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FROM INDY (DAY 8) - TALL BLACKS PREPARE FOR YUGOSLAVIA
by Piet Van Hasselt
in Indianapolis, Indiana : USA
1. TALL BLACKS PREPARE FOR YUGOSLAVIA
LIVE on TVONE – Sunday 8 September, 8:00am (follows
the other Semi-Final also Live on TVONE at 5:50am).
The coaching staff of the Burger King Tall Blacks
prepared today for what is the biggest test of New
Zealand basketball history, when “little” New
Zealand takes on basketball superpower Yugoslavia in the
Semi Final at the FIBA 2002 World Basketball
Championships.
With five NBA players on board, there were no doubts that
Yugoslavia had the talent to win the title before the
tournament began, but the incredible showing of NZ has
come as a pleasant surprise. However, the Tall Blacks
should not be underestimated as they are clearly the best
coached team at the champs and their team-work and
willingness to work within the system for the greater
good makes them a dangerous package.
The Kiwis have won the matches they’ve had to
throughout the tournament and have shown they have the
ability to dig in at the defensive end and comeback from
large deficits. All of the Kiwis have been producing at
both ends of the floor as is evidenced with three players
averaging 14 points or more. Pero Cameron has been a star
forward of the tournament with his tremendous shooting
from the outside in crunch-time and knowledge and skill
of running the offence from the high post and
point-forward positions. Cameron is averaging 14.7
points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Penney and Jones
from a lethal combination from deep averaging 17.3 and
15.6 points and 42% and 44% success rates respectively
from three-point territory.
New Zealand will again be without the services of Sean
Marks who suffered a cut to his eye in the third match.
Ed Book has stepped-up his play with 7.4 points and 3.9
rebounds. Mark Dickel is among the top-10 in assists,
distributing 5.0 per game.
Yugoslavia’s form throughout the tournament has been
“news-worthy” to say the least. Their coach
decided to rest their NBA stars for the early rounds of
the champs, which resulted in losses to Spain and Puerto
Rico, and meant they qualified third in their group to
set-up a showdown with the USA in the Quarters. In fact,
after their first loss, members of their own media ran
courtside to confront Centre Vlade Divac and question the
decisions of Coach Svetislav Pesic face-to-face. Of
course the Quarter Final match became one of the most
historic in World Champs history, and the Yugoslavs have
now been much happier!
The Yugoslavs have one of the tallest team’s at the
tournament, with 1.98m Mario Jaric running the point
guard position at times. They are also one of the deepest
teams with 11 of their players posting at least one
double-figure point game. Forward Peja Stojakovic is
leading Yugoslavia with 19.0 points per game and is also
grabbing 5.0 rebounds and accumulating 3.1 assists.
Yugoslavia are averaging 90.4 points per game and are
giving up just 73.6 points per game. The three-point shot
has been a major arsenal of the Yugoslav offence
connecting on a tournament-best 42.6%.
New Zealand can take heart into the match-up having
beaten Yugoslavia as a part of the Super Cup in Germany
during the Tall Blacks European tour last month. The
Kiwis came back from 15 points down in this match and
restricted Stojakovic to 4/19 shooting. Divac did not
take the court, but their other four NBA players did.
While this was just a warm-up game, the result indicates
than an upset of the defending world champions is not out
of the question. Make sure you catch the game live on
TVOne when Canterbury’s own Bob Manthei calls the
action.
The loser of the match will play the other loser of the
Germany-Argentina Semi Final in a playoff for third and
fourth as a curtain raiser to the grand final on Monday
morning (NZ Time).
2. NZ QUALIFIES FOR 2004 OLYMPICS
With the win over Puerto Rico yesterday, New Zealand has
now guaranteed itself of a spot at the 2004 Olympic Games
in Athens, Greece. This high placing in the top-six means
that the Oceania region will receive two spots of the
final 12 starters at the Olympics. These two teams are
likely to be New Zealand and Australia. With the 2006
Commonwealth Games including Basketball for the first
time, and the possibility of the 2006 World Champs on the
horizon, this promises to be an exciting time for NZ
basketball and should bode well for the future
development for the sport that we love.
3. USA HANG ON FOR WIN OVER PUERTO RICO
After probably the upset that sent shock waves through
the basketball world for the second straight day, USA
recovered from their two losses to edge a never-say-die
Puerto Rico team, 84-74, in front of a sparse crowd. This
means that the USA will playoff for the 5th/6th placing
with Spain. USA continued their characteristic slow start
with Puerto Rico leading at the end of the first quarter
25-19 and had an 11-0 scoring run in the middle of the
period. USA stepped up in the second quarter with
hometown Indiana Pacer Jermaine O’Neal scoring 10
points, and took a 50-36 lead into half-time. Puerto Rico
came back in the third quarter with guard Carlos Arroyo
scoring 11 points, to be down just ten at the end of the
quarter, 67-57. USA had another wake-up call mid-way
through the fourth when Puerto Rico closed to 69-64, but
three-point shots allowed the home side to maintain the
lead. Puerto Rican Centre Daniel Sanitago caused major
problems for the USA scoring 16 points and grabbing 18
rebounds, after a disappointing showing against NZ. The
result must also further validate the strong showing of
Puerto Rico at the tournament, and the Tall Blacks win
last night.
4. OTHER GAMES
PLAYOFFS FOR PLACES:
USA beat Puerto Rico 84-74
Spain beat Brazil 105-89 – In a fiery match, with at
least two flare-ups, the Spaniards overcame their
disappointment of losing to Germany and beat Brazil, who
were without their top scorer who was injured.
Russia beat Angola 77-67 – Russia beat an
inexperienced Angola with sound fundamental basketball.
Turkey beat China 94-86 – Yao Ming dominated, but
Turkey outside shooters reigned supreme.
5. UPCOMING DRAW
SEMI FINALS FOR 1ST–4TH PLACES: (Sunday NZ Time)
Argentina vs Germany (LIVE on TVONE 5:50am)
New Zealand vs Yugoslavia (LIVE on TVONE 8:00am)
- Semi-Final Losers also will play off for 3rd–4th
Places
PLAYOFFS FOR PLACES: (Sunday NZ Time)
5th/6th USA vs Spain
7th/8th Brazil vs Puerto Rico
9th/10th Turkey vs Russia
11th/12th China vs Angola
LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT RAMS NEWS: Live from Indy
(Day 9)
REVIEW OF TALL BLACKS vs YUGOSLAVIA (SEMI-FINAL)
OTHER KEY MATCH-UPS FROM DAY 9
Please
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