NZ hope for Adams

The Tall Blacks are heading to the World Cup, which means the battlers from Basketball New Zealand will again be reaching for that olive branch to extend the way of NBA superstar Steven Adams. New Zealand’s national hoops body is nothing if not obstinate – and persistent – when it comes to pitching to their elusive Oklahoma City Thunder centre around the possibility of him ending his self-imposed Tall Blacks exile. Basketball NZ chief executive Iain Potter told Stuff that he will once again knock politely on the Adams door to see if he’s interested after the Tall Blacks confirmed their spot at a fifth straight World Cup by qualifying as one of the two pool winners out of the new Fiba Asia qualifying process. ‘‘We’ve got to keep reminding him of what’s special about playing for New Zealand and what’s really special about playing for New Zealand at a World Cup,’’ said Potter. You can’t keep the two-time defending champions Southern Steel down for long. Hurting after Sunday’s 66-64 upset loss to the Stars in their national netball premiership season opener, the Steel rebounded with a polished showing, thrashing the Mainland Tactix 66-46 in Christchurch last night. In a rematch of last year’s thrilling elimination final, the Steel pulled away early in the third quarter, scoring eight unanswered goals to build a 45-31 advantage, which the Tactix were never coming back from. At a glance: Steel 66 (Lenize Potgieter: 39/42, Te Paea Selby-Rickit: 11/18, Georgia Heffernan: 8/12, Jen O’Connell: 8/9 ) Tactix 46 (Ellie Bird: 29/33, Kate Beveridge: 13/17, Brooke Leaver: 4/7 ) Quarter scores: 1Q:16-15, HT: 35-28, 3Q: 52-36.