8 July 2016
The final part of our five week tour was always the most important part, the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila is what we have been building to for months and the tour was all about arriving in the best possible physical and mental shape to go to work.
The travel day from Europe was a long one, about 28 hours in total. This included a four hour bus from Lithuania to Latvia, flying out of Riga to Frankfurt, a wait for a few hours in the airport, a 12 hour flight to Singapore, another few hours in the airport, and finally a three hour flight to Manila and thankfully a short bus to the hotel.
We arrived at midnight local time, enjoyed a dinner and it was then off to get some rest – and for most that meant a sleeping pill to try and adjust immediately to the local time zone. The flights were great though, through our partnership with Air New Zealand and the Star Alliance, we were well looked after by Singapore Airlines – the boys all enjoying aisle seats or for some (our bigs), a seat in premium economy or an exit row to stretch the legs.
We always fly economy with the trick being to find Star Alliance flights if we can, and then book exit rows and aisle seats for the boys, if we are lucky there are some empty seats to stretch into. Often it means booking good seats in the name of the staff on the team – we know who they are a few months ahead of time, and once on board we shuffle and swap until us staff are sitting in the worst seats on the plane while the boys are made as comfy as possible!! Such is the nature of this team that no one grumbles and no one hesitates to move if it means improved comfort for the players on what can be long journeys.
We then settled into a few days’ recovery and then hard training to prep for the qualifiers, with our focus entirely on the Philippines on July 6 – that has been a date etched in our minds for some time now! And you know you are in a basketball mad country, Filipino’s love the game, they have dedicated TV channels, love the players and mob them wherever they go. Tab Baldwin is these days coaching their national team and he cannot go to the Mall now, as he is immediately hit up for photos, autographs and handshakes.
Our first training session featured work with the local AETA indigenous community, through the NZ Embassy we invited a group in to training and went through some drills with them on court afterwards. It was great fun and hugely rewarding, the smiles on these (mainly kids) faces was a delight, most of them had never ever played on a wooden floor before, let alone worked with a national team. The media turnout was huge – the Embassy described as their best media event in 18 months, it certainly got our Manila leg off to the right start.
Our hotel has been great, the Sofitel in Manila Plaza, and we are a short bus or taxi from the venues, training and Mall of Asia – the biggest Mall in Asia, and it is huge. It would take you a few hours to walk around its entirety that includes ice skating, movies, restaurants, medical centres and a ridiculous number of shops.
One of the favourites of assistant coach Ross McMains was the ‘make your own Magnum’ store. Ross is something of a desert connoisseur and is attracted to ice cream like a kid to lollies – he just can’t resist and yes, he took the time to build his own Magnum – quite the experience for ice cream lovers. If we need a desert checking out for sweetness, volume, crunch, or just flavour, Ross is our go-to-guy.
Game one rolled around and the Philippines were on a high after only just losing to world number five France, they were in fact installed as 10 point favourites. But without going into detail (match reports are at www.basketball.org.nz), the boys responded superbly. With the PA system blasting music over the haka, they were fired up and never really looked threatened in a great performance, clearly our best on tour.
There was some feeling for the locals though and coach Tab Baldwin, the loss knocked them out of the tournament but while we felt their pain and gratefully received their congratulations and wonderful show of humility in defeat, we were glad we were the team celebrating the W for sure.
Game two against France and this time it wasn’t the haka, it was the anthem. We all stood proudly looking up at our flag, only to hear the refrain of the Canadian anthem ring around the stadium. After a few bars and a realization as to their mistake, locals found the right ‘record’ and God Defend New Zealand rang out.
It was a funny game, we emptied the tank but nothing would drop, we led for most of the game but France finished stronger and we would finish second in the pool, awaiting now Canada in our semifinal on Saturday night (10:30pm NZT on Maori TV).
