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17 April 2010

THE GOOD WITH THE BAD

By AARON FREEMAN – Jets Stream Official Blogger

Saturday 17 April 2010, 6pm, Arena Manawatu

Final (2OT) Manawatu Jets 120, Harbour Heat 123

Welcome to the world of basketball entertainment.  Tonight was a good night on so many levels – and that is without the ignorance of what is still a tough home loss to take on the chin.

First let’s look at some positive aspects of this game.  I think my man Sam Macey summed it up at the end of the 1st overtime period with the statement, “I think I’ve developed a mancrush on Darryl Hudson…”.  Newly acquired combo guard import Darryl Hudson comes with much relief to the Manawatu Jets, after being released by the Wellington Saints earlier in the week.  This has breathed immediate new life into a Jets offense that at times earlier in the season, had a tendency to become stagnant. “Whoops, dropped 44 on ya!”

Forget the first-game-with-a-new-team-jitters, this guy straight-up performed. The end score is a testament to this, considering the Jets offence previous to the Hudson acquisition were still yet to break the 90 point barrier in a 4 period game.

Hudson added a fluent touch to the point guard position - distributing well, setting the correct tempo for the Jets offense in bringing the ball up the court. Hudson read screens and press defense well, took good shots and most importantly, he got to the foul line – in one night, all of the writer’s hopes and expectations seemed to be on the fringes of fruition.  Baby steps.

Moving on, I am happy to see a new and relaxed Richard Jeter. With the bulk offensive load now lifted from his shoulders, Jeter is now free to roam, maintain balance at both ends, create GOOD shot opportunities for himself, and make differences in other areas defensively.  Some good rebounding from Jeter was a huge positive, and it was a good sign to see Jeter driving aggressively to the hoop, drawing contact, and getting to the foul line. He may not have scored his usual 30 – but that’s not what we needed, and the new relaxed look becomes Jeter.  As he and Hudson play more together this season, opposing defenses will be pouring into local chemists to stock up on paracetamol for the headaches these two offense weapons are bound to create.

Captain Kaine Hokianga once again led the team with heart, and it was good to see Kaine get involved in operating the offense inside-out, often recycling the ball to create better shot opportunities for team-mates, and hitting some clutch jumpers and free-throws in the 4th to keep us within a sniff.

While on the subject of the foul line – I’ve got to say it again, and it’s only for the record, so something hopefully improves.  New week, new direction and all that, so I won’t dwell on it, but honestly the refereeing in this game was painful.  Again!  I myself yelled from the media box asking the officials politely if they’d like a hand, because it didn’t seem to me that knew that a basketball game was going on inside the building.  Not surprisingly, their hearing was as good as their sight tonight.  Unbelievable no-calls tonight, and at both ends, but I felt more so at the Jets end.  Jeter deserved at least 10 more free throws, and so did Matt Te Huna. 

The most positive theme of this game for the Jets was the contribution factor.

The offensive boxscore reads immaculately to any analyst, 6 Jets players scoring in double figures, Calum Macleod chiming in with 18 points and 9 boards.  Chris Reay chipped in 16 points and 4 boards.  What the boxscore doesn’t highlight however, are the contributions that don’t get counted.  Calum Macleod, Piers Finch, Chris Reay and Logan Funnell all getting down and dirty, throwing their bodies around the stadium with reckless abandon.  Floor burns are the worst! Especially for a hairy guy I imagine! But that kind of hustle you can’t teach – these kind of contributions were indeed a positive thing to see, and will be key focal points moving forward, to achieve the season’s first win.

Looking ahead - the impending arrival of American Kevin Smith is scary……for oppositions. The pieces have all finally arrived, and this writer senses an emphatic victory on the horizon.

In my view, I think this loss was a tough one.  Tough because the win was within our grasp – and the only difference at the end of the day is really this; winning is a habit.  If you’re in the habit of winning, you know how to win, and more importantly, you know how to close.   As Aunt Betty said, the proof is in the pudding, and I’m picking by the hunger I see in the Jets eyes – a look that hasn’t been there all season – added to a new look offense and some floor burns to think about for the next 5 days, that the Christchurch Cougars are in for one heck of a battle come Saturday 24 April at the Arena 2 Hangar.

If you want entertainment this Saturday night Palmerstonians, get down to The Hangar – I guarantee it’ll be better than watching the World Championship of Darts, or smelling 30 stock car drivers’ body odour simultaneously at a local bar.

Happy Birthday P-Finch, and welcome to the Swamp Darryl Hudson, glad to have you.

Go JETS!

 

08 April 2010

ON THE RISE

By AARON FREEMAN – Jets Stream Official Blogger

Thursday 08 April, 2010 – Arena Manawatu

Final – Jets  73     Pistons 95

It’s about the time of season where you start to get cynical. But before you start getting cynical in your armchair of procrastination, calling upon your powers of zero athletic ability and superior xbox 360 basketball playing, just remember what we’re dealing with here.  An NBA grade coach, a pretty damn good roster of rising young local talent, a token import, and all this on the salary cap equivalent of Lebron James’ pet mini-chihuahua’s weekly wardrobe expenses.

