The Tall Blacks got 18 points from superstar guard Kirk Penney and 14 points from back-up centre Casey Frank as they defeated Canada 71-61 at Halkapinar Arena in Izmir, Turkey, this morning and then had their ticket punched to Istanbul for the round of 16 knockout phase when Spain defeated Lebanon 91-57 in the next game.

The 2010 Tall Blacks’ efforts follow the teams from 2002 and 2006, who both made it out of group play. The 2002 team reached the second group stage and then the semifinals in a fourth-place finish in Indianapolis, while the 2006 team qualified fourth out of their group in Japan and were knocked out in the eighth-finals by world number one Argentina for a ninth-equal finish.

“We’ve been to the world championship three times (since 2000) and we’ve progressed to the second round all three times and the team has to be very proud of that,” Vucinic said. “A few of the guys in this team were there in 2002, when the team finished fourth.

“For me, it comes down to proving another fact that the Tall Blacks are a team that’s a legend of New Zealand sport because of how much they punch above their weight.”

From a country of just over four million people where basketball battles for funding and mainstream media coverage, with a roster featuring four part-time professional basketballers and on the shoe-string BBNZ budget, the Tall Blacks continue to go basket-for-basket with some of the leading basketball nations, featuring big sponsorships, bigger budgets and fulltime pros playing in the NBA and the best leagues in Europe.

With the wins over 24th-ranked Lebanon and 19th-ranked Canada, the 13th-ranked Kiwis moved into the top-16 in a truly global sport and will most likely face either hosts Turkey or Greece in the first knockout round.

“The Tall Blacks aren’t just Keith Mair, Tab Baldwin, Nenad Vucinic. The Tall Blacks are not Glen Denham, Pero Cameron or Kirk Penney. The Tall Blacks are the Tall Blacks,” Vucinic said.

“What we’re trying to do is pass on to the next generation of coaches and players about the hardness and spirit that this team plays. And once again that has shown at this tournament.

“If you’d asked somebody three years ago whether they were going to be in this situation they would’ve said ‘no way’ because the old generation were retiring, the top coach retired as well. And the same thing will happen when I leave, or Kirk leaves or Tom Abercrombie.”

New Zealand jumped on the back of terrific interior defence to hold an athletic Canada team to 61 points. Although the official stats only showed New Zealand collecting five steals and forcing 11 Canada turnovers, the numbers did not represent the effort.

“I think we did a great job defensively,” said Frank, who was strong defensively on NBA centre Joel Anthony in the low post during his 23 minutes on-court. “To hold them to 61 points with all the athletes they have was great.

“There was a lot of defence being played. Everyone was putting their bodies on the line. By the fourth game of the tournament everyone is pretty well scouted. There’s not a lot of surprises left and we have a pretty good idea who we’re playing. Traditionally there’s not a lot of points scored at world championships and scoring 71 points should be enough for the win.”

Canada coach Leo Rautins, while disappointed with his team’s fourth straight loss, by a combined 27 points, praised the Tall Blacks at the post-game press conference.

“New Zealand is always a team we have to be ready to play. They’re physical, they’re aggressive and they can score inside and outside,” Rautins said. “And it’s a team I have a great deal of respect for.”

After the press conference, a contented Vucinic reflected on a hard-fought win built on the foundation of a rapidly-improving defensive effort, long a calling card of the Tall Blacks.

“There was a lot of pressure on the line but both teams played very very physical defence. That’s what happens with the pressure, your shots tighten up, with our shooters not having a good night. Their shooters didn’t play well either. Jermaine Anderson was 2/10 and he’s a high quality player.

“I’m happy with the win. It wasn’t a pretty game but those must-win games are never pretty. We struggled with our offence and Canada challenged us on our defensive end but we still managed to out-rebound one of the best rebounding teams here. That shows the heart of our team.”

Vucinic said New Zealand coaches and players were aware of the possible tie-breaker situation that could have arisen with a loss to Canada but they did not let it distract them from posting a second win and deciding their own fate, rather than leave it up to mathematics.

With France next up less than 24 hours away, the Tall Blacks coaching staff can also start to take a closer look at the leading teams in Group C, where Turkey, Greece or Russia could be New Zealand’s eighth-final opponents.

After New Zealand ground out a 71-61 win over Canada in day five’s opening in Izmir, Turkey, Spain then ensured they would finish in the top four of Group D by defeating Tab Baldwin’s Lebanon team 91-57 in the next game.

