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FROM INDY (DAY 1) - TALL BLACKS SHOCK THE WORLD ... AGAIN
by Piet Van Hasselt
in Indianapolis, Indiana : USA
1. TALL BLACKS SHOCK THE WORLD … AGAIN
The Conseco Fieldhouse (one of two venues used for the
FIBA World Basketball Championships) turned into Tall
Black country for the night when the Burger King Tall
Blacks overcame a 19-point deficit to romp home in
spectacular fashion over the highly fancied Russian side,
90-81.
The victory is the culmination of over 18 months of
preparation and hard work for the Men in Black and could
perhaps be the most important win in NZ basketball
history – which has been used a lot recently –
the series win over Australia and the scalp of
Yugoslavia. A win tomorrow night against Venezuela would
guarantee the Tall Blacks of a spot in the second round.
The group of 50 or so New Zealand supporters that had
travelled to Indianapolis easily outnumbered and
out-cheered the opposition, and the Tall Blacks responded
to the fervent chants stepping up the defensive pressure
and outscored the opposition by a massive 32-14 in the
final quarter.
While American-based players Kirk Penny and Sean Marks
continued to showcase their all-round play, the hero of
the match was undoubtedly Captain Pero Cameron. Cameron
led by example and poured in four baskets from the land
of three, when they were most needed, and secured some
key rebounds against the taller Russian side.
NZ began with a flourish jumping out to a 12-6 lead
courtesy of two three-pointers from Cameron and Marks.
The Russians responded quickly by subbing in their sole
NBA player, Andrei Kirilenko, whose slight frame (2.09m,
99kg) is offset by boundless athleticism. Russia closed
the gap and through some NZ mistakes to lead 21-17 at the
end of the first quarter.
The Russians continued to capitalise on NZ turnovers as
the Kiwis looked as if the World stage was too daunting
for them. The Tall Blacks ended the first half with a
total of 11 turnovers, compared to Russia’s three
and went into the locker-room down 35-49.
The third quarter turned even worse for the Kiwis, and at
one stage they looked completely out of the picture, down
19 points, 35-54. However a series of three pointers from
Cameron combined with the Russian foul-count mounting on
two of their key players allowed NZ to get back into the
game and be down by just nine at the end of the third,
58-67.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Tall Blacks turning
over the ball just once, and winning the battle of the
boards (rebounds) 11-4. At one stage, the Kiwis were able
to hold the Russians scoreless for four minutes, through
tight marking and intense pressure on the ball, and on
one occasion forced a shot-clock violation. Of the kiwis,
Marks seemed to get pumped up the most from the crowd,
responding with some huge dunks and getting to the free
throw line at will. The Russians appeared to had
“lost the plot” after the fouling out of the
point guard Vassili Karassev in the third quarter and
Kirilenko with 6:31 to play on the clock.
The game continued to see-saw until the defining moment
of the match saw the score tied at 79-all. Mark
“Sparky” Dickel elected to let at three-pointer
fly and score his first basket of the game! The Russians
appeared to panic and with the Tall Blacks maintaining
their discipline they were able to dribble out the clock
to the final buzzer. The celebrations commenced! For the
passionate Kiwi supporters there was no doubt their
heroes could make it back from such a large deficit and
show the world that a bit of “Kiwi know-how”
can get the job done against any opposition.
Burger King Tall Blacks 90 (Cameron 22,
Marks 21, Penney 19, Jones 10, Boucher 6, Book 6, Dickel
5, Henare 1).
Russia 81 (Avleev 18, Tchikalkine 15,
Pachoutine 12, Savrasenko 11, Karassev 9, Morgunov 9,
Panov 5, Kirilenko 2).
Rebounds: NZ 40 (Cameron 8, Marks 7, Dickel 7, Penney 6).
Russia 36 (Savrasenko).
Assists: NZ 16 (Dickel 4, Penney 4). Russia 15 (Karassev
5).
2. COACH BALDWIN LOOKS AHEAD
The Tall Black coach was very happy with the historic
win, but was already focussing on the next game against
Venezuela (played tomorrow). “If we get caught up in
the win, we won’t get to where we want to go,”
explained Badlwin. He noted that a lot of “hard work
and determination” had gone into the win and that
tomorrow’s game was a must-win.
3. RUSSIAN REACTION
The Russian coach felt the key to the loss was NZ’s
great defence in the second half and that the early exit
of two of his featured players was a big contribution to
the defeat. He felt that the Tall Blacks were a
“danger team” going into the tournament and had
noticed they were in contention of every game on their
recent European and Canadian tours. He also felt that
some of his players were not in normal shape and was a
reason why they were and did not perform at 100% in the
second half.
4. ENERGIZER BUNNY WINS QUARTER BREAK COMPETITION
Canterbury Rams guard the “energizer bunny” Tim
Edmonds took home a FIBA prize pack (cap & t-shirt)
after easily winning a lay-up/free throw/three-point
shooting competition held during the first quarter break
of the Tall Blacks vs Russia game. Tim was picked at
random from the crowd! – and represented his country
well. Unfortunately he couldn’t get the slam dunk
quite right for his lay-up shot, but it didn’t
matter in the end as he easily “swished” his
free throw and three-point shots.
5. CONSECO FIELDHOUSE
The Conseco Fieldhouse is the home of the Indiana Pacers
of the NBA, and is a great mixture of tradition combined
with most modern amenities. It seats 18,345 and uses
bricks throughout to personify the rich heritage of
Indiana basketball. NOTE: Hopefully the stands get a bit
more full in the second part of the tournament, as there
was not a great turnout from the locals on the first day
of competition. However the international fans made up
for it, with the Kiwis, Spainards, Yugoslavians,
Argentines and Venezuelans providing colour and noise
– although us Kiwis need to work on some sort of
chant, rather than just the basic DE-FENCE!
6. OTHER GAMES
Yugoslavia beat Angola 113-63 – Five NBA players to
good for Angola. Vlade Divac was a big crowd favourite.
Spain beat Canada 85-54 – Canada’s inept
offence mustering just six points in the third quarter
cost them.
Argentina beat Venezuela 107-72 – The game was
decided early, and Argentina’s stars looked good. If
Tall Blacks can play their disciplined game, and play
like they did in the fourth quarter against they should
take the win.
Brazil beat Lebanon 102-73
Puerto Rico beat Turkey 78-75
Germany beat China 88-78
USA beat Algeria 110-60
LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT RAMS NEWS: Live from Indy
(Day 2)
REPORTS FROM TALL BLACKS vs VENEZUELA
IMPRESSIONS OF RCA DOME (Other Venue)
OTHER KEY MATCH-UPS ON DAY 2
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