Basketball New Zealand

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Fatigue, perhaps jet lag, took its toll on the NZ Tall Ferns as they slipped to a 58-77 loss against hosts Spain in the second game of their European tour, part of their build-up towards the Beijing Olympics.

The Kiwis got off to a slow start, scoring the opening points for their only lead, but allowing Spain eight unanswered points that immediately put them on the back foot. As they did against Angola two days earlier, New Zealand had trouble executing their offence, scoring only nine points in that first quarter.

Spain, ranked fifth in the world and runners up at last year’s European Championships, enjoyed an edge in every period of the game, consigning the Ferns to playing catch-up.

“I was a bit disappointed with the margin,” observed coach Mike McHugh. “It was a much closer game than the final score indicated.

“The margin was about 8-12 points for most of the game. We got it back to six at one stage, but it got blown out in the final four minutes.”

Still, the result stacked up well against their last encounter … the Spanish prevailed by 34 points (91-57) in pool play at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

“I remember that game well,” says McHugh, who was an assistant coach four years ago. “We thought we could compete with Spain, but when we got out on the court, we found their speed and our speed were two different speeds.

“I think this current team can match Spain’s quickness, but we are still struggling to understand that we can actually compete with teams of this calibre. By the time we do, we’re down by 10-12 points and have to come from behind.”

Point guard Angela Marino again led the scoring with 18 points (5/14 FG, 2/4 3pt, 6/6 FT), while forward Lisa Wallbutton had 14 points and Natalie Purcell grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Kiwis shot poorly, connecting with only 36% FG and only 2/10 from the arc and turned the ball over 18 times.

But several of the team were perhaps showing the affects of 40 hours’ travel earlier in the week. One of the worst affected was newcomer Jillian Harmon, who has quickly established herself as a kingpin in the line-up, but who logged only 15 minutes for two points (1/5 FG).

“We had a few passengers tonight in the sense that they were just really flat,” says McHugh. “Jill was one of those … she hasn’t slept since arriving here and the docs are working with her.

“There were a couple of others I had higher expectations of, but fatigue is just something that has to be dealt with by professional athletes.”

The Tall Ferns remain in Valencia to face Japan on Saturday, then return to Madrid for a re-match against the bruising Angolans. Both are games McHugh has targeted for wins.

NZ Tall Ferns in Europe
Friday, May 30
Valencia
Spain 77 (Anna Montanana 17, Amaya Valdemoro 16) NZ Tall Ferns 58 (Angela Marino 18, Lisa Wallbutton 14)
Q 18-9
HT 38-26 (20-17)
3Q 56-41 (18-15)
FT 77-58 (21-17)