The Tall Blacks have fallen 78-104 to a clinical Slovenia tonight, in their second and final game of the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in Greece.
This loss knocks New Zealand out of the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers, and ends their contention for an Olympic berth at Paris this year – which began with a rousing win over Croatia the previous night.
After a tough first quarter in the shooting department for the Kiwis, which saw them fall behind 9-27, New Zealand rallied in the second; outscoring Slovenia 30-19 in the period to reduce the deficit to 7 at the half, hitting 4-8 from downtown against an 0-5 effort from Slovenia.
Slovenia fought back in the third to build their lead up to 20, thanks to the play of their superstar Luka Doncic – who had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on the night. The Kiwis were unable to reduce the gap in the fourth despite some late heroics from Shea Ili, as Josh Nebo scored 8 of his 20 points in the final period.
Ili again led the way for the Tall Blacks, scoring 28 points on 7/12 shooting along with 10 rebounds and 4 assists, while Izayah Le’afa added 12 points on 4/7 shooting from deep. With Yanni Wetzell and Tom Vodanovich battling foul trouble and Sam Mennenga a late scratch from the game, Tyrell Harrison provided a spark off the bench with 8 points (4/4 shooting) and 7 rebounds.
In addition Flynn Cameron scored 8 points, captain Reuben Te Rangi had 7 and Corey Webster tallied 6.
New Zealand shot just 34.7% from the field overall, but dropped 12 triples on a 33.3% clip just one night after sinking 13 shots from downtown against Croatia. The Kiwis narrowly lost the rebound battle 47 to 51, but struggled with 15 turnovers against Croatia’s 5; the Europeans turning those miscues into 23 points.
The biggest disparity of the night came in the painted area, as Slovenia scored 56 points in the paint compared to 24 for New Zealand; Nebo doing all of his damage inside to set a strong interior presence throughout.
Following the game, Tall Blacks coach Pero Cameron, reflected back on the game and what it means for the squad.
“Results matter, we’re all disappointed with the way the game has gone, I think we fought back the end of the second quarter and showed fight but we just couldn’t get stops in the third and fourth quarters. It’s tough to absorb and watch,” says Cameron.
“We had plans [for defending Luka] and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. He’s a great player and we respect him for that, but I think immediately we put ourselves in trouble with early fouls. And when you get to the bonus really early, it’s hard to play defence.
“I felt we pulled the game back towards the end of the second quarter, from there we tried a couple of things but they didn’t come off. But I felt our young guys like Tyrell – who hasn’t had many opportunities in this tour – he did a good job and my hat goes off to him.”
Harrison says that this game and the tournament has been an incredible learning experience for him.
“Obviously it’s not that result that we wanted, we just tried to pick up the pace on [Slovenia] and play our style of basketball, but it wasn’t enough to get the win,” says Harrison.
“It’s definitely surreal, playing against players of that calibre, but it just fuels the passion of me trying to get to these big stages, and not only that – this team and this country as well, we’re going to use this as fuel for our next qualifiers and next tournaments.
“The experience has been unbelievable for me, it’s my first time in an environment like this, it’s something special and I’m not taking it for granted.”
Tall Blacks Schedule – FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Greece
4 July – Croatia vs New Zealand; won 90-86
5 July – New Zealand vs Slovenia; lost 78-104