I must mention the hosting of the NZ Ambassador David Strachan and his team, putting on a function with approximately 100 people there from the worlds of sport, trade, enterprise and business – with us as the special guests. It was a wonderful few hours, great food (NZ beef and wines), that and the support at the games so far has been great.
We also met a small but passionate tour group in Manila to support us. On tour with former Tall Black Andrew Parke, the team enjoyed a coffee with them the day before the Manila game and handed over a Tall Blacks shirt to each of them, we have seen them each night dressed all in black in the stadium, it is great to have that support with us.
Meantime we are getting ready for the game of the tour and for some the game of their lives in the semifinal against Canada, Saturday night (see the game live on Maori TV LIVE at 10:20pm NZT). The boys will as they always do, be giving their absolute best in the black singlet. Thanks for the support back home, remember to follow us.
29 June 2016
Latvia has been an amazing experience. The hosting from the Latvian people was first class and the city of Riga was a delight to be in. Whenever you travel into Eastern Europe, there will be some trepidation as to the standard of the facilities – purely on the basis of how old many of the cities and hotels are. But Riga was the perfect mix of modern and old, the hotel and staff at the Mercure Riga could not have been better and yet we were just a short walk away from the Old Town, with cobbled streets, historic buildings and fantastic architecture.
The first few days of our stay in Riga was all about training. Since the first days on tour in Japan, we had not really had chance to focus on practice twice a day and all of the hard work that enables you to do. The boys put their heads down and worked bloody hard, a 90 minute session in the morning that included time in the weights room and then a two hour session on the floor in the afternoon.
We were also battling some illness, not uncommon coming out of Asia and into Europe with the different climates, food, travel and general wear and tear taken into account. Nothing major, but probably half the team and staff at some point had a few sniffles and head cold symptoms. But our medical team did a great job. In truth the ‘medical team’ is out team-physio Anousith Bouaaphone (commonly known as Nous) and our Trainer Gavin Cross, but the work they do is that of many more people, so let’s go with the grand description! Anyway, Nous did a great job of managing everyone through these few days.
ANTI-DOPING
As is typical when we are on tour we face anti-doping testing. New Zealanders seem to comply with and be subject to many more tests than other nations, this is something we should be proud of and continue to be a world leader in the fight against doping in sport. On arrival back from training on day one in Latvia we were met at the hotel by a team of local anti-doping testers. To say they were somewhat more laid back and ‘casual’ than what we are used to is an understatement.
There were three of them, dressed in jeans and t-shirts and wearing sunglasses, asking to see players for testing without first approaching management and establishing credentials. Once we had that cleared up, I said which players are on your list for testing – the response included 5 players not on tour (including Steven Adams and Cedric Jackson) and a further 6 that were.
That was fine, the players were notified and I then told the testers they would be having lunch and to send the chaperone with them – remember they had all just trained for two hours and if there is one thing you don’t do on tour, you don’t keep hungry players away from their food. Only problem was they had three staff for a total list of six players to be tested (remember the list was actually 11). After some strong discussion they understood that the players were going to eat and sent one chaperone with three players while they did so, before then doing what was required of them in the testing.
MIKA’S EXAM
One of the more unusual tasks for me on tour was supervising Mika Vukona as he sat an exam on the road. This is part of his study towards a degree at Massey University and is not the first time he has done this on tour. But for three hours one night I was holed up in my room watching Mika go to work with the books – and he gives this all the dedication and focus that he gives his game on court, a great example to his team mates and professional sport in general.
SEEING THE TOWN
We did manage to get out of the hotel for dinner on one night, to sample the local hospitality. The team loved it too as the biggest pork chops, schnitzel and venison burgers that you can imagine landed in front of them, along with local salads, soup and breads. While the food in the hotel was superb, it is always good to try and stop a bit of cabin fever with a trip out to a different environment.
When time allowed, a walk through the Old Town was also good fun, a chance to appreciate the age of the city and the history behind it. Life on tour is generally all about training, eating, sleeping and for staff spending the time in between working, so chances to explore were treasured and enjoyed.
