New Zealand national team (Tall Blacks)

[donmar]

Four new Tall Blacks
20/06/2008 3:16:02 PM
Sportal

Corey Webster, Nick Horvath, Alex Pledger and Jeremy Kench are the newcomers in the 14-man squad named by coach Nenad Vucinic.

The absence of ace shooter Kirk Penney is a blow for the side. He is in the United States and will join the side in Canada for the Jack Donoghue Tri Series against Canada and Lebanon from July 1-4.

Vucinic said in a Basketball New Zealand press release: "Kirk's absence if a loss, but it will provide opportunities for others as we try to bring new players into our programme.

"The team has been selected with the future in mind, while also preserving some experience and remaining competitive."


Webster is the son of long-time NBL player and Harbour Heat coach Tony Webster, and at 19 years is set to become the youngest New Zealand player in a decade since Penney, also from Westlake Boys' High School, was first selected in 1999.

He has yet to play in the NBL but has been on a scholarship at Lambuth University in the USA and was named freshman of the year in the NAIA TranSouth Conference.

He has signed as a development player with the Breakers.

"Corey has scoring ability and a real nose for the basket. He has a scorer's mentality and it's up to him how far that takes him."

Pledger, a 2.13m centre, had been at the University of Missouri, Kansas City on a two-year stint and made an impression in defensive play at the recent trials in Takapuna and will add some invaluable height to the side.

"In a lot of ways, Alex and Corey are a stab in the dark," Vucinic said.

"We feel they can be international players in the future, but they really have to justify their inclusion and work hard.

"Obviously, in Alex, we see size, good mobility for that size and good outside shooting."

Kench has been on the fringe of selection and has played for the Canterbury Rams in the NBL and in the Singapore Slingers and Wollongong Hawks in the Australian league.

American-born Horvath gained his New Zealand citizenship earlier this year and will challenge Casey Frank for the one naturalised player for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Vucinic said the choice between the two players was tough because they were both very good players.

"Nick would provide a bit of size, but Casey has more international experience, it's going to be very difficult," he said.

The Australian series opens at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday and then game two is in Melbourne.

Two players will then drop out of the side which plays tournaments in Canada and Slovenia before heading to Greece for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Source: http://sportal.co.nz/Basketball-news...l-blacks-50829

Basketball: Tall Blacks named for qualifiers

preliminary squad to contest the Olympics qualifying tournament in Athens, Greece, next month has been named by head coach Nenad Vucinic.

The Tall Blacks will also play the annual three-match Al Ramsey Shield series against Australia starting in Auckland next Thursday night.

Tall Blacks
Lindsay Tait, Mike Fitchett, Kirk Penney, Mika Vukona, Jeremy Kench, Paora Winitana, Alex Pledger, Pero Cameron, Brendon Polyblank, Casey Frank, Craig Bradshaw, Ben Hill, Nick Horvath, Corey Webster.

- NZPA AKL cb pm

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/...ectid=10517415

[rikhardur]

NZL – Webster among four new Tall Blacks to face Boomers

WELLINGTON (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Teenager Corey Webster is looking to prove that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough after being given a chance to compete for a place in the New Zealand Tall Blacks squad for next month’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens.

The 19-year-old shooting guard, the son of NBL great Tony Webster – the current coach of the Harbour Heat – has been included in a 14-man group for next week’s Al Ramsay Shield series against Australia.

“Corey has scoring ability and a real nose for the basket,” New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic said.

“He has a scorer’s mentality and it’s up to him how far that takes him.”

Webster spent the past year on scholarship at Lambuth University in the United States where he was named Freshman of the Year in the NAIA TranSouth Conference.

Since returning home, Webster has signed on as a development player with the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers.

American-born Nick Horvath, a former player under Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski at American college basketball powerhouse Duke University, along with 2.13m center Alex Pledger and point guard Jeremy Kench have also been given their first chance to represent the Tall Blacks.

Pledger, 21, has played for the Junior Tall Blacks and spent two years at the University of Missouri Kansas City.

During four days of trials, Pledger’s play suggested he will be able to help New Zealand on the defensive end but he also has the ability to step outside hit jump shots.

“In a lot of ways, Alex and Corey are a stab in the dark,” Vucinic said.

“We feel they can be international players in the future, but they really have to justify their inclusion and work hard.

“Obviously, in Alex, we see size, good mobility for that size and good outside shooting.”

The 24-year-old Kench gets his chance through the unavailability of veterans Mark Dickel and Paul Henare this year.

Horvath, meanwhile, will compete with Casey Frank for the one naturalized spot on the roster.