With a 2-2 record, following losses to unbeaten Lithuania and defending world champions Spain, then wins over Lebanon and Canada, the Tall Blacks would win any possible tie-breaker situations that could eventuate on the final day of the preliminary round tomorrow and could push as high as third in the group with a win over France.

While the tournament’s leading scorer Kirk Penney again lead the way for New Zealand with 18 points, the play of back-up centre Casey Frank at both ends of the floor, finishing with 14 points, helped boost the Tall Blacks to their second straight win at Halkapinar Arena.

The victory, coupled with Lebanon’s loss confirmed the Tall Blacks (2-2) in the last 16 and an eighth-finals date in Istanbul.

Frank, who played scant minutes in New Zealand’s opening losses to Lithuania and Spain, followed up his strong game against Lebanon with another against the height of the Canadians. The Wellington Saint played a pivotal role in holding Canada at arm’s length in the second half, getting his 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including both three-point attempts, and although only credited with one steal, was a menace down-low defensively.

“Just to have an impact at all is what everybody wants to do,” said Frank, who logged almost 21 minutes court-time and added four rebounds. “I don’t think you’ll find a player in the world that doesn’t think they should play more.

“For the whole tour, I’ve been working as hard as I can and do my job whenever I got called on. And in the last couple of games I’ve been called on a bit more and I’m happy to contribute any way I can.”

Besides Penney and Frank, veteran Phill Jones contributed 11 points, including a pair of threes, while Tom Abercrombie was held to seven points, but pulled down 10 rebounds as New Zealand out-rebounded the taller Canadians 41-32.

In a game only a mother could love, the Tall Blacks needed 39-minutes-and-change to win the defensive arm-wrestle.

Canada closed within four points (47-43) inside the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but were never able to exert any more pressure on the Tall Blacks. When Mika Vukona, who finished with six rebounds, scored on a tough offensive tip-in to increase the lead to 54-45 with four minutes to play, it appeared it would be enough to secure the win.

Like the win over Lebanon, the “Rabid Wekas” fan crew had their white singlets off, waving them over their heads.

With Canada’s Denham Brown going on a late scoring run, it needed back-to-back threes from Abercrombie and Penney, the last with 58 seconds remaining, to put New Zealand up 68-57 and finally put Canada away, ending their eighth-finals chances.

“It’s disappointing and frustrating because our team had high expectations and we didn’t meet them,” said Canada centre Joel Anthony, who finished with 13 points. “It’s very disappointing, we’ve been in all these games, apart from one, and haven’t been able to get a win.”

Jevohn Shepherd shot just 3-of-11 from the floor but made 9-of-13 free-throws for his team-high 15 points, while Brown hit a pair of late threes to get 12 points.

Both teams struggled for extended periods in the face of active defences, with Canada shooting 37% from the field an just 17% (2/12) on threes, while the Tall Blacks had shooting percentages of 41% and 32%.

The Tall Blacks committed 18 turnovers in the game, an area needing improvement before they face France in their final Group D game tomorrow (6am NZ time), while they were also on the low-end of a 34-20 count in points in the paint and a 13-3 fast break points deficit.

Canada, tired after running Lithuania and France close in their previous two games, were stung by the loss of shooting guard Andy Rautins, who flew back to the USA earlier in the morning to have his injured knee examined.

Sleepy was the best way to describe the first half from both teams on-court and from the benches. Neither showed much emotion and with the Tall Blacks using as much of the shot clock as possible on every possession and the referees cracking down on any off-ball contact, the game never had much pace or rhythm to it.

A Frank offensive rebound, off a pair of Penney free-throw misses, and put-back at the halftime buzzer gave the Tall Blacks a 35-28 lead.

After missing all five three-point attempts in the first quarter, Michael Fitchett and Pero Cameron hit back-to-back long-range shots early in the second period to give New Zealand a 19-12 lead at the 8:01 mark. Penney and Frank also hit from behind the arc as New Zealand went 4-of-9 in the quarter to forge the lead.

Canada took a brief lead at 22-21, with Anthony scoring down low, but the Tall Blacks answered with a 14-7 run sparked by the veteran mastery of Jones. He had to take over the play-making role after Penney picked up his second foul of the game on a curious offensive foul call coming off a screen.

Penney played just 25 minutes as he got on the wrong side of the officials, whistled for two offensive fouls.