The cost of things in Riga was also good. A good meal out can cost around 15 Euro and the shops have everything you need at a pretty good price.
THANKING THE LOCALS
As we departed Riga and licked our wounds a little from the game against Lativa in which we were beaten 84-55 and Corey Webster suffered an injury, a highlight had to be presenting Rahul with a signed team shirt. Rahul was the 20 year old waiter who pretty much looked after us all week and did an amazing job – as did all the staff led by Dita at the Mercure. Rahul was almost in tears as he was presented with the gift by BJ Anthony and said ‘this is the best present ever’ as he wished us luck in qualifying for Rio.
A special shout out to Gustavs as well, our liaison. He is just 14 years old and was given that responsibility as a holiday job. But he was amazing – a very mature young fellow who took his role very seriously and stopped at nothing for us, he too gave an emotional little speech to the team when he was presented with our daily Top Dog trophy, handed out each dinner to someone in our touring group.
TO LITHUANIA
As I write this we are on a five hour bus ride to Lithuania for our next stop, two nights and one game, and then it is on to Manila. We all have our fingers crossed for Corey (calf strain) and Nous and Gav have a plan mapped out to the minute to have him ready on July 6. But regardless the team is learning every day, from our good and our bad moments, and will be up for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the Philippines. There are many young players in this group, some who are very new to international basketball, but they are all doing the country and our sport proud on our road to Rio.
21 June 2016
Another day of travelling gives me a chance to blog about the tour so far, with visits to Japan and China now complete, I write this at Vienna Airport on the way to Riga in Latvia, having left Shanghai very early this morning.
Today is indeed a long travel day, we were up at 4am to prepare for departure from the hotel (thankfully they opened breakfast at 4:30 for the boys!) for a two and a half hour bus ride to the airport. Then we will make our way through increased security after the explosion there last week and then a nine and a half hour flight to Vienna, a three hour layover and then a two and a half hour flight to Riga, before we round the day out with another bus ride to our hotel.
So if the thought of the travel sounded glamourous, today is far from it. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy seeing the world and the opportunities that this great game and the jobs we do give us, but often times it is little more than buses, airport lounges, economy seats for 10 hours, another bus and another hotel and basketball gym. Today is one of those days.
The Tour Began in Japan
Japan was wonderful, great hosting from the Japanese Basketball Association as they too prepare for their Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July. For many of the team it was a new country and culture, some loved the food, others were glad of the western options at the buffet each day!
With limited time in camp, Coach Henare worked the boys hard on this section of the tour, we trained hard out twice daily, with extra gym and pool sessions included, plus the usual stretching and massage sessions to ease a few weary bodies through the days. This included our two scrimmages against Japan, we didn’t back off at all and trained hard the morning of those ‘games’, treating them as live practice and a chance to essentially work on our ‘stuff’ in a game situation.
We managed to get out of the hotel just the once, with a subway ride and walk around Shibuya, famous for the Shibuya Crossing with the largest pedestrian count over the crossroads in the world – or something like that! The boys enjoyed it and of course were stared at everywhere we went. In amongst the thousands of people that night we were met by some very happy Kiwis – dressed in Warriors kit. They were delighted to see us, get some selfies, and exchange a few Kiwi greetings and handshakes – it was classic Kiwiana in a different part of the world.
Then to China for the Atlas Challenge Tournament
The boys had been training hard and played hard in the two scrimmages against Japan, so were a little weary at the start of a month-long campaign when it was time to head to China – always a challenge both mentally and physically. The culture is so different that everything can be a challenge, from getting laundry done, finding good food, having things run on time or simply being understood.
This trip has been one of the good ones though, the hospitality from the Atlas organisation running the International Challenge tournament was superb – albeit our two translator/liaisons at times struggled with the language but trust me, their English was better than our Chinese! The hotel was great, and China can vary in this regard. Rooms were spacious and modern, and we did not lack for anything from the pool to the small gym for staff to sweat it out every now and then. The food was very good with lots of options to – you could be brave and try the ‘bird head bobbing soup’ and such like, or just go with the omelette or lamb chop.
