NBL Standings
AUCKLAND (NBL) - Gordy McLeod (pictured) has worked overtime - literally and with mixed success - to achieve chemistry among his St Laurence Wellington Saints and hopes a unique South Island swing will mark a turning point in that quest.
Strangely, a heartbreaking 80-83 extra-period loss at home to Inspire Net Manawatu Jets has not left the coaching maestro too despondent, even though it was a game the Saints should really have won with Jets import Ryan Randle sidelined through injury.
For the third consecutive Friday and the third time in four games, Wellington were taken to overtime, previously losing to Easy LPG Bay Hawks and then needing three further periods to defeat Waikato Pistons.
But McLeod seems to take solace in the fact they have were competitive at all, especially after falling 21 points behind in the third quarter.
"The positive for me is that we were in the game," he explains. "I'd rather be in that situation than winning by a margin one week and losing by 15-20 points the next.
"We were in a big, big hole, but we showed a lot of character to find our way out of it and give ourselves a chance to win.
"We are doing what we need to do to be there or thereabouts to win. This group, with two new guys, has only been in place two or three weeks and we need to continually get better to finish as high up the table as we can."
The "two new guys" are Americans Nick Horvath and Chris Anderson, who have proven to be solid and worthy replacements for original imports Tony "Go Get It" Jones and Jamal Livingston.
Horvath has quickly established himself as one of the NBL's premier big men, averaging 19.5 points (50.8%), 10.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, while Anderson is rapidly becoming a much-needed three-point threat to complement veteran Terrence Lewis and forward Brendon Polyblank.
But their inclusion in the programme has not been without some growing pains, probably best illustrated in a moment near the end of regulation against the Jets when Horvath found himself open under the basket, only to watch Lewis' potential game-winning pass slip right through his grasp and over the baseline.
"We have to get out two new guys up to speed with the system so we can take it forward," says McLeod. "This is probably a tough week this week and we know we've got a really good challenge in front of us."
Saints visit all three South Island teams in the space of four days, starting with the formidable NBS Nelson Giants (7-2) on Wednesday. So far, their six wins have come against teams with a combined record of 15-36 ... that is to say, not among the league leaders.
In their three outings against top-three teams, they fell to Auckland Stars in Round Two, Nelson at home in Round Three and, of course, their OT affair on the road against the Hawks.
"In most of those games, we had one quarter that cost us the game," observes McLeod. "You can't afford to do that against those types of teams and because we played them early in the season, we weren't good enough to fight our way back into contention.
"At present, if we have a poor quarter, we can fight our way back."
On Friday, they will visit Otago Nuggets in another TV game - somehow they will star in three of the first four televised fixtures of the season - and then Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams on Saturday.
Given the competitive nature of the league's mid-table, Saints can probably stay in semifinal contention if they merely continue to account for lower ranked teams. Sooner or later, though, they will have to knock off one of the big three if they are to harbour genuine title aspirations.
National Basketball League (Week Seven)
Auckland Stars 106 (Lindsay Tait 30, Casey Frank 23, Reece Cassidy 13, Brock Gillespie 10)
Waikato Pistons 87 (Vidal Massiah 29, Kitwana Rhymer 16, Ben Hill 13)
Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams 109 (Jeremy Kench 26, Dennis Trammell 19, Rewi Manahi 17, Mark Morrison 13, Sam Spann 10, Joel Hart 10)
NZCT Taranaki Mountain Airs 96 (Garry Hill-Thomas 38, Cody Toppert 27, Link Abrams 18)
NBS Nelson Giants 91 (Eric Freeman 32, Mika Vukona 25, Ed Book 17)
Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 78 (Troy McLean 28, Jamal Kendrick 13, David Hopoi 12)
Easy LPG Bay Hawks 81 (Field Williams 15, Everard Bartlett 15, Paora Winitana 10, Kareem Johnson 10)
Waikato Pistons 60 (Ben Hill 21)
Inspire Net Manawatu Jets 83 (Brad Davidson 36)
St Laurence Wellington Saints 80 (Terrence Lewis 20, Nick Horvath 19, Chris Anderson 18, Brendon Polyblank 16)
NZCT Taranaki Mountain Airs 87 (Cody Topper 25, Link Abrams 20, Garry Hill-Thomas 19)
Otago Nuggets 82 (Branduinn Fullove 28, Brandon Morris 18, Miles Pearce 13)
Auckland Stars 84 (Lindsay Tait 27, Casey Frank 14, Josh Nigut 10)
NBS Nelson Giants 69 (Josh Pace 21, Chris Daniel 13, Eric Freeman 12)
Basketball New Zealand