Sharks sound early
As impressive as the NBL seasonopening effort from the sharpshooting Southland Sharks in Invercargill on Friday night was, it has to come with a massive asterisk.
The ‘Baby’ Saints who travelled south were pretty much bereft of their main rotation players, and it was notable that new coach Guy Molloy spent much of the lead-in dampening expectations for the 12-time champions’ opening fixture. Given he still has two crack imports, Taane Samuel, Jordan Ngatai, Tom Vodanovich and maybe one other stud to filter in as soon as next round, it was an understandable approach.
Sure enough, Rob Beveridge’s classy Sharks, with the vast majority of their squad already in place, cantered to a 117-81 victory in the second game of the new Kiwi National Basketball League season.
The Southlanders were redhot from the field, shooting 67%