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FROM INDY (DAY 7) - TALL BLACKS MAKE NZ SPORTING HISTORY
by Piet Van Hasselt
in Indianapolis, Indiana : USA
THANKS: To all of the e-mails from home,
I’m sure we can hear your cheers from all the way
over here in Indianapolis during the Tall Blacks games!
1. TALL BLACKS MAKE NZ SPORTING HISTORY
The Burger King Tall Blacks have performed what must now
be one of the most historic moments in the history of New
Zealand sport, after beating Puerto Rico 65-63 to book a
semi-final date with Yugoslavia on Sunday morning NZ
time.
This means that our small island nation of just 3.9
million people, and a relative newcomer to the world
basketball scene, is guaranteed a top-four placing
against the basketball superpowers of the world. It is
impossible to fully comprehend what our heroes have
accomplished considering that this is the first time New
Zealand is attending the World Championships proper (they
were invited to the 1986 Champs in Spain),
Australia’s highest-ever placing is fifth, and the
mighty USA will finish below the Tall Blacks!
The magnitude of this achievement was so great that Coach
Tab Baldwin was at a loss for words to describe it.
“There are no words in the English language that can
describe the feelings,” said Baldwin. “We are
riding a wave of emotion. We are so excited. We are also
very proud of the team and the country that supports
us,” continued Baldwin.
He compared the achievement to two great NZ teams
including the 1976 Men’s Hockey Team that won the
Olympic Gold Medal and the 1986 World Cup Soccer team.
“It’s an honour to know that our names will
become part of history alongside those players,”
said Baldwin.
Much credit must be given to the leader of the team Coach
Baldwin, but in an after-match interview he said the
achievement should not be attributed to just one person.
“All the awards should go to this team. They all
work together and no one person is bigger them all of
them,” said Baldwin. He described the team as being
his best friends and like a part of his family.
“The hearts of these guys are unbelievable. I would
not want to challenge their hearts, I would be afraid to.
The team believes in themselves. The top of the mountain
is still steep from where we are standing,”
continued Baldwin.
The match was defensive-oriented with both teams using
physical tactics that limited the offensive output. The
difference in the game was that NZ remained consistent
throughout, while Puerto Rico experienced short offensive
spurts.
Phill Jones was “on fire” for the second
straight night and was the rock of the offence in the
second half with 13 of his 21 points coming during this
period. Pero Cameron also came up big when it mattered
down the stretch, as he so often has done before, scoring
the last eight points for NZ including two
three-pointers. Mark “Sparky” Dickel dished out
eight assists and also grabbed two steals.
In the first quarter both teams struggled offensively,
meandering to a 14-11 advantage for the Kiwis. Jones and
Cameron combined for 13 of those points.
In the second quarter, the lead changed places on three
occasions. Puerto Rico shared the scoring around, but
three-pointers from Dickel, Kirk Penney and Ed Book meant
that the Tall Blacks led at the half 31-29.
In the third period high-scoring guard Elias Ayuso
finally found his range hitting two three-pointers. Ayuso
contined his hot form in the fourth with three more
long-bombs to raise his game high total to 24 points, but
got little help from the Puerto Rican big men. In fact it
was surprising to see former NBA player Daniel Santiago
under-utilised and on the bench for much of the game.
Cameron’s two big three-pointers when to put the
Tall Blacks ahead at 60-58 and again at 63-60 proved the
difference. After Puerto Rico tied the game at 63-all
courtesy of a Ayuso three-pointer, the Kiwis brought the
ball up the floor and a slashing drive from Dillon
Boucher and dish to Cameron for an easy lay-up put the
Tall Blacks up 65-63 with 23 seconds to play. Puerto Rico
had their chances, but a huge block shot from Book
clinched the game.
Baldwin summarised the game: “We had to reach deep
inside ourselves. We never felt like we had control of
the game. They made us work for everything we got.”
Baldwin was already looking ahead to the game against
Yugoslavia. “They have great players and are a great
team,” said Baldwin. Penney noted that this was the
“biggest game of our lives” and was
“another challenge.”
The Tall Blacks have a rest day and will prepare for the
talented Yugoslavians who upset the USA team tonight.
TALL BLACK SUPPORTERS: The Kiwis were
again out in force, and both Coach Baldwin and Kirk
Penney made a tribute to the fans. “The noise they
make is just fantastic,” said Baldwin. “The
fans here are unbelievable. There were fewer Kiwis (than
Puerto Ricans) but they were louder. There are so many
supporters, and I’m so thankful that they are here
and they can experience it with us,” said Penney.
Baldwin also noted that there had been over 800 e-mails
received through the Tall Blacks official e-mail address
just last night! <[email protected]>
Burger King Tall Blacks 65 (Jones 21,
Cameron 16, Book 10, Penney 7, Dickel 3, Hickey 3,
Boucher 2).
Puerto Rico 63 (Ayuso 24, Oritz 13,
Arroyo 8, Mincy 5, Latimer 4, Apodaca 4, Santiago 3,
Hourruitiner 2).
Rebounds: NZ 33 (Boucher 8, Book 6, Jones 6, Cameron 5).
Puerto Rico 41 (Oritz 10).
Assists: NZ 15 (Dickel 8, Cameron 5). Puerto Rico 13
(Arroyo 6).
3. YU-GO-SLAVIA STUNS THE USA FOR SECOND STRAIGHT
LOSS
For the second straight night the so-called
“unbeatable” Americans fell to a stacked
Yugoslavian team, 81-78, that was being played at the
same time as the NZ versus Puerto Rico match-up. This
puts the Americans out of medal contention and into the
playoffs for fifth to eighth placings, somewhere no one
would’ve predicted them prior to the tournament. On
the way back from the NZ game, the streets were loud with
celebrating Yugoslavians screaming their familiar
“YU-GO-SLAVIA” chants. More on the loss
tomorrow.
4. NZ DOMINATES QUARTER BREAK COMPETITION
NZ stretched it’s record to seven wins-two losses
overall when three members of the “Rabid Wekas”
won a full court lay-up team relay against the team from
Puerto Rico.
5. OTHER GAMES
QUARTER FINALS – A NIGHT OF UPSETS
New Zealand beat Puerto Rico 65-63
Yugoslavia beat USA 81-78
Germany beat Spain 70-62 – Another upset of sorts.
Argentina beat Brazil 78-67 – Argentina pulled away
in the third quarter from a testing Brazilian side.
6. UPCOMING DRAW
SEMI FINALS FOR 1ST–4TH PLACES: (Sunday NZ Time)
Argentina vs Germany
New Zealand vs Yugoslavia
- Semi-Final Losers also will play off for 3rd–4th
Places
PLAYOFFS FOR 5-8TH PLACES: (Saturday NZ Time)
Spain vs Brazil
USA vs Puerto Rico
PLAYOFFS FOR 9-12TH PLACES: (Saturday NZ Time)
Angola vs Russia
Turkey vs China
LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT RAMS NEWS: Live from Indy
(Day 8)
PREVIEW OF TALL BLACKS vs YUGOSLAVIA (SEMI-FINAL)
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