The first quarter won’t ever be seen on a classic sports network any time soon as the teams combined for 19 total points and 8/26 shooting from the field. Canada were 4/14 and New Zealand not much better at 4/12, while the Tall Blacks also had four turnovers, three of those coming from rushing fast breaks.

The Tall Blacks were tentative offensively in the first period, deliberately running through their sets and showing a lack of aggression. At times, New Zealand looked confused on what sets they were supposed to be running and possessions took time getting started.

Luckily the defence was dominating at the other end, holding Canada to shots from the outside, which weren’t falling. Canada missed a chance to build a lead with the Tall Blacks offence out of sync, and against a stronger team, New Zealand could easily have found themselves playing out of a hole early.

NZ Tall Blacks 71 (Kirk Penney 18, Casey Frank 14, Phill Jones 11) Canada 61 (Jevohn Shepherd 15, Joel Anthony 13, Denham Brown 12)
Q 11-8
HT 35-28 (24-20)
Q3 47-41 (12-13)
FT 71-61 (24-20)

NZ v Canada box score (html 122kb)

Entries close September 22. For further information, contact Melinda Hodgson at 04 498 5955 or melinda@basketball.org.nz.

2010 LWCW Expression of Interest (pdf 77kb)

As both started waxing about the positives from the Kiwis’ first win at Halkapinar Arena, they paused to issue explanations.

First Vucinic: “This press conference is turning into like we won the gold medal. We won a game,” followed by a shrug of the shoulders.

Then Baldwin: “Not to turn this into a continual back-slapping exercise from Nenad and myself,” before responding to a question.

The message from both the current New Zealand coach and the former coach was clear. It was a comprehensive and satisfying win for the Tall Blacks, but it was only one win. And not one that yet guaranteed them a place in the knockout phase in Istanbul.

Still, the win did mean a great deal to the poker-faced Vucinic against his close friend Baldwin.

“For me as a coach I’d say it’s probably my biggest win. In the ’90s and 2000s in the New Zealand league I went up against Tab as a coach and I’d never won against him,” he said.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life as a coach and I’m sure it was the same for Tab because we haven’t coached against each other in a while.

“It was proud of the guys. We played with a lot of heart, and mostly with our heads.”

Vucinic said the advantage in the possession stats - offensive rebounds (15-10) and turnovers (8-21) - something he said he learnt the importance of from Baldwin, was the most pleasing aspect from the Tall Blacks.

Although they went from a 17-point loss to Spain to a 32-point win, Vucinic said the New Zealand effort was similar as two nights ago against the defending world and European champions.

“It’s hard to compare really. Not to disrespect the Lebanon talent but Spain is one of the best teams in the world. I think we probably played as well as against Spain but we took what the opponent gave us.

“We jumped on Lebanon early and I think they did give up too early. I know it’s probably one of the most disappointing things for Tab but they made, like he said earlier, the job easier for us.”

Baldwin, who praised New Zealand’s point guards Lindsay Tait and Michael Fitchett for controlling the pace of the game and creating problems bring the ball up court, was full of praise for his fellow countrymen but also highly critical of his own team’s effort.

“I don’t think any coach would be happy with this result,” Baldwin said.

“We were soundly and convincingly outplayed. You look at the possession stats and because New Zealand did so well on that early on they set the mode and feel in the game.”

“I would say it was probably the most polished performance from the Tall Blacks. I would add a caveat and say the resistance probably wasn’t where it should have been. We didn’t play well and weren’t able to test them and make it a little tougher. But that was an extremely polished performance.”

With New Zealand connecting on 12-of-23 shots in the first period and pulling down seven offensive rebounds, leading to 12 second chance points, the Tall Blacks ran out to a 32-16 lead after the first period. Lebanon closed it to 12 points early in the second quarter but that was as close as they got. A steady stream of threes in the second half, especially Kirk Penney’s four in the third period, saw New Zealand stretch their lead to 28 points and never let Lebanon get any momentum up through short scoring bursts.

Another positive for New Zealand was the play of the supporting cast. Tom Abercrombie continued his emergence in Izmir with 23 points, including an alley-oop dunk from Phill Jones that was worthy of SportsCenter’s Top-10 Plays.

Centre Craig Bradshaw and Tait also made valuable contributions after quiet opening games, combining for 22 points, a much needed confidence boost for both ahead of tomorrow’s game against Canada.

