T-Ferns Face Their Everest
Tagged in: National Teams, Tall Ferns
New Zealand Tall Ferns coach Shawn Dennis is straight-up about his team’s chances in this week’s FIBA Oceania Championship for Women.
“You don’t want to get too clichéd about this but to be honest we’ve got to climb Mt Everest. And with only a few days preparation,” said Dennis, ahead of game one of the two-game series against the defending world champion Australian Opals on Monday night, tip-off 7.30pm.
“We’re enormous underdogs. Nobody probably expects us to get within 30 points of this team.”
But that doesn’t mean all hope has gone for Dennis and his Tall Ferns, with an average age of 21.2 years.
“We’re not focusing on all that. We’re just going to try to do the things that we’ve set ourselves to achieve and we’ll see where that gets us on the scoreboard.
“If we can do those things I’m confident that we can compete in the game and when you compete you always give yourself a chance to win.”
Already with six players from last year’s Beijing Olympics team already out, the inexperienced Tall Ferns chances of qualifying for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women got even tougher when point guard Angela Marino and forward Jillian Harmon were forced to withdraw.
It leaves guards vice captain Suzie Bates and Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, who joined her mother Jane McMeeken as a New Zealand women’s captain on Thursday night against Japan, and forwards Natalie Purcell and Lisa Wallbutton as the only holdovers from the previous campaign.
Accompanying that quartet is Toni Edmondson, making her return after missing Olympic selection last year, and seven rookies – Kim Barnes, Pip Connell, Natasha Hall, Zoe Kensington, Natalie Moore, Georgina Richards and Erin Rooney.
Like the Tall Ferns, who have only four players returning from 12 months ago, the Opals have just three returnees from the team that claimed silver medals in Beijing.
With some of their big names like Lauren Jackson, Tully Bevilaqua, Kristi Harrower, Penny Taylor and Suzy Batkovic out, the Opals still suit up a formidable line-up of pros in Europe, top performers in the Australian WNBL and the lucky country’s best young talent.
“The thing about Australian women’s basketball is that, outside the USA, they’ve got the best talent in the world,” Dennis said. “They were silver medalists in Beijing, won the last world championship, finished second at the Athens Olympics and bronze medalists at the 2002 world championship.
“You look at that and you realise the kind of depth you’re going up against.”
Hollie Grima, Emma Randall and Rohanee Cox return for new coach Carrie Graf, who returns to New Zealand but in the opposing huddle this time. Australian Graf coached New Zealand in 2003, losing the FIBA Oceania championship to the Opals 0-2 in Tasmania.
After arriving in New Zealand, Graf and her assistants Peter Buckle and former Opal Michele Timms rushed to Napier on Thursday to scout the Tall Ferns against Japan, something Dennis took as a compliment and showed the Australians were not taking the Kiwis lightly.
The Tall Ferns warmed up for the Oceania series with an 80-71 loss to Japan on Thursday night, along with scrimmage losses on Wednesday and Saturday. Edmondson top-scored with 15 points as Dennis gave his rookies extensive court-time in the final hit-out.
The Opals have gone 7-5 this year, including wins over China, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Graf’s team is most recently coming off a 2-1 series win at home over China.
New Zealand have never defeated Australia in a FIBA Oceania game, picking up the country’s first win over the trans-Tasman rivals last April at the Beijing Test Event.
Dennis said the Tall Ferns had taken some inspiration from the New Zealand Tall Blacks upset of the Australian Boomers on Tuesday night and vowed his team would bring the same energy and commitment.
“They’ll fight their guts out to represent New Zealand well. We saw that against Japan on Thursday. And that’s all you can ask for.”
Game one of the FIBA Oceania Championship for Women will be screened on Sky Sport 3 from 7pm, while game two at AIS Arena in the Australian capital Canberra on Wednesday night will be on Sky Sport 3 from 9pm.
FIBA Oceania Championship for Women
Game One: Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua, 7.30pm (NZ time)
Game Two: AIS Arena, Canberra, 9pm (NZ time)
New Zealand Tall Ferns
Player | Position | Age | Height | Club/School
Kim Barnes | F/C | 20 | 1.91m | UC-Irvine University (USA)
Suzie Bates | G | 21 | 1.75m | Otago Gold Rush
Pip Connell | F | 20 | 1.80m | Harbour Breeze
Toni Edmondson | G/F | 22 | 1.81m | Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits (Australia)
Natasha Hall | F | 18 | 1.83m | Harbour/NZ Academy
Zoe Kensington | G | 18 | 1.71m | Taranaki Trojans
Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe | G | 29 | 1.72m | Townsville Fire (Australia)
Natalie Moore | G | 19 | 1.74m | Taranaki Trojans
Natalie Purcell | F | 26 | 1.83m | Logan Thunder (Australia)
Georgina Richards | F | 20 | 1.80m | Canterbury Wildcats
Erin Rooney | G | 18 | 1.75m | Canterbury Wildcats
Lisa Wallbutton | F | 23 | 1.83m | Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits (Australia)
Head coach: Shawn Dennis
Assistant coach: Kennedy Hamilton-Kereama
Assistant coach: Aik Ho
Manager: Natalie Tong
Physio: Karen Sutton
Australian Opals
Player | Position | Age | Height | Club/School
Jessica Bibby | G | 30 | 1.68m | Canberra Capitals
Liz Cambage | C | 17 | 2.03m | Bulleen Boomers
Rohanee Cox | F | 28 | 1.82m | Townsville Fire
Jessica Foley | G | 25 | 1.82m | Adelaide Lightning
Hollie Grima | F | 25 | 1.90m | Aix-en-Provence (France)
Natalie Hurst | G | 25 | 1.63m | Canberra Capitals
Elyse Penaluna | F | 20 | 1.93m | Bulleen Boomers
Alicia Poto | G | 30 | 1.66m | Brno (Czech Republic)
Emma Randall | F | 23 | 1.88m | CSS Targoviste (Romania)
Sam Richards | G | 26 | 1.68m | AZS PWSZ Gorzow (Poland)
Marianna Tolo | C | 19 | 1.96m | Canberra Capitals
Carly Wilson | G | 26 | 1.81m | Challes-les-Eaux Basket (France)
Head coach: Carrie Graf
Assistant coach: Peter Buckle
Assistant coach: Michele Timms
Manager: Renae Maycock
Physio: Rachel McAlister
Physio: Graeme Backen
