BASKEBALL:Rowan Callaghan=20
WEMBLEY Stadium won’t be echoing with the loud=20 cries of excited fans or the hoarse grunts of=20 determined players forcing their way to the hoop=20 for a while now. The last time the stadium came to=20 life was in the league final two weeks ago when the=20 Johannesburg Spartans won a hard-fought contest=20 against the Pretoria Bulls.
Now is the time most coaches will look back on=20 their team’s performance in only the second year of=20 the Premier Basketball League and decide where to=20 make any changes in preparation for next season.
“We somehow seemed to take too long to settle down,=20 something was lacking though it wasn’t fighting=20 spirit,” Mike Ho-Tong of the Bulls said of the=20 season gone by. Ho-Tong put many of his=20 disappointments down to injuries as two of his star=20 players, Mark Andres and Colin Ho-Tong carried=20 injuries (Andres averaged 24,4 points per game).=20 The Bulls manager believes he will need much more=20 help next season in a league which is improving=20 rapidly.=20
“The standard is tremendous and is going up maybe=20 tenfold,” he said. To aid his cause he plans to=20 bring at least five new players into his team.
The champions don’t seem to need to make any=20 improvements to a team which won all their league=20 games and the championship, but their manager Terry=20 Pretorites is still looking for an improvement.=20
One of his aces at the moment is 17-year-old=20 prospect, Sebusiso Mabaso who is a massive 2,13m=20 tall. Pretorites feels that his prodigy still needs=20 time to mature and instead will rely on his current=20 performers and some new talent to see him through=20 next season.=20
“Nobody is going to let us have the title,” he=20 said.=20
The Spartans have to be ready sooner, though, as=20 they will be representing South Africa in the=20 African Club Championships soon.=20
There the three-point shooting of Nikola Jokanovic,=20 last year’s most valuable player, will be of=20 immense value.
This season’s third-place spot went to the KwaZulu=20 Marlins, the same as last season. This time=20 ,however, the Marlins had to fight harder to retain=20 that position as they were tied on 14 points with=20 both the Pietermaritzburg Tuskers and the Egoli=20 Magic. The Natal team, made up mainly of local=20 players, must be thankful for the contributions of=20 Craig Gilchrist and Kerry O’Neil. Gilchrist=20 averaged over 21 points per game while O’Neil=20 averaged 17,6 points.=20
It is the Tuskers, however, who must be=20 congratulated on one of the most improved=20 performances this year. Assisted by this year’s=20 most valuable player (mvp), Kenwick Gaines, they=20 were determined to improve on last years sixth spot=20 and this time round found their rhythm. Gaines=20 averaged 27,7 points and also performed well at the=20 foul line to help move his team to fourth place.
The Magic and the Cougars had a disappointing=20 season finishing fifth and sixth respectively.=20
The Cougars dropped one place from last season=20 despite a strong contribution from last year’s=20 rookie of the year Mike Kotze, who this season=20 averaged 25,7 points per game. It was their=20 defence, however, which let the Cougars down as=20 they conceded just too many baskets.=20
Hopefully they will be able to sort out this=20 problem before next season where two new teams=20 might join the league, making the PBL. even more=20 competitive and exciting.