Unlike Lebanon today, Canada will offer a serious challenge for the Tall Blacks. Since the loss to Lebanon on the opening day, Canada have fallen by two points to Lithuania on Sunday and five points to France today. With an athletic and aggressive team, Canada don’t play like their 0-3 and bottom of the group, something Vucinic is well aware of.

“We’ve got Canada and it’s a must-win game for us,” Vucinic said. “There is a mathematical chance for us to go through even if we lose but it’s a must-win for us. We have to think about that game now. This win was good but we’ll start working on Canada tonight.”

Based on a flying start, lock-down defence, a balanced offence and a hot-shooting third period, the Tall Blacks powered to the commanding 32-point win at Halkapinar Arena and put themselves into position to qualify from Group D with one more win.

The win also saw them get the better of former Tall Blacks head coach Tab Baldwin, now in charge of Lebanon.

Shooting guard Kirk Penney top-scored for the third straight game with 26 points, while swingman Tom Abercrombie continued his continued his rapid upswing with 23 points as New Zealand went past 100 points for just the third time in the past six years.

“We had a great start and that was the key for us,” said Penney, who is averaging 28 points per game.

“Their heads dropped a bit and we just got confidence. Coming off two losses we understand how important confidence is.

“The way we started was fantastic but what we did different was that we keep the foot down on the pedal and made sure that we kept working hard defensively and continued to trouble them.

“Obviously we’re very familiar with what Tab runs and had a great understanding of what the opps were going to do. And capitalised on that. Our coaches prepared us very well.”

The usually low-scoring Tall Blacks scored freely throughout the game, helped by a Lebanon team that never brought the intensity defensively, and finished with six scorers in double-digits in a balanced performance. Backing up the outputs of Penney and Abercrombie, Phill Jones dropped 13 points, Lindsay Tait 12, Mika Vukona 11 and Craig Bradshaw 10, while Casey Frank also had eight.

Fadi El Khatid top-scored for the Cedars with 18 points but he was held in check by Penney and Abercrombie. Lebanon shot a healthy 49% on field-goal attempts and 40% on threes.

It was a complete performance from New Zealand against a weaker opponent. They shot 57% (40-of-70) from the field, hit 11 triples, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and forced Lebanon into 21 turnovers. Almost a total opposite from the Lithuania game, everything the Tall Blacks need to do to win games, they did. Or were allowed to.

Lebanon certainly played their part in the Tall Blacks success, not handling the different defensive looks from the Tall Blacks, being careless with the ball in the lane and being guilty of lowering their effort after New Zealand’s strong first period.

“It was one of those tough days at the office,” Baldwin said.

“It was a game that had a lot of pressure around it. The New Zealand team were very much ready to play. They were like a machine from the start. They didn’t miss a beat. They played really well as a team.

“They beat us easily on the offensive end but the vital part was the way they started defensively. They never let up and kept their foot on our throat. The way they started defensively took us out of any idea that we’d be able to run any kind of systems tonight.”
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The first quarter was easily the best period the Tall Blacks had produced at this tournament. Near-perfection.

The Tall Blacks shots dropped, they frustrated the Cedars with their pressure defence, the offence ran smoothly, finding open players on cuts to the basket, and they created and exploited mis-matches on the perimeter. And they did it all with Penney scoring only two points.

Abercrombie hit the court scorching hot, hitting the game’s first basket and scoring 10 points in the first four minutes, including a pair of corner threes, as the Tall Blacks forged to a 13-5 lead. The lead grew further as the swarming defence saw Lebanon turn the ball over five times in the first period. The Kiwis also out-hustled Lebanon at the other end, corralling seven offensive rebounds in the quarter, giving them a 12-2 advantage in second chance points.

Abercrombie led all scorers with 14 points at halftime, while Penney was called upon for only seven points as the Kiwis converted 20-of-37 (54 percent) from the floor. El Khatib was held to nine points on six attempts in the first half. Of New Zealand’s 51 first-half points, 28 came in the paint where Abercrombie, Vukona, Bradshaw and Frank were going to work on the boards and around the rim.

The Tall Blacks mixed their defensive looks well, making Lebanon guess by coming at them with full-court man-on and zone pressure but also dropping back and switching to zone defences in the halfcourt at time. Unlike against Lithuania and Spain, the move was successful in disrupting Lebanon’s offence, which never got into a rhythm and relied mostly on individual moves, especially from El Khatib, for their points.

While Abercrombie, Bradshaw and Vukona got their points in the first half, the third period was Penney time.

