LACEY LOWDOWN

Due to her club commitments in Italy Jillian Harmon is unavailable for the Tall Ferns Commonwealth Games programme just getting underway in Australia.

Harmon and her Napoli team lost their final regular season game against Lucca 74-66. Lucca are of course the club Harmon won a championship with last year before signing with Napoli.

Harmon recorded an impressive 20 points (10/18FG), 8 rebounds and 5 assists in a game that proved to be a forerunner to the upcoming play-offs – the two teams are drawn to play each other in the Serie A quarter-final after Easter.

Corey Webster added 18 points (8/16FG) to a game high 7 assists but Ironi Nahariya slipped to a fifth straight loss going down 95-86 at Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Nahariya are now eleventh on the twelve team Israeli Winner League table with a 7-14 record.

Webster has become as much a facilitator as a scorer this season leading Nahariya in the assists category (4.0apg) as well as being the second highest scorer on the team averaging 13.6 points per game.

In Germany Frankfurt Skyliners moved up to seventh on the Bundesliga table after a valuable 79-75 win at Telekom Bonn. Tai Webster contributed 11 points and 3 assists as Frankfurt recorded a fourth win in the last five outings to further enhance their top eight standing with a 15-11 record.

Ratiopharm Ulm stayed a win and a place behind the Skyliners after a decisive 91-74 win at Wuerzburg. This was a fine road win considering Ulm were without the injured Isaac Fotu for the trip and Wuerzburg had the same number of wins (13) as their opponents before the game began.

It was a pretty good week for our leading Kiwi players in Europe with all four making major contributions.

In Israel, Ironi Nahariya went down 96-88 at home to Ironi Nes-Ziona but the loss couldn’t be blamed on Corey Webster. The Tall Blacks shooting guard scored a game high 27 points as well as dishing 6 assists. His shooting line made good reading – 3 from 5 threes, 11 from 15 in total from the floor and both free throws knocked down. Webster’s 27 points equaled his season best for Nahariya for whom he averages 16 points per game.

Frankfurt Skyliners guard Tai Webster was missing from action last week due to illness but returned to the court in the 90-82 Bundesliga win against Oettinger. Webster recorded 14 points (4/7FG), 2 rebounds, 4 assists and a pair of steals as the Skyliners improved to 14 wins -11 losses, holding 7^th spot on the German League ladder.

Webster did well containing Sydney Kings star point guard Jerome Randle who had 14 points for Oettinger – that’s better than most Australian NBL guards managed this season.

Two places behind the Skyliners are Ratiopharm Ulm who beat bottom of the table Walter Tigers 95-82. Isaac Fotu was in good form for Ulm notching 18 points (8/11FG) and 5 rebounds. It was a much-needed win for Ulm as they had lost their previous four games.

In Italy Jillian Harmon produced 17 points (8/17FG), 7 rebounds and 2 assists as Napoli recorded a valuable 69-66 win against San Martino. Napoli had lost their previous two games but the win solidifies their 4^th placed spot in Serie A with just one round of the regular season remaining.

The outstanding shooting form Corey Webster displayed for the Tall Blacks in the recent FIBA international window seems to have temporarily deserted him.

The shooting guard has made just 2 from 15 threes in the two games he has played for Ironi Nahariya since returning to the Israeli League following the New Zealand games in China and Korea.

Webster had 10 points, 5 assists and 2 steals in the 83-62 loss at Maccabi Ashdod and 13 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the 89-79 home defeat to Maccabi Rishon.

With the two losses Irono Hahariya (7-10) have slipped to 10^th on the 12-team Israeli League ladder.

Also suffering a pair of losses have been Isaac Fotu and Ratiopharm Ulm. In fact Ulm were absolutely pummeled on Fotu’s first game back from Korea going down 89-54 against Ludwigsburg – 4 points for the Kiwi forward.

Fotu top scored with 15 points (6/9FG) for Ulm in their latest game, a 90-67 loss to Brose Basket but an accumulated points differential of -58 points suggests there is a little work needed at the defensive end in practice this week.

Ulm have fallen to 10^th on the Bundesliga ladder with a 12-11 record.

There was a little more joy for Tai Webster as he posted 16 points (5/15FG), 3 rebounds and 6 assists as Frankfurt Skyliners defeated Wuerzburg 78-72.

In their most recent game the Skyliners fell 95-92 in a thriller against Goettingen but were without Webster in the lineup with the Tall Blacks point guard missing due to sickness. The Skyliners are a couple of places above Ulm on the German League ladder with 13 wins and 11 losses.

