Wet Weather Play Shows Up Weakness' In Basketball Teams

Chronicle (Levin), 9 June 1949, Page 7

Wet Weather Play Shows Up Weakness' In Basketball Teams

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Basketball was resumed again on Saturday in spite of occasional showers. Wet weather generally slows up a game and the passing as a rule is not good, except perhaps in the A grade, where piayers have had more experience. Here, however, the- weakest link in the team is generally the player whose ball handling is the poorest in the team. Captains should note carefully those piayers who are unable to catch and pass a greasy ball, and see that they have extra practice.

St. Joseph's generally show up well in their passing on a wet day, but on Satm'day, though their passing was gor d, they were not quick enough to intercept the rapid passes of the Wanderers team, , which a!so outshone them in goalshooting. All piayers could benefit by spending some time watching the clever passing and good footwork of Wanderers. This team has one 1 weakness which could be exploited 1 by their opponents. That is .their occasional lapse into the long pass, ■ which relies on six piayers instead of using the nine piayers of the team. Tui A v. College B. In the game Tui A v. College B both teams played good, sound basketball with" few infringements. The Tui team plays a very pleasing game, skilfully p/anntd and well executed. Their passing is sound and they are always on their toes. Perhaps one weakness here is that, on the whole, the team plays the same combir.ation throughout the game. An experienced and speedy opponent could and should realise this. The highest goal scoring of the drv was made by M. Dorne of this team. As for College B, so far this season oi?-; could say ;hat for their centres and defence this was perhaps their best game to date. They were quick to intercept and sure of their passing. P. Franklin had the opportunit i and shone .in her defence of M. Dome, who is an ex-. perienced player. M. Potter played wefi, as did W. Murray. The later failed some times in passing the ball rapid'y to the centre. Her team thus lost the be.iefit of her good interception. The centre play was good and passes were well timed, but it was in the forward section that this team failed. They had their fair share of the ball. but- lost their opOf the 20 attempts to shoot a goal, O fthe 20 attempts to shoot a gcal, only seven were successful, four of these being shot by P. Wickens. Textiles v. Punahau. In the B grade Textile v. Punahau game, fiie latter made a poor beginning, but rapidly drew tevel with Tex ile A, who were fortunate to win by one g >al. Punahau's chief fault was the passing. They re'ied upm an extremely high lob to carry the bafi over their opponents' heads and until this type of nlay was eiiminated, they made no progress agains. the betier passing and interception of the Textile team.

For Punahau, R. Parata played well in spite of the fact that her team was playing one shr rt in this hird. S. Naisbitt was /he outstanding forward for Textile, scoring second place in Saturday 's goal shooting. She was ably supported by E. Raika. Athletic v. Hui Mai. Athletic v. Hui Mai was another of those pleasing games to watch — one which must have been equally pleasant to the referee. Though not as fast as an A grade game1, it had its moments of brilliance. Piayers on both sides acquitted themseives well and it was difficud to sing e out any one who consistenlly outshone the others, though here one could mention the good centre play of B. ODonnell. J. Wickens shoots goals well and plays a steady game, but at times she tends to rest upon her heels instead of being on her toes all the time. J - College A v. C.O.G. A. The College A v. C.O.G. A match was not as good a game as, these two teams generally play when they meet in competitions. Scoring was low, the game ending five-all, out in this c'ase it did not indicate poor shooting as much as good defence work on both sides. Given be.ow are the points to date for the A grade teams.

. 'd d . «3 § ^ 0 1 ^ "£ S 5 g g So H CU ^ Q J Wanderers 3 3 — — 6 C.O.G. A 3 1113 College A 3 2 1—5 K.B.H. 2 — — 2 — Tui A 3 2—14 College B 3 1—22 St. Joseph 2 — — 2 — College C 3 1—22