After a quiet first half, Penney almost single-handedly put the dagger in Lebanon. Curling off screens, Penney dropped four threes, scored 14 points for the quarter and showed why many international media feel he should be playing in the NBA. New Zealand’s lead went past 20 points at the 5:37 mark in the third and they were able to prevent any Lebanon runs. They continued to limit Lebanon’s leading scorer El Khatid and increased the gap to 25 points.

Whether it was confidence from a 20-plus point lead or the heat, a small pocket of the Kiwi fans - members of the “Rabid Wekas” - removed their white singlets during a timeout with a minute remaining in the third period, revealing yet more white.

When Penney hit his sixth three and Tait followed with a steal in the back-court and lay-in to put the Tall Blacks up 92-59 with 5:36 remaining, it shut the door on a comprehensive win and saw coach Nenad Vucinic go to his bench.

The only downside was the ease Lebanon centre Jackson Vroman was able to get to the basket, defended by Bradshaw, but Vroman got himself in foul trouble and was not much of a factor in the game after the first period.

The win marked the third time the Tall Blacks have scored three figures since 2005. The other two times were in the 100-78 Oceania Championship-clinching win over Australia last August and a 100-70 win over Venezuela during the South America tour in 2006.

NZ Tall Blacks 108 (Kirk Penney 26, Tom Abercrombie 23, Phill Jones 13, Lindsay Tait 12, Mika Vukona 12, Craig Bradshaw 10) Lebanon 76 (Fadi El Khatib 18, Jean Abd El Nour 12, Jackson Vroman 10)
Q1 32-16
HT 51-32 (19-16)
Q3 81-56 (30-24)
FT 108-76 (27-20)
NZ v Lebanon box score (html 121kb)

The home team finally broke clear of the Kiwi challenge in the opening minutes of the final quarter to eventually prevail 86-71 in the third and deciding game at Yamagata.

Harmon, who had struggled to find the basket over the first two encounters (6/19 FG), was feeling it from tip-off and finished with 34 points (14/22 FG, 6/7 FT) and 11 rebounds.

“She was very disappointed with how she had gone previously, although I thought she was pretty good in the first game for seven points, seven assists and 11 rebounds,” reflected coach Kennedy Hamilton-Kereama.

“As coaches, we talked about ways we could get her more shots, but she was a lot more aggressive today and did a much better job finishing around the basket.”

The first half saw both teams enjoy periods of dominance that swung the game one way, then the other.

Japan opened with the first five points, before the Kiwis put on a 10-2 run that edged them ahead. Their hosts matched that, then the Ferns closed the quarter with an 11-2 burst that gave them the advantage at the first break.

Harmon already had 13 points. New Zealand had turned the ball over six times, but also grabbed seven offensive rebounds to balance out the battle for possession.

“We came out firing, but we had scoring droughts at key times,” said Hamilton-Kereama. “The Japanese did a great job of pressuring us and we were struggling to execute the small things like uncontested layups.”

The Japanese grabbed the initiative midway through the second period with 12 unanswered points and arrived at halftime 47-40 on top. While the Tall Ferns had continued to give up the ball at an alarming rate, their superiority around the offensive glass had waned.

They were shooting well enough (58% FG), but their opportunities were drying up and they were getting caned by the referees again.

Sure enough, point guard Noni Wharemate picked up her fourth foul just seconds after she opened the second-half scoring and was forced to the bench, a major blow to the Kiwis’ comeback hopes.

Still, a trey from Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe and three three-point plays by Harmon kept them in contention, and with a quarter to play, the deficit was only five points.

But when Japan went 7-0 to start the final stanza, the margin was suddenly double figures and too big for the Ferns to haul back. Yet another three-point play from Harmon - she had six for the game - got them back within five with just under five minutes remaining, but the opposition came back with four straight baskets to seal the deal.

In the end, New Zealand shot well enough to win, but couldn’t create enough shots. Although they again suffered in the foul count, finally losing Wharemate with six minutes left, they did themselves no favours by converting just 9/17 attempts from the free-throw line, compared to their rivals’ 19/25.

Their early dominance under glass dropped right away and Japan actually finished with more second chances at the offensive end.

“In the end, I think fitness had a lot to do with the result,” said Hamilton-Kereama. “We tried to slow the game down and make it a half-court contest, because we couldn’t compete with them in the open court.

