Game Preview – Tauranga Whai v Canterbury Rams 13/03/25

Rams basketball, oh how we’ve missed you! The hunt for the elusive three-peat begins tomorrow night in Tauranga as a Kiwi-laden Rams squad take on the mighty Whai.

Get back into the swing of things this Thursday by flicking on the telly, grabbing a slice of Sal’s Pizza (nifty marketing plug – wink, wink), and tuning in to our season opener!

Game Info

Thursday, March 13th, 2024. 

Rapid League: 6:00 PM. Sal’s NBL: 7:00pm.

Mercury Park, Tauranga.

Watch live on Sky Sport 2 (NZ), ESPN3 (USA), FIBA YouTube (Globally)

So, What Are We Dealing With?

The Whai’s inaugural season in the Sal’s NBL was an undeniable success. With a win-loss record of 8-12, Tauranga tied Nelson and Hawke’s Bay for the final playoff seed, narrowly missing out on postseason play due to a point differential percentage tiebreaker. 

Now that they have a full season of Sal’s NBL experience under their belt and a Westside Blitz championship to their name, the Whai aren’t a team to be underestimated. 

In 2024, the Tauranga-Canterbury series ended two-zip in favour of the Rams with an average win margin of 17 points. Thankfully for both squads, they’ve each been able to retain the majority of their local cores.

For the Whai, their local guard duo of Jayden Bezzant and Kruz Perrott-Hunt took turns dealing out damage. Bezzant top scored in game 1 against Canterbury with a season-high 21 point outing, following that up with a 5 point performance on 2/11 shooting in game 2. On the other hand, Perrott-Hunt got out to a slow start with 4 points on 2/12 shooting, picking up the slack in game 2 with 20 points.

Bezzant and Perrott-Hunt will be supported by incoming imports Chris Jones and Sean Bairstow, who will provide Tauranga with additional ball handling options and an added dosage of shot creation. The Bairstow name might ring a bell or two for Kiwi basketball fans as Sean made his professional debut for the BNZ Breakers this past ANBL season.

While the Rams got the best of the Whai head-to-head, Tauranga did an excellent job of muting the impact of the Rams’ locals. Across both games Taylor Britt, Max Darling, and Kaia Isaac were all held significantly under their scoring averages (-3.8, -5.4 , -5.5). That being said though, fan favourite “Down Town” Walter Brown wasn’t too phased, scoring 11.5 points and pulling down 7.0 rebounds.

The Hot Topic: Can the Young Guns Take the Whai to School?

With the arrivals of Sean Macdonald, Kyle Bowen, and CJ Penha still pending – and Brown being sidelined with injury – the Rams will enter Thursday’s season opener with a roster consisting almost exclusively of young Kiwi talent. Do not mistake the Rams’ lack of imports for weakness though, as Canterbury might have one of the best, if not the best local contingency in the league.

As mentioned before, the Whai out-did themselves in slowing down the Rams’ Kiwis last season. However, every new season comes with a clean slate, so expect Britt, Isaac, and Darling to come out swinging. Age grade standouts Tama Isaac and Mana Martin are expected to take on more responsibility in the absence of Brown, and the likes of Jake Holmes, Tony Worthington and Marco Sula are all set to make their Rams debuts. 

Injury Report (as of 12/03/25)

Tauranga Whai
OUT – Denhym Brooke (personal)

Canterbury Rams
OUT – Sean Macdonald (injury)
OUT – Kyle Bowen (ANBL finals)
OUT – CJ Penha (personal)
OUT – Walter Brown (injury)
OUT – Jonty Bond (illness)

Join Us This Sunday

If you’re motivated enough to make it to the end of our season opener preview, surely you’d be just as keen to come to our home opener as well! Join us this Sunday night as we host the Nelson Giants and showcase our 2024 championship banner.

Buy Tickets Here.