A pivotal change from Czech Republic Coach Michal Jezdik to a match-up zone defence in the second quarter combined with poor outside shooting from New Zealand allowed the visitors to draw first blood in the three-match series at the Westpac Centre in Christchurch, 82-73.  If it had not been for the "Reefton kid", super-shooter Phill Jones, who slotted a game high 29 points with five three-pointers, the losing margin could have easily blown out.  Jones' hot shooting form was nothing new to the 4000-strong Westpac Centre crowd, as he has put many stakes in the hearts of Canterbury Rams Fans for his Nelson Giants.

Coach Tab Baldwin was aware that this was the team's first hit out together, facing a Czech team that had played six games over the past few weeks, and indicated a bit of rustiness on his part as it has been eight months since the Tall Blacks last game.  The absence of two of the New Zealand's leading performers, Dillon Boucher and Pero Cameron, exposed some of the squad's inexperience in the international game as there were just five players suiting up from the world champs.  Jones noted the significant step up in the pace of the game, size of the players, and overall physical play from the national league level and New Zealand's rookie forwards struggled at times against their taller opposition.  Coach Tab Baldwin was impressed with the early play in the first quarter with the new players contributing well.  While many of the shots didn't fall for the Tall Blacks (33.8% compared to 46.6% for the Czechs), Baldwin felt these shots were the correct options in each instance.  "Our shot selection was good and we believe the players shooting the ball can shoot very well," said Baldwin.  Jones felt the side needed to establish the big men and noted a few players didn't step up as much as he thought they would.  However, with so many players in their debut matches, some jitters were understandable.

The game began well for the Kiwis with every shot dropping and they jumped out to a 24-9 lead, courtesy of three long-range bombs from Jones.  The Czechs man-to-man defence allowed frequent penetration, and the Tall Blacks big men were able to get good looks at the basket.  Marek Stuchly converted some tough baskets to minimise the deficit, but a long shot on the buzzer from Aaron Olson grew the lead out to 29-17.

The second quarter started with three-pointer's reigning down on the Westpac Centre from the Czech Republic and a stifling zone defence allowed the gap to be closed to just three points, 30-27.  The Tall Blacks had a major struggle at the offensive end and could only muster seven points in the entire quarter, and the Czechs took a 38-36 lead into half-time.  New Zealand suffered foul trouble with their three big-men each recording two fouls, which meant that rookie Mike Homik had to guard the 2.15m Czech Captain Ondrej Starosta, despite giving up 12cm in height.

The third stanza was a helter-skelter affair with both teams struggling to find the basket.  A rare four-point play gave the Czechs their biggest lead of the game at 52-47.  Some deft touches from Jones and two foul shots from Miles Pearce brought the game back to a two point deficit at three-quarter time, 53-51.  The Tall Blacks had their chances in this quarter with a number of offensive rebounds, but couldn't capitalise on the second chance points on offer.

The final quarter showed the class of the Czech team, changing the game into an uptempo affair with the Tall Blacks playing catch-up ball and trying to force turnovers.  After a Winitana three the Tall Blacks closed the lead to 59-57, but the Czechs went on a 10-3 run, to put them up 72-62 with just two minutes to go.  Some late individual heroics from Aaron Olson, with two three-pointers, kept the crowd interested, but the game was too far gone at that stage.

While Jones shot a respectable 53% from the field the rest of the Tall Blacks combined for a meagre 26%.  Olson was the only other player to reach double figures with 11 points.  Jones also led the team in rebounds with nine and dished out three assists. Conversely, the Czech Republic had notable contributions from a number of players, with six players recording at least eight points.  Stuchly led the team with 19 points and Starosta had 12 points and 11 rebounds in just 20 minutes on the court.  Explosive guard Jan Pavlik was largely quiet, but did accumulate 12 points and five assists.

Dillon Boucher was "floored" with a virus including raging fever and nausea earlier in the day and after a visit from a local doctor, was quarantined from the rest of the team and his status for game two is currently unknown.  Boucher did not attend the match and Baldwin quipped, "we tried to get him to have dinner with the Czechs, but he wasn’t up to it.”  Pero Cameron will need to pass a fitness test before he takes the court, which may force him out of the next game.