He became a citizen of New Zealand earlier this year and plays with Century City Wellington Saints.

“That is going to be a very, very tough decision because they are both very good players,” Vucinic said.

“Nick would provide a bit of size, but Casey has more international experience … it’s going to be very difficult.”

The Tall Blacks’ first game against Australia is at the North Shore Events Centre on June 26 before travelling to Melbourne for the second clash.

Vucinic will then cut two players before the team flies to Canada.

New Zealand will go into their Group B games at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament against Germany and Cape Verde without many of the players who have brought so much attention to the program since the 2002 FIBA World Championship, when the team reached the semi-finals.

Players have retired or decided to take this summer off.

Sharpshooter Kirk Penney will be in Greece but commitments in the United States will prevent him from taking on Australia.

He will join the Tall Blacks in Canada for their Jack Donoghue Tri-Series (July 1-4) against the hosts and Lebanon.

“Kirk’s absence is a loss, but it will provide opportunities for others as we try to bring new players into our program,” Vucinic said.

“This team has been selected with the future in mind, while also preserving some experience and remaining competitive.

“I do think this is a good team with a nice balance to it and I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/25950/arti.html

[michael_selway]

Hi is NZ goign to play a warm up game of AUS before olumpics?

thx

MS

[donmar]

Hi is NZ goign to play a warm up game of AUS before olumpics?

thx

MS

Maybe but I think both will play other countries because their is a little chance both teams will face in the Olympics or NZ might fail to qualify in the Qualifiers

[DEEP ISTANBUL]

NEW ZEALAND Preperatin games 2008

RAMSAY SHIELDS VS. AUSTRALIA
26.06.2008 AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA
AT North Shore Events Centre]
28.06.2008 MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND
AT State Netball & Hockey Centre
Jack Donohue International Classic IN CANADA HAMILTON & TORONTO
01.07.2008 HAMILTON CANADA NEW ZEALAND
02.07.2008 HAMILTON LEBANON NEW ZEALAND
04.07.2008 TORONTO CANADA NEW ZEALAND
INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT IN MARIBOR SLOVENIA
08.07.2008 MARIBOR NEW ZEALAND PUERTO RICO
09.07.2008 MARIBOR NEW ZEALAND SLOVENIA
10.07.2008 MARIBOR NEW ZEALAND IRAN

[NZTallblacks]

Hi is NZ goign to play a warm up game of AUS before olumpics?

thx

MS

AUCKLAND (Olympics) - The Australia Post Boomers will see some fresh faces when they take on New Zealand in the opening game of the 2008 Ramsay Shield in Auckland on Thursday evening.

While six players have returned from the 2007 Tall Blacks team, including Captain Pero Cameron and centre Craig Bradshaw, the team's other half consists of young guns being blooded on the international stage as Basketball New Zealand undergoes a rebuilding process.

Sharp shooter Kirk Penney will join the Tall Blacks when they tour Europe ahead of the pre-Olympic qualification tournament for men in July, but will not be available for the series against Australia.

The Boomers, without their two biggest stars Andrew Bogut and David Andersen, defeated FIBA Asia Champion Iran 3-0 in their international series last week by margins of 19, 44 and 23 points.

Despite the new additions to the Tall Blacks team, Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian is keenly focused on his own squad as they continue on the road to Beijing.

"We're looking at the continual growth and development of our team." Goorjian said.

"Specifically, we can hone in on some things after the last series, where we did a pretty good job of mixing up our defences and I thought we played with a lot of effort, but we were poor in the execution of our half-court sets.

"Our focus is with our own team. Right now it's all about the Boomers.

"I'm going into this series specifically to look again at the last couple of cuts, which are going to be tough, and to hone in on some offences that we executed poorly in the Iran series.

"The guys are all aware of that and I'm sure they'll be playing with some desperation because it would be a real disappointment to get this far and not get over the line to Beijing.

"I know the guys will be really committed in this series."

Australia's squad currently stands at 16 players, with the Olympic twelve provided to the AOC by July 2nd.

Still in contention for Beijing but not contesting the 2008 Ramsay Shield are Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks, USA), David Andersen (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Matthew Nielsen (Lietuvos Rytas, Lithuania) and Nathan Jawai (Cairns Taipans).

The Boomers will touch down in Auckland this afternoon and are scheduled to undergo two training sessions tomorrow ahead of Thursday's game.

