The Tall Blacks went down in the opening game of the FIBA Oceania Series, 71-59 in Melbourne tonight in front of a sold out Rod Laver Arena crowd but return home knowing they are in with a good shot at overturning the deficit and winning the two game series.
The margin of 12 flattered the Australian Boomers, with the Tall Blacks matching their much vaunted NBA credentialed opponents throughout the majority of the match on the back of another sharp offensive display from Corey Webster and some strong defence led by captain Mika Vukona.
Tall Blacks head coach Paul Henare was lamenting the late blowout of the score, but was in a confident frame of mind heading back to Wellington.
“We are down 12 at halftime, this is a two game series so this whole preparation and how we have looked at this is as if it is an 80 minute game and we are halfway through that. We get to regroup and head home to our own fans and I know the boys are looking forward to getting back and having another crack in Wellington.
“There were patches where we palyed well, but there were areas that led to baskets for the Boomers. If we can stay strong and solid and take away some of those areas that led to points for them, that will help us out tremendously.”
The Tall Blacks came out hot and quickly silenced the sell-out crowd of 15,000, taking an early 8 point lead midway through the first quarter on the back of some great opening execution on offence and miserly work at the defensive end.
Patty Mills was the one to fire the Aussies up though, coming off the bench to immediately spark his side and close the game up at the first break, with the visitors holding a narrow 16-12 lead as defence was the order of the day.
The Aussies settled into their work in the second quarter while the Tall Blacks went cold, struggling to hit their shots on the back of some great work to create open looks. They would finish shooting at just 38% from the floor and 25% from long range, not numbers that will get the job done against a world class Australian side.
It is those aspects of the game that gives Henare confidence heading to Wellington.
“I think we are the team that can improve the most, Australia may look at their performance and thing the same thing. But for me the shooting percentages we had, out of the two teams we are the one that can make the biggest improvement, for sure.”
For the Tall Blacks Webster finished with a game high 22 points while Jarrod Kenny was a strong ally at point guard with 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting, including 3 of 4 from deep. On the boards Isaac Fotu picked up 10 rebounds while Vukona had 5 boards and 5 points before fouling out late in the final quarter.
For Australia they got great productivity from their bench, with Mills and Anderson picking up 17 points each while captain Matthew Dellavedova had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Australian Boomers 71; Mills 17, Anderson 17, Dellavedova 15
New Zealand Tall Blacks 59; Webster 22, Kenny 12
BOX SCORE: http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/151/16/15/21/79M0s8CnScXvg/