So let’s put things into perspective.

This was the most entertaining game that I’ve analysed our Jets team play to date.  Through 2 quarters I saw some A-grade zone defending from the Jets – and the intensity that they played defense at was remarkable. On this night the Jets achieved every key point that zone is intended for, they clogged the lane to stop penetration and increase help defense ability for cover on the Pistons tall timber.  Yes, we allowed the odd corner 3-ball opportunity, but thats the downfall of zone, the upside being you only have to keep it up for 24 seconds in one shot-clock rotation.  Coming back to preventing penetration, this was key considering Pistons guard Eric Devendorff had just come off a 49-point game. On this night he shot enough bricks to build a halfway house for the homeless, and that’s indicative of two things – tough D, and an off-shooting night combined.  Lucky for us.  We’ll take it mate.

Matt Te Huna was predictably efficient on offense, providing the support to Richard Jeter’s tidy jumpshooting that was needed to maintain sway and fluency in the Jet’s offense.  Te Huna was most effective on penetration, often getting all the way to the rim, and getting many an unlucky no-call on the night. 

Which brings me to my first moan of the season.  The quality of refereeing on this night was less than poor.  I don’t mean to be unkind but honestly? It was like two of them were reffing with welding helmets on – too often I noted some pretty sketchy no-calls upon obvious contact – most notably when Richard Jeter drove to the hoop in the 2nd and got absolutely pole-axed by 3 defenders – no-call. Unbelievable. Now I’ll be the first to admit that the Jets perhaps added doubt to the no-calls in their various body positionings – What I’m meaning is that you’re probably not going to get a call on a fadeaway ANYTHING, purely because you’re shying away from the contact. That being said, there were still at least 4 calls that should have been called in the 2nd and 3rd alone.  Pretty hard to build momentum when you’re being refereed out of the game.

Let’s get back to something positive – let’s talk about Logan Funnell.  This guy came in with limited minutes, and achieved something special in his short time.  I’ve not seen perimeter defense more intense or committed from the Jets this season, and man was it a sight to behold – Coach get this guy some Taro and 15 minutes a game!

New signing Chris Reay was the spur of hot conversation in the media box – many from other organisations too quick to point out Reay’s apparent lack of offensive efficiency.  My reply? I witnessed 2 blocks, one of which was a straight-up game-time block, and many a hard fought for board.  He got to the foul line. That’s something that has been missing ALL season, and I, for one, am thankful for his work. Big ups Chris Reay.

We have offensive guns already, what we needed was a rebounder and we got it.

One thing that does vex me is 7-footer Calum Macleod’s limited minutes.  Macleod chimed in for 12 minutes, and was pretty damn efficient with 5 boards and 4 points, that kind of efficiency begs the question – why isn’t this guy starting at Center with Reay at 4-man.  That combo would at least make penetrating guards shiver at the prospect of driving the ball, and allow us to matchup with anyone size wise at the point, 2-guard, and swingman positions.

While still extremely formidable on offense, I would like to see import Richard Jeter get to the foul line more.  He does possess the explosiveness to blow past his first defender, however fading from contact or avoiding it all does not provide the extra points opportunities that we are currently lacking. I’d like to see him get up close and personal with the hoop on offense and perhaps limit some of the shots from range in exchange for some and-1 opportunities off the drive. 

To summarise, the Jets played 2 solid quarters of ball in this game, in the 3rd the Jets didn’t play any worse, the Pistons just went on a run, and even during this time, their big guns weren’t delivering what they are capable of, the 4th quarter was a result of frustration and no-calls from the referees.

The Jets are at their best when they are playing back-to-basics basketball, solid 2-3 zone defense, Chris Reay and Calum Macleod getting to the foul line on low-post moves, Jordanesque run-down D from Kaine Hokianga, and in-your-face man defense from rising young talent like Logan Funnell.

The improvements and cohesiveness within this team is building, and from a realist’s point of view, this is a unit that has a positive future.  Can’t wait to see the natural flow-on effects at the next game.

 

 

Jet Lagged – From the Bay Hawks to the Harbour Heat

26 March 2010

By AARON FREEMAN – Jets Stream Official Blogger

In my 14 day experience as a local basketball analyst [pause for laughter] I’ve learnt many things – but the most important thing that I’ve learnt is, you have to be able to laugh at yourself.

Manawatu Jets 76, Bay Hawks 118. 

Heres a boggle for you – how do you write a report about a result like this?

As I say, you have to be able to laugh at yourself, and you have to find the positives.

For me, there were two telling moments of this game. 

With two minutes and fifty-eight seconds left in the 1st period, Bay Hawks power forward Ben Hill threw a wayward cross-court pass to the corner that unintentionally impacted square in the face of an unsuspecting local 9 year old fan, who coincidentally….wasn’t paying attention. Always watch the ball kids, safer communities together.