[Kings]

New Zealand 2008

Friendly Games
2008.6.26 New Zealand 60 - Australia 75
2008.6.28 New Zealand 60 - Australia 97
2008.7.01 New Zealand 63 - Canada 90
2008.7.02 New Zealand 84 - Lebanon 71
2008.7.04 New Zealand 77 - Canada 69
2008.7.08 New Zealand 74 - Puerto Rico 82
2008.7.09 New Zealnad 67 - Slovenia 73
2008.7.10 New Zealand 91 - Iran 80

FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Preliminary Round
2008.7.14 New Zealand 77 - Cape Verde 50
2008.7.16 New Zealand 71 - Germany 89
Quarter-Finals
2008.7.18 New Zealand 48 - Greece 75

[Kings]

The first victory.

[JGX]

NZ beats Canada 77-69 tonight.

[NZTallblacks]

Tall Blacks 77 - Canada 69

The New Zealand Tall Blacks surged to their second straight win in their Olympic qualifying build-up in Toronto on Saturday morning.

Getting a game-high 22 points from shooting guard Kirk Penney, the Tall Blacks defeated 17th-ranked Canada 77-69 at the Ricoh Coliseum, avenging Wednesday’s 27-point loss and ending the Jack Donohue International Classic with a 2-1 record.

Penney hit 7-of-15 from the field, including four of his six three-point attempts, and scored four crucial points midway through the final period that gave New Zealand an eight-point they never relinquished.

In a wild game of scoring floods and droughts, the Tall Blacks led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter and 17 points in the second quarter, while the Canadians led by seven points early in the third.

Trailing by six points after three quarters, the Canadians were able to pull within a point at 62-61 with 7:54 remaining, before a 10-1 run from the Tall Blacks, including points from captain Pero Cameron, forward Mika Vukona and Penney, in the middle stages of the quarter gave them a 10-point gap with 4:05 to play.

Despite scoring just five more points in a low-scoring and foul-dominated fourth period that saw almost as many fouls (23) whistled as points scored (28), the Kiwi defence was able to hold down the stretch.

“We really wanted to get back to the basics of Tall Blacks basketball,” coach Nenad Vucinic said.

“That’s really gritty, low-scoring games, good defence, and we played like that today.

“We showed in those first three games that we didn’t really handle the pressure well and we showed tonight that we can, we played with a lot more confidence.

“I was really pleased with our defence tonight and if we can step that up I would be even happier.”

Cameron picked up his fifth foul with the Tall Blacks up 72-62 with 3:02 remaining, Vukona exited the game 30 seconds later with the Tall Blacks still up nine, while back-ups Nick Horvath and Michael Fitchett also had foul trouble.

Point guard Lindsay Tait finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Horvath hit 4-of-7 for his 12 points and Cameron had 11 points and five rebounds.

Canadian guard Rowan Barrett, who top-scored with 19 points in Wednesday’s win, was the only double-figure scorer with 18 points, while Andy Rautins and Miami Heat centre Joel Anthony both added nine points as the Canadians shot 34 percent from the field and 52 percent (12-of-23) on three-point attempts.

After starting the game by making six of their first eight attempts, the Tall Blacks cooled, especially from mid-second on, ending with a modest 37 percent from the floor and three-point range.

“We are a team that relies on our shooting and we have good shooters. We need to shoot well. We had a good first half tonight but we missed a lot of open looks in the second half and we have to hit those.”

The Kiwis were cruising up 17 points midway through the second period before a scoring drought flipped the game on its head.

New Zealand still led by 12 points with 2:33 to go in the half but a flurry of missed shots and turnovers and three straight triples from guards Jermaine Anderson and Barrett closed the gap to three points at the main break.

Until the final two minutes - which saw the Canadians cap a 14-0 scoring run going into the half as the Tall Blacks went scoreless for the last 5:06 - the Kiwis lead had not dipped into single digits.

Canada scored 24 straight points straddling halftime, going from 39-22 down to 46-39 up in a seven-minute span.

The Tall Blacks answered with an 18-2 run over the next six minutes, including 12 straight points to take a 57-48 lead as Penney, Tait and Horvath carried the scoring load. The hosts were again able to pull within six points with consecutive threes in the final minute of the third period.

Earlier, the T-Blacks came out firing, a three-point barrage including two treys from Cameron and others from Penney and Tait, saw the Kiwis stun the hosts with an 18-6 lead at the 4:52 mark of the first quarter. New Zealand led by as many as 15 points in the first, at 21-6, and led by 12 at quarter time.

The win over Canada, the first against the Canucks since 2002, is a long step from seven days ago when Vucinic and his internationally inexperienced squad were reeling from 15- and 37-point losses against Australia.

