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FROM INDY (DAY 4) - MARKS-LESS KIWIS FALL TO GIANT
GERMANS
by Piet Van Hasselt
in Indianapolis, Indiana : USA
1. MARKS-LESS KIWIS FALL TO GIANT GERMANS
Sean Marks could only look on from the sidelines in
sunglasses when the Burger King Tall Blacks were
bombarded with a 27-point offensive explosion in the
third quarter, that allowed Germany enough to pull off a
84-64 victory in the second round of the World Basketball
Championships.
Marks suffered a cut to the iris in his right eye, in the
Tall Blacks loss to Argentina two days ago, that will
more than likely see him miss the rest of the tournament.
With Marks on the bench, the Tall Blacks were at a
massive height disadvantage with four members of
Germany’s starting five being taller than starting
Centre Pero Cameron. Marks was averaging 14.7 points on
68% shooting and a team-best eight rebounds, and was
replaced in the starting five by the smaller Dillon
Boucher. Nonetheless, the Kiwis scrapped fearlessly,
especially Boucher, who limited NBA phenom Dirk Nowitzki
to just 17 points, 12.3 down on his tournament average.
The game was very much a defensive struggle with both
teams being limited to “forced shots” due to
aggressive defences. The difference in the match was that
whenever the New Zealanders made even the smallest of
mistakes the Germans capitalised, and were able to score
some easy points through fast breaking.
The first quarter featured two “Cameron
specials” from long-range, but turnovers cost NZ the
chance to open up any significant lead and they were down
16-18 at the end of the quarter.
Germany came out firing on all cylinders carving out an
8-0 run in one minute to quickly gain a 10-point
advantage. Tall Black shooting guard Kirk Penney then
started to hit his jumpers and the Kiwis clawed back to
be down by just seven at half-time, 32-39.
In the third quarter the excellent interior defence from
the Germans forced the NZ to take outside shots, which
fell astray on most occasions, and Germany capitalised
with Nowitzki and Ademola Okulaja to the fore. They went
into the final quarter leading 66-45.
The last quarter was almost academic, meandering to a
close with German bench players dominating the run of
play. For the game, Germany had the better of the Kiwi
bench out-scoring their counterparts by 28-7.
While Nowitzki had an off-night compared to his high
standard, forward Okulaja stepped up and was just shy of
a triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and 7
assists. Also impressive for the Germans was sharpshooter
Mithat Demirel who converted four of his five three-point
attempts and scored 14 points in 15 minutes.
NZ’s remaining matches in the second round are
against the USA (see below) and China. If the Tall Blacks
can win one of these matches they will advance to the
Quarters.
TALL BLACK SUPPORTERS: Controversy was
strife in the Tall Blacks supporters camp when the
faithful followers were not allowed down to courtside to
watch their team (rather than back further in the
stands), despite the stadium being practically empty. The
hardcore support crew – who call themselves the
“Rabid Wekas” – were not happy and it was
not until the fourth quarter when the Kiwis were allowed
to move down. Brendon Cathie-Pongia (read below) led the
supporters Haka from the stands.
Burger King Tall Blacks 64 (Penney 15,
Cameron 14, Jones 13, Dickel 9, Boucher 6, Flavell 3,
Hickey 2, Book 2).
Germany 84 (Okulaja 17, Nowitzki 17,
Demirel 14, Nikagbatse 13, Pesic 7, Femerling 6, Lutcke
6, Marco Garris 2, Rodl 2).
Rebounds: NZ 29 (Penney 6, Dickel 5, Cameron 5). Germany
33 (Okulaja 9, Nowitzki 6).
Assists: NZ 17 (Cameron 4). Germany 21 (Okulaja 7).
2. COACH BALDWIN TARGETS EXECUTION
“It was very difficult to establish an inside
presence. We couldn’t get them in foul trouble. They
played intelligent and we couldn’t compete with the
size against us. We didn’t execute early and even
when we did it was hard to get shots,” said Baldwin.
“It was one of those performances where our desire
to play hard may have got in the way of our desire to
play smart,” concluded Baldwin. Dillon Boucher added
that today they came out flat and that “we need to
put it behind us and prepare for the next two
teams.”
