NBL BASKETBALL - Dennis makes one tiny point but it could mean plenty
16th June 2009
ANENDRA SINGH
It's just one lousy point but one Hawks coach Shawn Dennis wants his players to take heed of if they are to upset the Wellington Saints tonight.
"It's 1 per cent across the board in offence and defence and we would have a points differential of plus-four or plus-five. That's how close we have been," the Australian told SportToday before he and the players boarded their bus in Napier for the capital city to play the Wellington Saints in the first quarterfinal of the National Basketball League (NBL), which will be televised live on SkySport from 7pm at TSB Stadium.
A victory tonight will see the Hawks wing their way across to Nelson to face the Nelson Giants in the semifinals on Thursday night.
Convinced that any talk of pressure on the Hawks would be a case of barking up the wrong tree, Dennis said it was more a time of excitement after making the playoffs as the last qualifiers to play the third-placed Saints, to whom they have lost twice (home 89-90 on April 24, and away 84-85 on June 5).
While the hosts' US import, Mike Efevberha, was a handful, Dennis felt the Hawks needed to focus on their workman-like performance against Taranaki in the second half during last Friday night's dead-rubber victory.
Playoffs, he said, were always about which team broke down the least and gained possession the most. Central to that was the ability of a team to produce the "X factor".
Efevberha's dominance and prowess resurfaced.
"That kid's a class act, so we can't focus on just him but if he starts scoring 50 points or something then we'll have to do something.
"I think for us it'll be someone (X factor) like Rangi Kennedy, who can upset Efevberha, who, of course, will enjoy the challenge from a young player," he said of Kennedy, who had matured well.
Dennis emphasised that Hawks' US import Charles Bailey was sick in their last match and, with Aussie import David Cooper, would make the difference required in rebounds.
Nevertheless, Dennis said he felt it would be vital to quieten down Saints playmakers such as Bay-born Arthur Trousdell, Brendon Polybank, Lindsay Tait and Luke Martin.