“To win international games, we need to keep teams to 65-75 points. For us, 86 was too many to give away.”

Only McMeeken-Ruscoe managed to follow Harmon into double-figure scoring. Forward Lisa Wallbutton, who had been the leading scorer over the first two games, was well contained (eight points, 4/6 FG), but grabbed 10 boards.

Ultimately, the tour did not produce the desired overall result. However, it did yield another international victory for the often underrated Tall Ferns - 77-74 at Sapporo - against higher ranked opposition bound for the FIBA World Championships later this year and hinted at their potential with a full-strength lineup.

Tall Ferns v Japan

Game Three - Yamagata

Tuesday, August 31
Japan 86 NZ Tall Ferns 71 (Jillian Harmon 34, Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe 11)
Q1 23-27
HT 47-40 (24-13)
Q3 61-56 (14-16)
FT 86-71 (25-15)

Japan win series 2-1

With back-to-back double-digit, and expected, losses to Lithuania and Spain to start their Group D campaign in Izmir and coming off a rest day, the Tall Blacks enter a tournament-defining three days at Halkapinar Arena, starting with Lebanon at 1am tomorrow (NZ time).

To progress to the eighth-finals in Istanbul, New Zealand will likely need two wins from their remaining three games - Lebanon, Canada on Thursday (1am NZ time) and currently unbeaten France on Friday (6am NZ time) - so tomorrow’s game has taken on must-win importance for both teams.

“Right now we just need to forget about the first two games,” Tall Blacks shooting guard Kirk Penney, who is averaging 29 points per game, said.

“Lithuania and Spain are both very good teams. We wanted to play better than we did but we took a couple of defeats, we’re 0-2, and we just need to put that aside and focus on our next game against Lebanon, and the next three.

“For the young guys, some of them at their first worlds, the jitters are out of their system now and it’s time to work. Personally, I’ve been feeling good out there but I still want to pick my game up to another level.”

Lebanon, coached by former Tall Blacks mentor Tab Baldwin, defeated Canada 81-71 on day one and could go a long way to securing their passage through to Istanbul with a win over New Zealand.

The ”Baldwin Factor” hangs over this game, with neither camp keen to admit to an advantage from the familiarity between the two programmes - Baldwin knowing the strengths and weaknesses of Tall Blacks players and the Tall Blacks understanding what systems Baldwin likes to run.

New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic was an assistant under Baldwin during his Tall Blacks tenure, including the fourth-place finish at the 2002 World Championship, while assistant coach Dillon Boucher was a player under Baldwin with the Auckland Stars and Tall Blacks. On the current Tall Blacks roster, Penney, Phill Jones, Pero Cameron, Mika Vukona, Craig Bradshaw, Lindsay Tait and Casey Frank have played for Baldwin in the National Basketball League or national team.

“I’m going to be boring and say it’s even,” Tall Blacks point guard Tait said.

“I know we’ve done some pretty extensive scouting work with Dillon on their tendencies and what they like to do. And having played under Tab, I know he’ll be doing the same thing, probably even harder. There’s not going to be a lot of secrets out there, we know what each other like to run. We’ll just see what happens when the ball goes up.”

Lebanon have four main scoring threats in Fadi El Katib, who dropped 31 points in the win over Canada, point guard Rony Fahed, and USA-born pair Matt Freije and Jackson Vroman but have a supporting cast that, like Baldwin’s past Tall Blacks teams, plays with high energy, very active on defence and aggressive on the offensive glass. The Tall Blacks will have to match Lebanon’s effort around the court to have a chance.

“They’re quite a balanced team from what we’ve seen,” Tait said. “The point guard, Fahed, is good and Fadi has been around for a long time doing this and we saw in the first game what he can do.”

Tightening up their defensive schemes was an area the Tall Blacks still needed to improve, Tait said. Despite conceding 101 points to Spain, New Zealand’s effort at the defensive end was a step up from the disappointing showing against Lithuania.

With the Tall Blacks-Lebanon game the first scheduled on day four in Izmir, New Zealand have opted for a final morning video session rather than a shootaround, instead holding an extended shootaround session during their afternoon practice on the rest day.

Despite it being an obvious talking point for media and fans, Tait said discussion about beating their former coach was limited within the Tall Blacks.

“To be honest it hasn’t really factored in that much. Apart from talk about tactics and what he knows about us and what they might try to do against us. This is a world championship, so every game is big coming from New Zealand. We don’t need any extra motivation to get up for a game like this.”