We arrived in to China at 9pm on the Monday night and played the very next day, meaning no time to get the travel out of the system. While this proved challenging, the boys were more than up to the task in defeating Belarus with some comfort. Our defensive systems in particular hummed along as we shut them out of the game and did enough on offence to keep the coaches happy.
The next day was our friends Japan and again they were dispatched efficiently with defence again a key. The offence was well spread over the two games too, with the likes of Fotu, Abercrombie, the Webster brothers constant threats while the bench was also stepping up with Shea Ili more and more comfortable at international level, Jordan Ngatai showing against Belarus that his spot shooting is of international class and of course our leader Mika Vukona is always keen to go to work inside. BJ Anthony has brought plenty of experience and leadership to the group, there would be few better talkers on and off court in the game, he has grabbed his chance with both hands back with the national team. Rob Loe offers us something different off the bench, a big who can shoot the three ball and pass through the lanes or get us valuable boards, it is easy to forget the newly signed Breaker is just 24 years old.
Our final pool game was against hosts China and you will do well to find a better first half defensive effort from a Tall Black team – I know the opposition might not have been up with the best in the world, but they were up for this and as the host nation were under pressure to win to move to the semifinals in front of their home fans. We destroyed them with smothering defence and shot efficiently at the other end to gap them by close to 30 in the first half, from then it was a cakewalk but we kept our standards high. One of the highlights was the 18 point contribution on 9 of 9 shooting from rookie Mike Karena, the Canterbury centre has been a revelation on tour and a great addition to our Tall Black culture with his different approach to things.
Then the hiccup, we simply did not play against Lithuania in the semifinal. Flat on defence, poor on offence and with what looked like tired legs with the busy schedule catching up – but that is the conundrum – we are not preparing specifically to win the tournament in China, for us it is all about peaking in Manila on 6 July. But this is a proud team and one that wants to win every game, and this was disappointing, it is fair to say there was some honest soul searching within the team in the 24 hours after, all of which was well handled and managed by the coaching and support staff, resulting in a stronger team that learned lessons in defeat.
Our final game was the third place playoff and it happened to be against hosts China again, a rematch to test the mental resolve and physical conditioning of our players. To say they came through a challenge and adversity is an understatement. The game was in a different gym that they players had not seen before, tip off was delayed as a result of both teams wearing white (the Chinese had to bring in their red kit from the hotel) and after expecting a 15 minute delay and warming up accordingly, the delay turned into 50 minutes with the players waiting on court patiently.
They overcame that, a hostile home crowd and some ‘friendly’ refereeing (3 Tall Blacks fouled out with another 3 on 4 fouls) and tired bodies to overcome an early 12 point deficit to record a clutch win and third place in the tournament – all of which added up to great preparation for Manila in what was a great show of character and mental strength, not to mention the world class skill from the likes of Abercrombie, Fotu, Ili and Tai Webster who led a great team performance.
And that led to prize giving finishing at 11:30pm last night, back to the hotel to pack the bags for that 4am wakeup call this morning, for a 10 hour flight to Vienna, a three hour layover and a further flight on to Latvia and our next stop of Riga.
Now onto Latvia, but as a smaller unit…
One of the toughest things on this first part of the trip was cutting the roster down to 12, leaving two players out who had given their all to the team and who themselves have dreams of the Rio Olympic games. In the Tall Blacks this is done as a group, players are told who is in and out at the same time, in the same room. It sounds tough but that is the way the Tall Blacks roll, together as a team. The manner in which Ethan Rusbatch and Finn Delany responded to that news was incredible and testament to two very fine young men, who will have further opportunities in the black (or white) singlet – they are both hugely talented and added so much to our group on and off court, credit to them for the way they handled disappointing news.
