probably won't be over the final four.

Rangers

A team many thought would be a definite championship contender at the start of the season, they perhaps weren't quite as dominant as some might have thought and struggled for consistency, but they did enough to make the final 4. The Rangers like to run and gun and put a lot of points on the board. They have three guys who average over 20 a game. Jason Cadee has continued his form from last season and is the leagues second leading scorer, Tom Garlepp and Rueben TeRangi average 20.7 and 20.5 respectively. Casey Frank provided great all around play with 10,8 and 3 assists a game, his 3 point %age was down compared to previous years but outside of that had a pretty tidy season. Plus Hayden Allen also had a pretty useful season after coming out of retirement. When I heard that Jeff Green was going to be coaching I wondered if they would press full court and try to create havoc defensively the way his teams did back in the day and that they did (based off the one game I saw in person). The Rangers may not have been quite as dominant as a lot had anticipated before the season started but they are a very good team and if they catch fire from deep (they shoot quite a few of them) they can be a handful for any team.

Prediction

The Rangers are a talented team, but I think the Sharks will be too good! The Rangers have a lot of championship winning experience with Dillion Boucher, Casey Frank and Hayden Allen who between them probably have about 15 championships...But with Kevin Braswell retiring after this season and coach Paul Henare moving on after this year they will definitely want to send them out the right way and will use that as a little extra motivation... The Sharks won both games against the Rangers this season and I think the Sharks will get up for this one as well.

NBL Final Four

The 2015 NBL season is coming to a close and the championship will be decided this weekend in Wellington. The match ups have been determined and will no doubt be an exciting weekend of basketball in the capital, with some rugby game mixed in between haha.

The first semi final will be contested between the top seeded Southland Sharks vs the fourth seed Super City Rangers...Game two will feature the second seed Nelson Giants vs the third seeded Saints.

Over the next few days will have a more in depth look at the two match ups and make a few predictions of both semi finals and who I think will ultimately win it all. There are a lot of little story lines to keep a close eye on leading into the weekend. Some of those include the Sharks 14 game winning streak and incredible form heading into the weekend...The retirement of honorary Kiwi Kevin Braswell...Paul Henare's final weekend coaching the Sharks and the uncertainty surrounding MVP candidate Torrey Craig.

Its sure to be a great display of basketball with four talented rosters and coaches...The games have been moved to an earlier time so it doesn't clash with the rugby. Will be a great sporting weekend in the capital.

Stay tuned over the next few days for closer looks at the two match ups and a few predictions.

AP

Thoughts on the NBL so far

I love the NBL! It gives me an opportunity to play in front of friends and family in Hamilton (when they actually have a team) who can't always make it up to Breakers games! Unfortunately the last few seasons I've had some body part to fix and haven't been able to play but have followed the league very closely! Unfortunately its quite hard for me to write anything in-depth about each game since they aren't shown on TV and there is no live streaming service this year (that I'm aware of). So outside of Rangers home games there isn't much for me to go off besides stat sheets! So instead every couple of rounds ill post a few of my thoughts.

Nelson coming out of the blocks HOT!

I made my way out to the Otara rec centre in round one to check out the Rangers vs Giants game. Honestly I was expecting a somewhat comfortable Rangers win. Nelson only had 9 players suited up (only 7 wound up playing), two imports who, despite nice resumes, had never played in this league before, no Mika Vukona, a pulled out of retirement Phill Jones and a (I think) rookie head coach against a pretty stacked Rangers outfit. Boy did they make me eat my words!! They, for the most part, handled the Rangers very aggressive pressure well, had a nice balance of outside and inside scoring! It was definitely fun to watch!

They proved it wasn't a fluke by beating Hawkes Bay on the road the next day and then picking up a quality home win against the Southland Sharks!

Im not really sure why I was surprised with the result against the Rangers. To me to Giants are the San Antonio Spurs of the NBL, during the regular season they don't get a lot of attention, they just quietly go about there business, then playoff time rolls around and more often than not they are there...and with Mika Vukona back in into mix expect them to only get better as the season progresses.

Sam Timmons

When you think of young basketball prospects in this country the name that will pop into most peoples heads first would be Tai Wynyard but Sam Timmons is also starting to make a name for himself. The 17 year old big man is averaging 10 points on a pretty handy 63% shooting and 5 rebounds in just 16 mins a game through the first 3 games for the Rams...including a 20 point 9 rebound display, in just twenty minutes, against the Manawatu Jets. Without sounding like a hater the Jets had to play (very) small ball due to injury and foul trouble, but was a very impressive performance regardless. The future is looking very bright for the 17 year old.

Leon Henry's game against Hawkes Bay

The Saints forward scored 24 points against the Hawks in round two. A pretty useful haul for any player...But he somehow managed to do it with just FIVE shot attempts...FIVE. When you throw the 12 rebounds and 2 steals on top of that it makes it even more impressive. Im not really one who cares to much about advanced stats and analytics but I bet those who do loved breaking down that stat line!

Rangers Coaching staff

Theres a lot of them...

AP