And especially with their tournament lives possibly on the line.

FIBATV Interview with Kirk Penney

Instead of wearing the black and white of New Zealand, he is now wearing the red and white of Asian wildcards Lebanon. And tomorrow morning (NZ time), Baldwin will be on the opposing bench, trying to guide Lebanon to a win over the Tall Blacks, the team he coached from 2001-06 and took to a fourth place finish at the 2002 World Championship, still New Zealand’s watershed basketball moment.

“I’m going to try not to feel anything,” Baldwin said about facing the Tall Blacks, after Lebanon’s 86-59 loss to France on day two.

“I’m going to try to be professional and put the feelings aside because those feelings probably won’t help me at all. I have thought a lot about this game. I have mixed feelings about it, how much I want to win, how much it means to both teams. It’s going to be a critical game for our pool.”

“Absolutely I want to win desperately. But the fact that it’s New Zealand is not related to how much I want to be part of this game and to win this game. Every game I’ve coached, whether it’s against friend or foe, I’ve wanted to win. I’ve wanted that for my team and the organisation I represent.”

“Whatever’s churning inside might be something different but I’ll keep that inside.”

It’s not like Baldwin and the Tall Blacks have been avoiding each other during their time in Izmir. Following their opening day games, Baldwin and the Tall Blacks coaching team of Nenad Vucinic, Dillon Boucher and Chris Tupu were seated beside each other in the press tribune to watch France upset Spain.

And after the Tall Blacks’ loss to Spain, Baldwin and Vucinic were in deep discussion in the hallway outside New Zealand’s locker room. Vucinic and Baldwin have even been sharing information on other teams in Group D.

“Basketball is basketball but life is much more important. Nenad Vucinic, Pero Cameron, Dillon Boucher, Phill Jones, these guys are life-long friends, so the fact that we were sitting together is the most normal thing you could see.

“And also Nenad and I, we decided we can help each other out a little at this tournament, as we always do, so no-one should be surprised by that.”

With New Zealand’s coaches and players so familiar with the offensive and defensive systems Baldwin likes to run, and Baldwin knowing the strengths and weaknesses of most of the Tall Blacks roster, the game could come down to whose inside information is better.

“I think Nenad knows my stuff better than I know his,” said Baldwin, who has coached clubs in Greece, Romania and Turkey in the last three seasons. “But it’s not how much I know or he knows, it’s how much the players know. We’ll scout them and we’ll be prepared.

“It’s probably a slightly bigger advantage that Nenad knows the coach and his system, but it’s about how much the coach can relate to his team about what’s going on. I believe I’m a pretty good coach and I know Nenad is a heck of a coach. It remains to be seen how much impact the coaches will have on the game. The players have to do the job.”

Lebanon and New Zealand last met in a three-team tournament in Canada in 2008, the Tall Blacks winning 84-71, with Craig Bradshaw top-scoring with 18 points. However, it was long before Baldwin took over the head coaching job for the 24th-ranked nation that finished fourth at the 2009 Asia Championship.

Baldwin - who has a strained relationship with some sections of New Zealand basketball through his ownership of the Auckland Stars franchise in the National Basketball League, who were suspended from the league in 2010 - said he would watch the haka and also ask his team to face and respect the pre-game challenge.

“I’ll have my hand on my heart when God Defend New Zealand is played and I won’t forget that I’m a Kiwi but on that day I’m the coach of the Lebanon Cedars and that’s the most important thing.”

Results

Spain had five players score in double-digits, led by 22 points from centre Marc Gasol as they dropped the Tall Blacks to 0-2 in Group D at Halkapinar Arena.

Kirk Penney was again the leading scorer for the Tall Blacks with 21 points, while Tom Abercrombie provided the back-up with 19 points, and Phill Jones dropped in a pair of late three-pointers to finish with 15 points.

Three free-scoring stretches from the Spaniards - to start the game, after halftime and through the middle stages of the fourth period - was enough to knock down the determined Tall Blacks, who never lead in the game and had their only tie at 3-3 in the first minute.

“We played them pretty tough I think but they just showed their class,” Tall Blacks point guard Lindsay Tait said. “They’ve got a lot of depth and they’ve played at this level for a long time and it showed out in the end.

“We had to play perfectly. We made steps in improving on the way we played last night but we can still definitely execute better on offence and even though our defence took a step up today it still needs to improve if we’re going to compete and get into the next round.”

