Gerard Bowden from Cougars friend to foe

The Christchurch Cougars will get their first taste of guard Gerard Bowden in opposition ranks when they face early Bartercard National Basketball League pacesetter Waikato in Te Awamutu tonight.

Bowden played in Canterbury for the Rams and the Cougars after returning from four years playing at college level in the United States.

He was lured north during the off-season and appears to have left a hole in the Cougars lineup at starting shooting guard, where his replacement Aidan Daly has neither the size nor point production to emulate Bowden.

Daly is more of a point guard, as he has usually been during a lengthy NBL career, but the Cougars already have Jeremy Kench specialising in that starting role.

The shooting guard spot is just one of the headaches the Cougars will have to overcome defensively as they try to restrict a rampant Waikato side.

Waikato already possess the league's most potent pointscorer in American guard Eric Devendorf, who – although it is early days yet – is averaging 37 points a game after a season opener of 49.

Kench should have that demanding defensive assignment, while Daly is likely to be tasked with marking Hayden Allen (and/or Bowden), who has shifted south after Auckland was ditched.

Two of the most athletic players in the country, youthful jumping jack Tom Abercrombie (Waikato) and Paora Winitana, will be trading aerial manoeuvres in the small forward spot.

Australian league veteran Tony Ronaldson adds vast experience to the Hamilton lineup and Cougars import Trent Wurtz, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, will have his hands full controlling him at power forward.

At centre, seven-footer Alex Pledger has a 15-centimetre edge in height over Lionel Hopgood, with the Cougars' import centre, Tim Behrendorff, unavailable until next week.

The Cougars have little time to recover from the Waikato match before a road trip the next day to New Plymouth, where they face Taranaki tomorrow night.

Taranaki is on an 18-game losing streak, which they will hope to break at home, after they lost by 18 to Waikato in their last outing.

- © Fairfax NZ News