3. GERMAN COACH HAS HIGH PRAISE FOR BALDWIN
Coach Henrik Dettmann gave perhaps the highest praise a
fellow coach can give at the post-match press conference
when he said, “we played against the most well
coached team in the tournament.” “The reality
with Marks out, we had mosre inside presence and inside
power and we used it wisely,” noted Dettman. Guard
Mithat Demirel added that they concentrated to the very
end of the match because they were aware of the comeback
ability of the Kiwis exhibited in this tournament.
4. CATHIE-PONGIA GOES PERFECT IN QUARTER BREAK
COMPETITION
A member of the triumphant Tall Blacks from last year,
when they beat Australia to qualify for the World Champs,
was tonight’s representative for NZ in the quarter
break competition. Brendon Cathie-Pongia has travelled
across to Indianapolis to support the team and went a
perfect three from three shots in the lay-up/free
throw/three-point competition. Unfortunately in the third
quarter break a different representative couldn’t
get the job done, and our record goes to a respectable 4
wins and 2 losses.
5. OTHER GAMES
Group E and F are the new 6-teams groups from which the
top-4 qualifies for the quarters.
GROUP E
Puerto Rico beat Yugoslavia 85-83 – Puerto Rico
continue to impress at the tournament and give Yugoslavia
their second loss.
Spain beat Turkey 87-64 – Spain look good with Pau
Gasol scoring inside and Juan Carlos Navarro at the
point.
Brazil beat Angola 86-83 (OT) – Angola push Brazil
to the limit and nearly pull off the upset. But Brazil
has an unbeaten record in close games (3-0).
GROUP F
Germany beat NZ 84-64
USA beat Russia 106-82 – The old rivals squared off
again tonight with a 27-point shooting exhibition from
Paul Pierce helping them to breakaway in the third
quarter. Russian played very well considering that sole
NBA representative Andrei Kirilenko did not play due to
injury.
Argentina beat China 95-71 – Argentina keep rolling
and USA Coach concurs with Coach Baldwin that they are
certainly one of the best at the tournament.
PLACES 13-16
Venezuela beat Algeria 98-83
Canada beat Lebanon 91-67 – Lebanon and Algeria will
battle out to avoid the wooden spoon! In an interesting
side note, Lebanon dumped their coach, former NBA player
Johnny Newman, before the match because of controversial
comments made on Lebanese TV.
6. NZ LOOKS AHEAD TO USA
Live on TVOne (Wednesday 4 September, 12:30pm –
repeated at 4pm)
While the USA team may not have the stars that is
accustomed to have in it’s so-called “Dream
Teams” of the past, their current crop of players
perhaps play more effectively each with a specific role
to fill. Paul Pierce and Michael Finley have emerged as
the major scoring threats and the return of the
self-confessed “best shooter on the planet” and
local-favourite Reggie Miller today against Russia can
only help their shooting corps. While their build-up was
limited to just two exhibition matches, the team has
improved throughout the tournament, but is certainly not
unbeatable as it was once believed. They have shown
lapses, particularly early on, when opponents have been
able to pick apart their defence and give the hosts a
scare! Thus far, Russia, China and Germany have given USA
a “run for their money”, so NZ should not rule
out being competitive with the NBA-stacked line-up.
Coach Baldwin certainly does expect to stretch the
opposition and when asked what the goal of the game he
said it would be to “win the game”. “Every
time you walk on the floor, you have to believe you have
a chance,” he added.
Whatever the result, the match promises to be an exciting
spectacle and should be one to remember for years to
come.
7. TALL BLACKS MAKE NEW YORK TIMES
The Tall Blacks outstanding results thus far in the World
Champs have earned them a half-page article in the
prestigious New York Times newspaper. The article
discusses the Haka, which has also become a major talking
point at the tournament, and the success of qualifying
for the World Championships.
8. NEWS FROM HOME: RAMS SEPTEMBER CLINIC FAST
APPROACHING
Registration forms for the Rams Camp to be held during
the next school holidays must be posted by this Friday, 6
September. The day camp is for kids aged 8-14. If you
require an application or more information please e-mail
[email protected]
LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT RAMS NEWS: Live from Indy
(Day 5)
REPORTS FROM TALL BLACKS vs USA
OTHER KEY MATCH-UPS ON DAY 5
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