The second moment, was around the end of the 1st period when I saw a Bay Hawks supporter, a young girl also no more than 9 years old being held back by a Mother, as the young one looked like she was about to go 1988 summer slam ultimate warrior, on the Piers Finch Fan Club.

These minties moments pretty much summed up the theme of the entire night. The Bay Hawks beat up the Jets, and their children even beat us too. The result asks some hard questions of this team.  With more playing time together, the writer still believes this team DOES possess the potential to go deep in an NBL playoff scenario.  Always back an underdog, son.

Lets look at some positives – What about the cut of bench player Matt Te Huna’s gib?  In a situation where you open a game giving up a 12-0 run before your first score, and end the opening quarter down 40-8, it would be natural to pack up shop, put your head down, and start cueing the i-pod playlist for the ride home. Not this guy.  Matt Te Huna is what I perceive to be a natural 2-guard, with solid handles, some decent footwork, a good work-rate, and he possesses a pretty reliable 20 footer as well.  Te Huna never gave up, and it was a good exhibition of heart, grit, and determination. Coach, get this guy more minutes!

Fellow bench player Josh O’Connell was a solid contributor also, in limited minutes O’Connell came in and played some damn respectable perimeter and transition defence, which on this night was unfortunately a rare thing. He was also often the catalyst at both ends of the floor for momentum swinging plays.  I would like to see a bit of more of that pit-bull out of Josh, and see him rewarded for it with more playing opportunity.

Moving forward, this team still looks pretty damn good to me on paper. The tall timber, the shooters, the imports, and the distributors.  All the elements seem in place.  The key will be unlocking their relative potentials, and bringing it all together to work as one.

For the upcoming game tonight against the Harbour Heat, the Jets have NBL player of the week Rick Rickert to now deal with, who poured in 22 points and 22 rebounds against the Saints on Tuesday.  Breakers and Tall Blacks regular Dillon Boucher must also demand some defensive attention, Boucher has been a nightmare for oppositions so far this season, as his strong stats so far would suggest. 

I can not stress enough, the importance of rebounding, boxing out, and defence in all forms.

We do have the size and ability, though not as much bench depth as other teams are blessed with.  This does not necessarily have to hinder us should the Jets squad buy into a cohesive style of play as the season progresses, though with a start to the season that is less than ideal, the time to start playing is now. The game tonight and the season ahead will come down to toughness inside, and I would like to see impressive sharp-shooter import Richard Jeter run perhaps more effectively at 3 man, popping off high screens for spot up 15 and 20 footers, or even operating from the high post. Pick and rolling while simple will also provide ample opportunities for spot up jumper opportunities.

Moving on to our solo big timber at the moment, 7 footer Calum MacLeod - I think it was in the movie ‘Braveheart’ that the massive ginger guy named Hamish said something like “I could crush ye….like a worm…” – That’s what I think every time I see this monster! He has a pretty handy jumper, but lets be honest – who around here likes American NBA Player Mehmet Okur? Or has even heard of him? I’m not too shy to say that I’ve never been a Utah Jazz fan, but my point is having a 7 foot guy out at 15 feet shooting jumpers is like going to a steak house and asking for the vegetarian menu…..just not quite right.  Id like to see the big man wheel it down low a bit more, get some easy buckets, maybe draw some fouls, dunk offensively on some poor unfortunate 6 foot players, hit that offensive board with some angst, and block any trash that comes inside his paint. These are a few of my favourite things.  I’ve seen spurts of what I believe to be an un-tapped resource in MacLeod – in the Jets opening game against the Saints, MacLeod took a pass while cutting aggressively to the rim and delivered the pill  to the bucket Karl Malone style, picking up an and-1 call to top it off.  Get Some.  This is the kind of aggressive offense where the Jets look imposing. 

I look forward to a healthy Callum Brock, who is having some early-in-the-season knee injury issues – but once healthy, should provide the mongrel that the Jets are lacking in the rebounding and intensity department.  Brock has shown flashes of some pretty decent outside shooting for a big-man, and some good fight down-low against typically larger opponents.  Co-captain Brock’s inspirational play will be a hinging factor as this season progresses.

Captain Kaine Hokianga has been flawless so far this season, playing consistently with the game intensity you expect and demand from your floor leader.  Although he had an off shooting night in the last game against the Hawks, he was still executing the team offense to a tee, and hitting his spots for good looks at the basket.  That’s basketball for you - some nights you’re off, some nights the hoop seems like its 6 feet wide – I expect to see more of the same from Captain Kaine, and his continuing inspirational leadership will be another key element to achieving success this season.

All in all – the writer remains upbeat about our team.  The Jets honestly couldn’t have been more unlucky with their 2010 season draw, and playing the top 4 teams of the league first up is a big ask for any team, especially one that is essentially a brand new unit.

Tough couple of games ahead boys, but I’m looking forward to hitting the media box again for next home game at Arena Manawatu against the Waikato Pistons on 08 April 2010.

 

See you there!