The Tall Blacks have started the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers with a bang, dismantling Hong Kong to the tune of a 92-51 victory at Tsuen Wan Stadium, Hong Kong, China.
It was a rapid start to the game with Sam Waardenburg winning the tip-off. The Tall Blacks immediately getting on the scoreboard with captain Reuben Te Rangi bustling his way to the cup for the and-one! Te Rangi’s aggressive play setting the tone early, scoring 9 of the Tall Blacks first 14 points.
Hong Kong also started strongly getting to the cup with ease and making their first five field goals, keeping them within touching distance.
Jordan Ngatai’s back-to-back triples and solid on-ball defence wrestled momentum back the way of the Tall Blacks, who ended the quarter with a 26-21 lead over the hosts. In potentially the most exciting moment of the first quarter, Tama Isaac found his way to the floor making his debut in the black singlet and joined brother Kaia becoming the ninth pair of brothers to play for New Zealand.
Te Rangi and Ngatai continued their hot start, scoring at will at the start of the second stanza. The pair scoring a combined 30 of the Kiwi’s 52 first half points.
Another impressive debutant Jackson Ball found his way on the floor, making an immediate impact with a huge block further energising the Kiwi’s as they opened the flood gates to go up by 19 points at the half-time break, Hong Kong struggling to maintain their solid start from the field.
The Tall Blacks continued their strong play, with debutants Jackson Ball and Tama Isaac continuing to impress with their hustle and energy. The outside shooting of the Tall Blacks once again proving to be a key weapon for New Zealand, helping them extend their lead to 24-points at the end of the third.
Ball finally getting on the scoresheet in the fourth quarter, completing the rare feat of all eleven Tall Blacks scoring in the game. Tai Wynyard’s thunderous one handed jam with a minute and a half left in the fourth, the icing on the cake for the Kiwi’s who head back to Auckland on the back of a strong 92 – 51 win over Hong Kong.
Hong Kong big man, Duncan Reid, used his strength down low and battled fiercely with the Kiwi bigs all night long to post an impressive 17 point, 4 rebound night for the home side.
Coach Judd Flavell impressed with his team’s performance, particularly on the defensive end.
“We really wanted to come into this game tonight and established a defensive identity which meant we wanted to be up the floor, pressuring the basketball and trying to make Hong Kong feel uncomfortable out there. In the first five minutes, Hong Kong got off to a great start, but I felt like we made some good adjustments from that point on.”
That defensive pressure, equating to 24 Hong Kong turnovers.
“We have a lot to build, this is my second campaign with the group. We have half of the team that was here from November, and the rest of the guys were new to the system. So we always knew we were going to be a little clunky in a couple of places. But we really wanted to make sure at the end of the day, that our defence was going to get the job done.”
Tall Blacks captain, Reuben Te Rangi, echoed these thoughts in the post game press conference.
“We’ve been together for two or three days, and we knew the X’s and O’s were going to be perfect for this game. But the one thing we wanted to hang our hats on was the effort and making sure we were in the battle.”
Coach Flavell also commended the efforts of the home side after a fantastic start.
“We’ve seen them play before, and scouted that this is a team that can give you problems. It’s an international test, it’s an international battle, I think every nation will always come out and put their best foot forward. Hong Kong gave us a lot of good value that we can take out of this game, and hopefully we can take those learnings with us for the game against the Philippines in a couple of days time.”
The Tall Blacks will return to Aotearoa, for a match-up at Spark Arena, Auckland, against the Philippines who will be looking to get their FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers campaign back on track following a shock 91-84 loss to Chinese Taipei.
With this loss, the Tall Blacks currently sit at the top of Group B.
Tall Blacks 92 (Ngatai 20 pts, 6/7 3PM, Te Rangi 18 pts, 7/10FG, Wynyard 13 pts, 9 rebs) defeat Hong Kong 51 (Reid 17pts, 4rebs, Yip 8pts, 9 rebs).
Q1 21 – 26
Q2 33 – 52
Q3 47 – 71
Q4 51 – 92
