This season’s young Taranaki Mountain Airs gave the critics something to talk about in their opening game.
With only five minutes on the clock and 70 – 72 on the scoreboard they showed supporters at the TSB stadium in New Plymouth what they thought of critics questioning their lack of experience with a display of sheer grit and determination.
Fresh off the plane, import Sulemain Braimoh netted 16 points after only being in the country three days, while fellow import Oliver had an impressive game scoring 30 points after spending the previous four days sick.
Both teams struggled as the ball refused to fall with the Airs scoring on just 27 from 73 shots from the field with Breakers Manawatu Jets failing to ignite shooting 31 from 75.
The teams fared no better with their three-pointers as the Airs’ Oliver only managed to find the basket on two from seven, and Brad Anderson 1 from 4, while for Jets McLean shot 2 from 12 and Burton 1 from 5 from deep.
With the lead changing 8 times and being tied 10, the Airs played hard to stop the Jets’ 13 point lead, leaving their run to the last five minutes.
A clock violation and travelling from the Jets combined with a super high rebound and spectacular block from Braimoh had fans believing a win was inevitable. However, the Jets dug deep with Jones and Jenkins quickly putting points on the board to seal a win 82-74.
Coach Daryn Shaw’s philosophy of playing to win so nearly got the desired results. “I think we let ourselves down in that second quarter. A loss is still a loss and we don’t take losing too well. A lot of shots didn’t go down that normally would.
“There were some positive things out there. ‘Aunty’ (Bailey-Nowell) really stepped up tonight. We’ve got a totally new team and he’s the right person to lead.
“Overall we’re disappointed that we lost but we will take some good things out of it as well.”
Both Assistant Coaches Steve McKean and Willie Banks said they thought their guys played pretty well their first game up. “In the second half you saw that Oliver is a pretty good player and McKee played well off the bench. We let one get away that maybe we could’ve won so we feel good in some ways but we’re a little bit pissed off that we didn’t get the win,” said McKean.
Banks said “I really believe that this team has potential. If we could’ve held them (Jets) in the 70’s it would have been a different game.”
Breakers Manawatu Jets 82 – Paul Jones 33, Arthur Trousdell 12, Jeremiah Trueman 10.
Taranaki Mountain Airs 74 – Adrian Oliver 30, Suleiman Braimoh 16, Aaron Bailey-Nowell 12.
This article was published on NZ Hoops website April 7, 2014