Jets coach confident ahead of NBL season
A settled quad of young guns has Tim Mctamney, the Manawatu¯ Jets’ coach, feeling optimistic.
Last year’s NBL Showdown was played entirely in Auckland because of Covid-19, and the Jets made it all the way to the final before losing to the Otago Nuggets.
A week out from this year’s NBL starting, which is back to the normal format, Mctamney has assembled a good side, with the bulk of the squad being impressive youngsters.
Even though they’re on a small budget again, Mctamney is confident about what his squad can do. They’re missing two of last year’s stars – Tom Vodanovich and Hyrum Harris – but the Jets still have a solid roster.
Young guard Jayden Bezzant returns and will be a key player. Two imports, guard Daishon Knight and forward Deandre Daniels, get out of isolation today and both should play big roles this year.
Knight played overseas last year but has been a huge source of points for the Jets, while Daniels has played in the Australian NBL and has won an NCAA championship in the United States.
Guard Nikau Mccullough has come from the Franklin Bulls and forward Shane Temara has returned from the Taranaki Mountain Airs. Temara’s brother Troy will miss the start of the season with a knee injury.
Jake Mckinlay is back in the team and the young forward has become more mature and grown bigger. Kalib Mullins, Matangarei Hipango and Ashton Mcqueen all return.
Junior Tall Black guards Finn Lally from Hamilton and Tuhaka Cooper from Northland have been welcome additions as well.
Mctamney says it is still a young team, with six players under 20.
‘‘We’ve still got some talent and scoring. If things go well we’re going to be fun to watch.’’
Many teams are awaiting top players to return from the Australian NBL, who are likely to be back about round 10. The Jets don’t have any players involved in that competition and will have their full squad from round one, which Mctamney said would be an advantage having all their players together.
‘‘We want to get our wins early in the piece. We want to make sure when every team is back at full strength we’re playing really good basketball.
‘‘At that point we’ll be ready for whatever is thrown at us.’’
Manawatu¯ beat the Bay Hawks 96-94 in Waipukurau in a pre-season game last weekend and have another pre-season game against the Taranaki Mountain Airs at the Arena on Saturday night.
Mctamney used the Hawke’s Bay game as a chance to experiment and he is impressed with how they performed. He is likely to do the same against Taranaki.
They start the season with a double header in Auckland, playing the Auckland Huskies on Friday and the Franklin Bulls on Saturday.
Mctamney was thankful for the support of naming-rights sponsor Property Brokers, whose sponsorship has allowed Mctamney to build the squad.
Basketball Manawatu¯ is hosting two tournaments at the Arena today.
One is an under-19 qualifying event for rankings for the national championships on Queen’s Birthday Weekend. Manawatu¯ has boys and girls teams entered.
There is also an under-17 preseason tournament.
Manawatu¯ Jets
Jayden Bezzant, Ashton Mcqueen, Nikau Mccullough, Jake Mckinlay, Finn Lally, Kalib Mullins, Shane Temara, Troy Temara, Tukaha Cooper, Matangarei Hipango, Daishon Knight, Deandre Daniels.