Basketball New Zealand

Tall Black coach Nenad Vucinic consults assistant Dillon Boucher v Lebanon (FIBA)

By Scott Preston, Stuff
NZ Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic and now-opposing coach Tab Baldwin both did their best to temper the excitement following New Zealand’s 108-76 win over Lebanon at the FIBA World Championship in Izmir, Turkey.

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.”