Rams' hit man in deadly form | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Guard Joel Hart has been described by Rams coach Chris Sparks as his "assassin."

And he's never struck with more deadly effect than in the Rams' win against Manawatu last week when he sensationally bagged five three-pointers and shot 100% for his 18 points.

It's the sort of contribution Sparks was looking for as the Rams go into one of their biggest weeks of the season against champions Hawkes Bay tonight and leaders Harbour on Friday, both at the Westpac.

The accuracy of 22-year-old Hart, who made his Rams debut in 2003, is no fluke.

"I used to spend heaps of time shooting after school," he said. "We had a hoop at home so I'd just go out there all the time and just keep getting heaps of shots up. Sometimes I'd shoot for three hours in the gym after school or at home."

It was, he admits, at the expense of homework ? "I tried to get my homework done in class!"

Hart makes sure he has a few tricks up his singlet. At 1.84m he's one of the NBL's shortest players, and as well as his three-point skill he makes sure he is particularly fit.

"I've just got to be quick and try to be smarter, and obviously there's a bit of fitness there, too," he said.

Last week's five three-pointers is his best feat in the NBL, but twice he's scored ELEVEN triples ? for Checkers in senior interclub and for Kaiapoi High School.

"I just had a good night last week," he said. "I was just hitting them, so I thought, keep shooting them. It was good because we had a win ? that was awesome."

That third home win of the season has given the Rams a breathing space over the bottom two teams ? and a surge of confidence for this week's doubleheader.

Hart, who grew up at Ohoka and went to Kaiapoi High, is a proud Cantabrian who gives everything for the Rams.

He started basketball at eight ? "I was quite tall for my age but then I stopped growing" ? and as a youngster also played soccer and league for Kaiapoi.

He and another Ram, Ashley Rees, both played under former Canterbury Wildcats coach Phil Burns at Ouruhia School, and at Kaiapoi High Hart was coached by another leading Canterbury personality, former Rams coach Pete McAllister.

It's been a stop-start season for the Rams ? two matches in three days this week, and sometimes 10 days without a game. However, Hart enjoys the intensity of weeks like this.

"I like it when we've got a lot of games in a row. This week should be fun, just all games. With a couple of weeks off all you do is training and you don't have that game awareness. But you prepare for each team differently and when you've got two close together it's quite hard to prepare for the second one."

The Rams have given themselves a target of five wins from their last eight games, and were looking to play whole games after bad quarters affecting some of their previous games, he said.

Even aside from his three-pointers, it might be said no Ram does more to promote the team than Hart. A graphic designer, he is also working part-time for Canterbury Basketball this year and doing posters and other design work for the Rams.