“It’s pretty obvious from the scores. The improvement from the execution and the defence has been great, but it’s also the mental state of not letting the first two games get to us,” Vucinic said from Toronto.

“With wins, the confidence is definitely growing and for me as a coach I just have to make sure that we have the right attitude when we step on the court.”

The Tall Blacks travel from Toronto to Ljubljana, Slovenia tomorrow. They play Puerto Rico, Slovenia and Iran, starting Wednesday, at the Alpos Cup tournament, before moving onto Athens for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament from July 14-20.
Jack Donohue International Classic

At Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario
New Zealand Tall Blacks 77 (Kirk Penney 22, Lindsay Tait 13, Nick Horvath 12, Pero Cameron 11) Canada 69 (Rowan Barrett 18)
1Q: 27-15
HT: 39-36 (12-21)
3Q: 62-56 (23-20)
FT: 77-69 (15-13)

Tall Blacks vs Canada Live Stats

[donmar]

I hope they'll make it to the Olympics... we'll just have to think positive...

[ballerwannabe]

hm.. im a bit unsure as to the amount of teams able to qualify for the olympics in the oceana region. I know it used to be the top 2 teams, but I heard it got changed to only 1 team. Can anyone confirm this or was I dreaming?

[Lietuvis]

hm.. im a bit unsure as to the amount of teams able to qualify for the olympics in the oceana region. I know it used to be the top 2 teams, but I heard it got changed to only 1 team. Can anyone confirm this or was I dreaming?

Only one team can qualify as a result of their qualification system and the loser has a second chance in the pre-olympic qualification tournament which is starting next week. So yes both can qualify.

In my opinion I think that both Australia and New Zealand should be part of the Asian qualification system as simply playing each other in a best of 3 is hardly worthy of Olympic qualification as is currently the case.

In Europe the qualification system is itself a mini olympics where a tough tournament with 16 teams is fought out. There is even a B grade and C grade qualification system beneath this for the remaining countries. I think NZ would be a B group candidate and Austrlia be bottom of the A groups. I will take my words back if they beat Slovenia but I think they will lose 20+ .

By seeing also the beatings that both have been given by other teams already in the games this week it shows the level is a lot lower than that of Europe and better teams will be potentially missing out. I guess my example here is Greece beat Australia by 20pts and Australia beat NZ by 30+ yet Greece has not qualified yet for the Olympics!

[donmar]

Only one team can qualify as a result of their qualification system and the loser has a second chance in the pre-olympic qualification tournament which is starting next week. So yes both can qualify.

In my opinion I think that both Australia and New Zealand should be part of the Asian qualification system as simply playing each other in a best of 3 is hardly worthy of Olympic qualification as is currently the case.

In Europe the qualification system is itself a mini olympics where a tough tournament with 16 teams is fought out. There is even a B grade and C grade qualification system beneath this for the remaining countries. I think NZ would be a B group candidate and Austrlia be bottom of the A groups. I will take my words back if they beat Slovenia but I think they will lose 20+ .

By seeing also the beatings that both have been given by other teams already in the games this week it shows the level is a lot lower than that of Europe and better teams will be potentially missing out. I guess my example here is Greece beat Australia by 20pts and Australia beat NZ by 30+ yet Greece has not qualified yet for the Olympics!

I don't think thats gonna work.... if FIBA Oceania merge with FIBA Asia.... countries in the Asian regions are already restricted to have one team to qualify in the World Championships and the Olympics despite the huge market potential... if you add Australia and New Zealand... its pretty much unfair for the Asian countries who really wants to qualify in the world tournaments...

Although, I agree with you that other European countries deserve to be there and only failed to qualify because there are so many quality and world-class national teams in Europe...

About the three-game series between Australia and New Zealand... it may not be worthy of Olympic or World Championship qualification... but that three-game series is part of their tradition of sports rivalry not just in basketball but also in rugby union, rugby league, cricket, netball, etc... I'm 100% they won't scrap the 3-game series just because they have to merge with FIBA Asia...

[Lietuvis]

I dont think they need to scrap the 3 game tournament as they can make it a tradition as it already probably is a a warmup to a bigger and better tournament with such merge. If they were to merge Asia and Oceania then the teams to qualify should also be increased.

I think large qualification tournaments give teams better preprations for larger tournements like the Olympics as they are taken more seriously then friendlys. I know when Lithuania used to send teams to Australia for friendly tournaments it was always B or C teams. Then Australia would win and you would hear this boasting they have beaten us and yet they are surprised when they lose in real tournaments.