It appears that the recent thumb injury suffered by Tall Blacks point guard Lindsay Tait is more serious than first thought. It is highly likely that he will not only miss the NBL finals next weekend but also the upcoming international programme. Point guard is not a position in which TB’s coach Nenad Vucinic has an abundance of proven international talent. It would appear almost certain Corey Webster will be installed as the starter with Jarrod Kenny the back up but neither has played a huge amount of international basketball. Josh Bloxham and or Tai Webster could be installed in the third available spot or perhaps Vucinic will pull a rabbit from his hat and recall the 36 years old Mark Dickel who is having an outstanding season for the Otago Nuggets. His inclusion would be just a short term fix but perhaps an advisable one under the circumstances.
On Saturday night Dickel was instrumental in leading the Otago Nuggets to a 145-137 quadruple overtime victory over the Taranaki Mountain Airs. In one of the longest games in NBL history he scored nine points in the fourth extra period, including seven from seven free throws to finally bring the game to a conclusion. Dickel flirted with a triple double as he added 12 assists and 7 rebounds to 27 points.
LACEY LOWDOWN 