After a four game winning streak Napoli have recently lost two games on the bounce – the most recent defeat a 70-49 loss at third placed Ragusa. Jillian Harmon was one of just two Napoli players in double figures scoring 14 points (5/15FG) and adding 8 rebounds. Napoli remains fourth on the Italian League ladder with an 11-9 record.

The Tall Ferns forward leads the Serie A in scoring (19.2ppg), is 3^rd in rebounding (9.7rpg) and 7^th in the assists category (3.5apg).

Our four leading European based players almost scored 100 points between them at the weekend.

The two German based players, Tai Webster and Isaac Fotu, scored 24 points apiece, Corey Webster posted 18 points, with Jillian Harmon chiming in with 23 points.

Isaac Fotu amassed his fourth twenty points haul of the season as Ratiopharm Ulm won on the road beating Goettingen 94-84. His 24 points (7/10FG, 8/9FT) were accompanied by a stats line of 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and an assist. The third consecutive win for Ulm moves them into 6^th spot on the Bundesliga ladder with a 12-7 record.

A crowd of 4,860 was on hand to see an injury ravaged Frankfurt Skyliners outpaced in the final quarter losing 88-81 at home to Riessen. Tai Webster’s team high two-dozen were scored at a good clip converting 8 of 11 from the field and 3 from 4 from the charity stripe.

Overall Webster is enjoying a good season as he is top eight in the Bundesliga for scoring (15.8 ppg) and assists (4.8 apg)

Corey Webster scored 18 points as Ironi Nahariya returned to winning ways beating Galil Gilboa 101-98 in a high scoring affair. Webster was in good touch converting 6 from 10 from the field and three from three from the foul line.

Nahariya remain eighth in the Israeli League with a 7-9 record.

In Italy Jillian Harmon posted a second consecutive double-double as Napoli beat Vigarano 78-61. The Tall Ferns forward collected 12 rebounds to compliment 23 points with Napoli now up to third equal on the Italian League ladder with a 10-7 record.

Harmon is the Italian League leading scorer averaging 19.6 points per game and the fourth placed rebounder claiming 9.5 boards per outing.

OK 89 points is not that close to 100 but it’s still pretty good!

It was a last gasp effort but Ratiopharm Ulm, with a score on the buzzer, beat Oettinger Rockets 81-79. Isaac Fotu was outstanding for Ulm racking up 25 points (10/15FG, 5/6FT) to accompany 3 rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.

Fotu’s third twenty points haul of the season helped lift Ulm to eighth on the German League ladder with a 10-7 record.

Also in Germany Tai Webster scored 15 points (7/10FG) as Frankfurt Skyliners suffered a heavy 96-74 loss to Bayreuth to slip to 10-8 for the season and a spot behind Ulm on the Bundesliga table. Webster added 5 rebounds and 6 assists but it was the Skyliners third loss on the bounce.

Webster sits 8^th on the German League scoring list averaging 15.0 points per game and is 4^th on the assists slate with 5.0 dimes per outing.

In Italy Napoli got back to winning ways comfortably beating Battipaglias 95-61. Napoli are fifth on the Serie A ladder with a 7-6 record. Jillian Harmon produced her sixth double-double of the season (20 points and 10 rebounds) shooting a perfect ten of ten from the foul line in the process.

The Tall Ferns forward leads the Italian League scoring averaging 18.9 points per game and is third on the rebounding chart with 9.1 boards per outing. To emphasise her all court game she is also fifth on the assists list averaging 3.6 per game.

It was a bad weekend for our four Kiwi national representatives playing in major leagues in Europe – all four suffered defeats.

In Germany Tai Webster and Frankfurt Skyliners suffered a home loss to Telekom Bonn beaten 81-76 to slip to 10-7 for the season. Webster enjoyed a good personal showing with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Ratiopharm Ulm are a win behind Frankfurt after a narrow 80-77 loss at Brose. Isaac Fotu, with 14 points (5/7FG), was one of four Ulm players in double figures.

In Israel Corey Webster scored 8 points and dished 5 assists but Ironi Nahariya were defeated 98-90 at Hapoel Holon. Nahariya slip to a 5-6 record sitting seventh on the Israeli League ladder.

Napoli went down 76-70 at home to Ragusa in the Italian League falling to sixth on the ladder with a 7-6 record. Jillian Harmon scored a fair chunk of the Napoli points – 28 to be exact, two shy of her season best. Harmon leads the Italian League scoring averaging 19.1 points per game and is fourth on the rebounding list with 9.4 boards per outing illustrating the outstanding season the Tall Ferns forward is having.