Dirk, Germany Own T-Blacks
Tagged in: National Teams, Tall Blacks
Another game against Germany, another defeat.
The New Zealand Tall Blacks remained winless against Dirk Nowitzki and the Germans, going down 89-71 in the preliminary round at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens, Greece, on Thursday morning.
Nowitzki, a seven-time NBA All-Star with the Dallas Mavericks, shot 14-of-22 from the floor for his game-high 35 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists, while Los Angeles Clippers centre Chris Kaman had 20 points as Germany qualified top of group B.
Shooting guard Kirk Penney had a team-high 29 points, including five three-pointers, and captain Pero Cameron added 14 points for New Zealand as the Tall Blacks dropped to 0-5 all-time against Germany.
Both teams had already confirmed places in the quarterfinals with wins over Cape Verde earlier in the week, with the Tall Blacks facing hosts and tournament favourites Greece in the last quarterfinal at 7am Saturday (NZ time).
Germany were already in control of the game, up 11 going into the fourth quarter, before 15 straight points, as New Zealand missed their first eight shots and went scoreless for the first four and a half minutes of the period, boosted their lead to 83-57.
Nowitzki had nine of those points, while a three-point play from forward Patrick Femerling and three from guard Pascal Roller, who finished with 10 points, accounted for the others, part of a larger 20-3 run that finished off New Zealand.
“They’re pretty tough,” back-up guard Michael Fitchett said. “They’ve got a couple of super-duper stars and they both had pretty big games.
“We tried to do some different things with Nowitzi. We doubled him, we had single coverage on him and had different guys on him but none of it really seemed to work.
“If we made him make a tough shot, a turn-around fade-away jump shot, but that’s one of his money shots. He just did what he does.”
By the time points finally came for New Zealand in the fourth, via Penney’s fifth trey, the game was already gone but the 11-3 run to finish the game allowed them to avoid a fourth 20-plus point loss to Germany in as many games.
The Tall Blacks had hung tough in the third quarter, closing within nine points on three occasions, first on a 10-4 run after a Craig Bradshaw three with 3:44 remaining, but German immediately had an answer every time, with a Nowitzki jumper and three-point play, and a Sven Schultze three able to keep the Kiwis at arm’s length.
Bradshaw finished with eight points and eight rebounds, while starting forward Mika Vukona had seven points and five rebounds and point guard Lindsay Tait five assists and only two turnovers in an efficient performance.
Germany, who won the battle of the boards 38-29, shot an uncharacteristic 27 percent on three-point attempts but were 51 percent from the field, while New Zealand shot a modest 39 percent from the field and 34 percent dialing long-distance.
Foul trouble hurt the Tall Blacks, especially Cameron.
He collected his third foul early in the second period, sitting out the final seven minutes of the half, and then after scoring the Tall Blacks first six points of the third quarter as he and Kaman traded baskets, was whistled for his fourth personal with 7:02 remaining and rested until the fourth quarter.
A Penney basket early in the second period gave New Zealand their biggest lead of the game at 28-23 but from there it was all Germany.
Penney picked up his second foul and Cameron his third in quick succession, sending both to the bench, then Bradshaw collected two offensive fouls, putting him on the pine with three.
With the Tall Blacks main scoring options on the bench, the points dried up and Germany rattled off 24 of the game’s next 29 points to surge ahead 47-33 at halftime, Nowitzki with 17 points and Kaman 13 points and four boards.
Penney, now averaging 27 points per game at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, had 11 points in the first period, making three of his four attempts, including a rare four-point play that sparked a micro 9-4 run and allowed the Tall Blacks to lead 26-23.
In other day three results, Canada got 22 points from guard Rowan Barrett as they edged Korea 79-77 to qualify for the quarterfinals with Slovenia from group C, and Croatia had six players score in double figures as they qualified top in group D with a 95-81 win over final eight-bound Puerto Rico.
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
At Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens, Greece
New Zealand Tall Blacks 71 (Kirk Penney 29, Pero Cameron 14)
Germany 89 (Dirk Nowitzki 35, Chris Kaman 20, Pascal Roller 10)
1Q: 26-23
HT: 33-47 (7-24)
3Q: 57-68 (24-21)
FT: 71-89 (14-21)
Tall Blacks vs Germany Box Score
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