When Jones hit a three-pointer inside the first minute of the final period to get within nine points at 77-68, it briefly gave the white singlet-wearing New Zealand fans some hope of an impossible upset but Spain rattled off the next 12 points, part of a larger 18-2 run in the next six minutes, to quickly eliminate the Tall Blacks threat.

The first and third quarters started almost identically. Spain jumped out to a 13-3 lead after three minutes to start the game, while they went on a 13-2 run after halftime, helped by three straight New Zealand turnovers, to stretch a lead that had shrunk to four points at the main interval back up to 15 points.

“We played them pretty tough but it’s just those lapses when they get a run and you can’t have them against these guys,” said Tait, who had five points, four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes off the bench. “Any time we got close, I guess we lost our composure a little bit, a few turnovers or just mental mistakes that allowed us to get poor shots and at the defensive end, we didn’t execute the way we needed to, stop them from scoring.

“It’s hard with a team like that, once they get out to a big lead you can get it back to a certain stage but it keeps creeping out and then pulling back. We need to start better so we’re not having to try to pull these really good teams back.”

Despite giving up more points and greater losing margin than against Lithuania on day one, the Tall Blacks made it difficult for Spain - a team featuring the NBA talent of Rudy Fernadez (Portland Trail Blazers), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies), former NBAers Juan Carlos Navarro and Jorge Garbajosa, plus teen phenom Ricky Rubio (drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves).

With the Tall Blacks able to eat into the gap early in the second quarter, Spain coach Sergio Scariolo had to bring his starters back onto the court. But New Zealand would not go away with an Alex Pledger long two-point jumper at the halftime buzzer bringing the lead down to four points, 48-44.

Tough defence from Abercrombie on Fernandez helped start the comeback, forcing a turnover and fast break for the Tall Blacks with Michael Fitchett bringing the ball down court and burying a wide open three-pointer, his first of the tournament, in transition to pull within six points at the 5:08 mark.

The Tall Blacks shot the same 40 percent from the field but improved to 36 percent (12-of-33) on three-point attempts and won the rebounding battle for a second straight night 39-31, including 20 offensive rebounds.

Penney’s 21 points came on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 behind the perimeter, while Abercrombie was the highlight for New Zealand, his aggression igniting the Kiwis runs. His 19 points came on 7-of-11 shooting, while he also added six boards. With three triples in the fourth quarter, Jones finished the game 5-of-7 from distance.

For Spain, Gasol, younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers centre Pau Gasol, was a dominant presence inside, going 7-of-9 from close-range and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Jorge Garbajosa, who finished with 14 points, hit 4-of-4 three-pointers, driving a dagger into any Tall Blacks resurgence. Fernandez posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Rubio handed out 11 assists to go with eight points.

New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic opted to go with a starting five of Jeremy Kench, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney, Mika Vukona and Alex Pledger. Only Penney and Vukona started in the Lithuania, so Lindsay Tait, Tom Abercrombie and Craig Bradshaw were forced to the bench for the opening tip.

New Zealand were in the foul penalty inside three minutes of the first quarter, with Pledger collecting a quick two and a seat on the bench, as the Tall Blacks struggled to stay in front of the Spaniards.

With the Tall Blacks offence looking even less assured with three new starters than against Lithuania the previous night, the early turnovers saw Spain surge out to a 13-3 lead at the 7:01 mark. The defending world champions picked apart the New Zealand D, swift ball movement finding the open player as they hit 4-from-5 three-pointers in the early going to lead 24-11 at one point.

The Tall Blacks highlight in the first quarter was an alley-oop dunk from Tom Abercrombie off a Penney pass, an identical play as they used in the Oceania Championship series against Australia last year as Abercrombie rubbed off a back-door screen.

A second Tom Abercrombie dunk, this time off a back-door cut, saw New Zealand get within eight points at 26-18 with 2:08 left in the first period, and they managed to hold on to trail by nine at quarter time.

Spain 101 (Marc Gasol 22, Juan Carlos Navarro 18, Jorge Garbajosa 14, Rudy Fernandez 12, Felipe Reyes 10) New Zealand Tall Blacks 84 (Kirk Penney 21, Tom Abercrombie 19, Phill Jones 15)
Q1 28-19
HT 48-44 (20-25)
Q3 77-63 (29-19)
FT 101-84 (24-21)
NZ v Spain box score (html 1.6mb)