Co-captain Marques Whippy and the Canterbury Rams are vowing to redeem themselves after their pride took a battering last time out. The Rams turned in a meek final quarter showing on their home court against Hawke's Bay, losing 84-75. It was a poor showing considering it was a must-win game for the team and they had beaten the same opponent by 21 points, just nine days earlier. Canterbury, who have a 6-6 record and sit fifth in the National Basketball League, have a chance to atone for that display when they host winless Taranaki [0-10] at Cowles Stadium on Sunday night. Whippy said the Rams were embarrassed with how Hawke's Bay outpassioned them. They needed to play with much more fire this time around. "We were so gutted. The locker room wasn't a pretty sight after the game. We were supposed to win that game. The effort wasn't there and they made their shots at the end." Fijian international Whippy was one of the few Rams players to impress against Hawke's Bay. He had a busy all-round game, scoring 17 points, to go along with nine rebounds, five steals and four assists. The Rams had put the loss behind them and trained well this week and Whippy expected a big turnaround against Taranaki.
"[Coach] Mark [Dickel] has done a great job pushing us, but he can only do so much. It's us, who are playing. We hope the boys come ready to play." The 1.93m power forward played one game for the Otago Nuggets last season, grabbing 17 rebounds, but then suffered a season-ending Achilles tear at training the following week. With the Nuggets no longer in the NBL, due to financial issues, Whippy jumped at the chance to join former Nuggets' player-coach Dickel at the Rams. He has moved to Christchurch with wife, Valmene, and daughter, Olive, and is coaching in the Rams' academy and schools. The Rams lead the league statistically for rebounds per game, but were beaten 45-42 on the glass by Hawke's Bay. Whippy said he, Mickell Gladness, and the Rams' frontline prided themselves on their ability to make a difference on the boards. "It was frustrating. Rebounding is all about positioning. We were just complacent and for some reason we just took everything for granted and thought we were going to walk all over them like we did the week before and that wasn't the case." The loss to Hawke's Bay leaves the Rams with an uphill battle to make the top four finals. Whippy reckons they will have to win five of their remaining six games to get there. "We've put ourselves in a harder situation, but there's still a chance we can make the playoffs." At the end of the season, the 29-year-old Whippy will represent Fiji for the first time in several years at the South Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea. His brothers, Leonard and Waymann, both play for the national team and his father, Paul, has coached them in the past. Whippy made his international debut at just 14 years of age. He lists beating Guam in the 2007 final of the South Pacific Games as one of his proudest career achievements.
Canterbury will be without Middleton Grange schoolboy standout Sam Timmins, who is away representing the New Zealand under-18 3x3 basketball team at the world championships in Hungary.
Timmins will also miss next weekend's away game with Super City, but should be back for the Nelson home game on June 14.
Tipoff is at 7pm.
