LACEY LOWDOWN

Three early fouls from Isaac Fotu severely limited the Kiwi forward’s court time as La Bruixa d’Or Manresa were defeated 82-63 by Fiat Joventut in the Spanish League. Continue reading →

The Oklahoma City Thunder has put some good results together of late aided by a succession of double doubles from Steven Adams. His latest offering was 10 points and 10 rebounds as OKC defeated the Miami Heat 93-75 (Monday NZ time) to improve their record to 40-30 in the NBA Western Conference. Adams has recorded four double doubles in the last five games. Continue reading →

The Oklahoma City Thunder posted a couple of good wins over the weekend to improve their record to 37-29 and move the 8th spot in the NBA Western Conference.

On Saturday the Thunder accounted for the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-99 and then on Monday (NZ time) defeated the Chicago Bulls 109-100.

Steven Adams came off the bench against the Timberwolves contributing 3p/9r/2a/2s/2b. In his fourth game back after injury on Monday he landed a starting role and contributed significantly to OKC’s success.

The Kiwi centre played 33 minutes, scored 14 points (6/13FG) and added 11 rebounds a couple of blocks, a steal and an assist.

Having caused a major upset last week by beating Spanish League leaders Real Madrid, La Bruixa d’Or Manresa slipped back into losing habits going down at home 79-64 to Gipuzkoa (9-15). Isaac Fotu scored 8 points and secured 7 rebounds for Manresa who, after last week’s performance, would have felt capable of beating their 14th ranked opponents. They trailed by just 4 points with 10 minutes remaining but gave up the final quarter 26-15.

Also in Spain, Sevilla slipped to last on the ladder after losing 87-81 at Real Madrid. Real are top of the table and had built an 18 points three quarter time advantage but Sevilla gave a spirited showing in the final quarter winning the period 32-20. Kirk Penney only managed 2 points (1/4FG) in this game having averaged 15 points in the previous three outings.

Both Sevilla and Manresa have 6-18 records but now occupy the bottom two slots on the ladder.

In Greece KAO Dramas came unstuck against defending champions Panathinaikos going down 81-65. Dramas trailed from the second minute and were playing catch up against their powerhouse rivals who improved to 18-2. Dramas slipped to 7-13, 10th on the 16 team table.

It wasn’t a good night for Rob Loe who failed to score on 4 attempts from the field but did contribute 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Jarrod Kenny is heading back to NZ as his German club Licher Baeren failed to make the play-offs in the German B League. The Bears finished 9th in their division – only the top 8 progressing.

Whilst all the talk, quite rightly, has been about the stunning finish to cap the Sky City Breakers fourth NBL Grand Final victory plenty more has been happening in Kiwi basketball circles this week.

Across the Tasman, a couple of hours after the Breakers win, Townsville Fire was closing out the Australian Women’s National Basketball Championship.

Tall Ferns Micaela Cocks and Jillian Harmon and their Townsvile Fire teammates were too good for Bendigo Spirit claiming their first title 75-65. Runners-up in the last two years the Fire made no mistake this time. A decisive 26-16 second quarter did the trick much to the delight of the 2,000 fans in Townsville.

Both players have played key roles coming off the bench for the Fire. Cocks has played a similar role to that of Rhys Carter at the Breakers and Harmon has added the Tai Wesley like forward punch.

The Townsville club has been presented with the keys to the city for their outstanding season.

In the Greek League Dramas, as expected, were too good for bottom placed Panionis, winning 79-72. Rob Loe provided 4pts/5 rebounds/3 assists as Dramas improved their record to 7-12, remaining in 10th spot on the ladder.

There was a huge surprise in the Spanish League as top beat bottom. La Bruixa d’Or Manresa snapped a 4 game losing streak to outlast top of the table Unicaja 8076.  Isaac Fotu scored 8 points and garnered 4 rebounds. The Kiwi forward shot 2/4 from the land of plenty and also scored 2/2 free throws as Manresa shot 20 of 24 freebies on the night to record their best win of the season.

Also in Spain third last Sevilla travelled to second last Fuenlabrada and lost a nail biter 82-81. Kirk Penney was outstanding for Sevilla scoring 17 points – 6/10FG that included 3 from 5 three pointers.

In Germany Jarrod Kenny posted 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assist as Licher Baeren beat Fraport SKY 67-56 in the German B League South Division on Sunday.

Last but certainly not least Steven Adams made his comeback for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their 108-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday (NZ time).

Adams had been absent from the NBA for exactly 4 weeks after breaking a bone in his hand. He came off the bench to contribute 6pts/6rebs/2 blocks as the Thunder improved their record to 35-29.

Erin Rooney was the only Tall Fern in professional action overseas this week. Unfortunately Arras was defeated in the French championship, 85-66 by Toulouse. This was a surprising result given that Toulouse are sitting 10^th on the table and Arras 4^th with a 13-7 record. Rooney scored just 3 points and added a solitary rebound and 3 assists in 26 minutes court time. Continue reading →