Fast Break
The Otago Nuggets reigned supreme for about two months last year. They won 11 of their first 13 games in a intoxicating run which left their previously beleaguered fans giddy with excitement.
Alas, the Nuggets' campaign had the stuffing knocked out of it on June 21 by a plucky Southland Sharks team which was still battling for a place in the playoffs and was more hungry. The Sharks smashed the Nuggets 114-67.
The 47-point shellacking was the heaviest defeat in the Nuggets' history and a turning point in the season. It also highlighted a salient fact - it is not how you start the season but how you finish that counts.
Bear that in mind when the Nuggets play the champion Sharks in Invercargill tonight.
Centre Pass
Who would have thought winning in Australia was going to prove sooooo hard? It took the Steel six years and 17 attempts before the franchise finally cracked it with a 61-59 win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday.
Interestingly, The Fifth Quarter was home sick that day and did not cover the match. Perhaps he is the jinx.
Anyway, a big congratulations to the team followed by a warning - it will have all been for nothing if the Steel cannot win its next three games.
The franchise is at home to the Mystics on Sunday, hosts the Pulse next week and then travels to Christchurch to play the anaemic Tactix. Lose any of those games and a place in the playoffs would seem unlikely.
The Last Shot
Otago and Southland have been forced to team up in the ANZ Championship. Southern United is a combined team. The Highlanders' catchment includes Southland. The regions' hockey teams played under the one banner in the NHL.
Thank heavens for the Nuggets and the Sharks. They still get to play each other. And what a great rivalry it has become.
