Following a trio of wins overnight, the 3×3 Tall Blacks and 3×3 Tall Ferns have both qualified for the main draw of the 3×3 Asia Cup in Singapore.
The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup is the top basketball tournament in Asia for 3×3 national teams, with New Zealand competing for the firth time; the Tall Ferns winning the 3×3 Asia Cup in 2018 and the Tall Blacks finishing second in both 2017 and 2022. Both New Zealand teams entered the 3×3 Asia Cup via the qualifying draw process, which required them to finish top of their qualifying draw pool in order to reach the Asia Cup main draw.
3×3 Tall Blacks (3-0)
For the 3×3 Tall Blacks, their path to the main draw went through a trio of teams in Tonga, Republic of Korea and Turkmenistan. Facing Tonga first, the Kiwis picked up a 20-10 opening win over Tonga thanks to Dom Kelman-Poto’s 8 points and 5 points from Chris McIntosh in his 3×3 Tall Blacks debut.
New Zealand picked up their second win on day two, dispatching Republic of Korea 21-13 thanks to 9 points apiece from Tai Wynyard and Kelman-Poto; both players dominating inside against the smaller Korean team. The 3×3 Tall Blacks knocked off Turkmenistan 21-10 later that night; Wynyard again dominating with 7 points and Kelman-Poto with 6.
Kelman-Poto says that despite the score lines of their three qualifying draw victories, they were anything but easy opponents.
“If you look at the score, we were winning quite comfortably in all the games. But Korea, Turkmenistan and Tonga, they were all very strong teams and they brought different abilities to each game, so we had to change up our plan each game to match them,” says Kelman-Poto.
Kelman-Poto believes that despite the continued dominance of himself and Wynyard in the paint, the 3×3 Tall Blacks will need an all-around team effort in order to earn the gold medal – especially against a talented Australia squad.
“Our game plan has nothing to do with one individual player – we’re a team. I [believe that] myself and Tai are two of the best bigs in the Asia Cup right now and it’s pretty hard to stop us in the paint, but our guards shot the ball really well in our last game too. If you’re open you’ve gotta shoot, and for me it’s about trusting my teammates to score and to read the game as it comes.”
New Zealand have been placed into a tough Pool B alongside Australia and Japan in the 3×3 Asia Cup main draw, with games against both teams tonight.
3×3 Tall Ferns (4-0)
With four qualifying games on the radar for the 3×3 Tall Ferns, they had a longer road to progress into the 3×3 Asia Cup main draw. The Kiwis started off strongly with a 19-8 opening game win over Tahiti, led by Krystal Leger-Walker & Esra McGoldrick who each scored 6 points in the win. Both Krystal and Lauryn Hippolite made their 3×3 Tall Ferns debut in this game. They followed up with another win later that night, taking out India 20-9 behind Sharne Pupuke-Robati’s 7 points and 6 from Leger-Walker.
New Zealand easily dispatched Sri Lanka 21-5 in their third game, with McGoldrick scoring 8, Hippolite catching fire with 7 points (3 from downtown) and Leger-Walker adding 5. In their fourth and final qualifying game, the 3×3 Tall Ferns bested Hong Kong 19-9 behind 7 points from McGoldrick and 6 from Pupuke-Robati, as the duo again dominated inside.
Hippolite says that the 3×3 Tall Ferns are ecstatic to go 4-0 over qualifying play to move into the main draw.
“I have a lot of confidence in my team and our first and foremost goal was to win these first four games; we focussed on one game at a time and really trying to gel together quickly – as we haven’t played [as a squad] together prior to the tournament,” says Hippolite.
“I had a good shooting game versus Sri Lanka and I put that down to confidence. It’s about finding our groove – especially in this team where everyone is a scorer and so its finding where I fit within that – and it’s about working together and everyone finding where they can impact the game the best.”
Hippolite believes that playing four qualifying games gives the 3×3 Tall Ferns an added advantage heading into the main draw, where they will face opponents playing in their first 3×3 Asia Cup games.
“I think it’s been beneficial for us, especially without us having much time together beforehand. I guess they’re like warm-up games for us and now we can go into the main draw with some experience and some work-ons; hopefully we can get better as we go along and get that gel together.”
The 3×3 Tall Ferns have been placed into Pool C with Malaysia and Mongolia in the 3×3 Asia Cup main draw, with games against both teams on Saturday 1 April.
3×3 Tall Blacks results
> Vs Tonga – 20-10 win (Kelman-Poto 8 | McIntosh 5 | Wynyard 4 | Rodger 3)
> Vs Republic of Korea – 21-13 win (Wynyard 9 |Kelman-Poto 9 | McIntosh 2 | Rodger 2)
> Vs Turkmenistan – 21-10 win (Wynyard 7 |Kelman-Poto 6 | McIntosh 4 | Rodger 4)
Upcoming games:
> Day 3 / Session 1 – 3×3 Tall Blacks vs Japan – 7:50pm NZT, Fri 31 March
> Day 3 / Session 2 – 3×3 Tall Blacks vs Australia – 11pm NZT, Fri 31 March
3×3 Tall Ferns results
> Vs Tahiti – 19-8 win (McGoldrick 6 | Leger-Walker 6 | Pupuke-Robati 4 | Hippolite 3)
> Vs India – 20-9 win (Pupuke-Robati 7 | Leger-Walker 6 | McGoldrick 4 | Hippolite 3)
> Vs Sri Lanka – 21-5 win (McGoldrick 8 | Hippolite 7 | Leger-Walker 5 | Pupuke-Robati 1)
> Vs Hong Kong – 19-9 win (McGoldrick 7 | Pupuke-Robati 6 | Leger-Walker 4 | Hippolite 2)
Upcoming games:
> Day 4 / Session 1 – 3×3 Tall Ferns vs Mongolia – 8:40pm NZT, Sat 1 April
> Day 4 / Session 2 – 3×3 Tall Ferns vs Malaysia – 11.40pm NZT, Sat 1 April
All games are available to watch live at www.youtube.com/fiba3x3
