Basketball New Zealand

NZ Tall Ferns coach Mike McHugh (Photosport)

NZ Tall Ferns coach Mike McHugh has seen his worst fears realized after European powerhouses Spain and the Czech Republic landed in his team’s group at the Beijing Olympics.

McHugh and assistant coach Leigh Gooding have spent the past week in Madrid, scouting future opponents at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. While the exercise has proven worthwhile from a purist’s point of view, the Ferns staff probably already knew all they needed to about their latest rivals, having played and lost heavily to both on their recent European tour.

“Our group has now turned out to be the ‘pool of death’,” laments McHugh. “We just have to find a way to beat Spain.”

Group B already had defending champions United States and improving hosts China, but the presence of African champions Mali and the possibility of two beatable qualifiers suggested New Zealand might find a path through to the quarterfinals.

Those chances have lengthened with the addition of the Czechs and Spanish.

Last month, the Ferns fell 58-77 to Spain in a game that left McHugh with some hope that his charges could actually compete the runners-up in last year’s FIBA Eurobasket.

The Czechs, with their overpowering height, present a much tougher match-up, handling the Kiwis 72-51 and 73-46 on consecutive nights. In both encounters, the Ferns conceded costly runs (18-8 and 18-0) just before halftime that saw them fall from contention.

“They upped the ante and we just couldn’t go with them,” rued McHugh after a second defeat that left him re-assessing his Olympic selection options.

Meanwhile, Brazil, Latvia and Belarus – three teams the Ferns might have found more to their liking – landed in Group A, along with world champions Australia, Korea and Russia.

New Zealand’s full pool draw at the Beijing Olympics is …

August 9 v Mali 11.15am
August 11 v Spain 9am
August 13 v China 4.45pm
August 15 v Czech Republic 9am
August 17 v USA 10.15pm