Basketball New Zealand

Lindsay Tait v Canada (FIBA)

By Scott Preston
Head coach Nenad Vucinic believes the NZ Tall Blacks should be viewed as one of New Zealand’s most successful and most respected sports teams after qualifying past the group stage at a third straight FIBA World Championship.

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.