TALL BLACKS DOWN LEBANON 84-71 IN THIRD GAME OF JACK DONOHUE CLASSIC
Last Updated: July 07, 2008
By Simon Yau, basketball.ca
HAMILTON — Down 12-4 right out of the gate and with the Lebanese players putting on what appeared to be a layup clinic, New Zealand men’s national team head coach Nenad Vucinic called a quick timeout and shook his head in frustration.
It seemed as if it would be another long game for the Kiwis, but despite a slow start and rambunctious pro-Lebanon crowd, the Tall Blacks managed to come back to earn a comfortable 84-71 victory in their second game of the Jack Donohue International Classic, the third match of the domestic event held at McMaster University.
The victory marked the first win of the summer for Vucinic and his Tall Blacks, a heavy burden off their shoulders after two thorough drubbings at the hands of Australia and a third blow out by Canada in the team’s three previous matches.
“Yes, the opposition wasn’t as good as the first three games, especially defensively,” conceded Vucinic. “Australia is probably one of the best defensive teams in the world and Canada is very athletic.
“We lack a bit of size and athleticism, but we have to make that up with execution and mental toughness, and tonight after a really slow start I thought we came and showed some guts and played a good game of basketball,” said the Kiwi coach.
The game was a see-saw affair that saw eight ties and 10 lead changes before a 15-5 run by the Tall Blacks broke the game open to start the fourth quarter.
Forward Craig Bradshaw led a balanced attack for New Zealand with 18 points and 5 rebounds, while Kirk Penney added 17 points to the cause.
Lebanon, despite being undersized, managed to outrebound New Zealand 32-27, while also seeming to get to the rim at will. Rony Fahed had a spectacular game for the losing team, leading all scorers with 20 points and adding 7 rebounds, 7 assists and two steals while shooting over 50 per cent from the field.
Unfortunately for Lebanon, Fahed was a one-man show on this night, with his near triple double not enough to overcome a 27-17 disparity in points off the bench for New Zealand. Overall, Lebanon shot only 31 per cent from three-point range and 67 per cent from the charity stripe, not nearly enough to overcome an 11-trey barrage by the Kiwi’s.
Vucinic was not taking much time to bask in the victory, however, as his Tall Blacks gave the ball away 20 times on the night, but saw most of those mishaps negated by Lebanon’s own turnover woes (17 for the game).
“With a young internationally inexperienced team, that will happen, but we haven’t got a whole lot of time,” explained the coach. “In the next game against Canada we have to really execute even better and cut the turnovers down.”
New Zealand will attempt to avenge their loss to the host team when they face Canada again on July 4 at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum.
Lebanon will now have two days to rest before they also get a second crack at the host team, with the fifth and final game of the JDIC scheduled to be a Lebanon vs. Canada showdown on July 5, also at Ricoh Coliseum.
HAMILTON — Down 12-4 right out of the gate and with the Lebanese players putting on what appeared to be a layup clinic, New Zealand men’s national team head coach Nenad Vucinic called a quick timeout and shook his head in frustration.
It seemed as if it would be another long game for the Kiwis, but despite a slow start and rambunctious pro-Lebanon crowd, the Tall Blacks managed to come back to earn a comfortable 84-71 victory in their second game of the Jack Donohue International Classic, the third match of the domestic event held at McMaster University.
The victory marked the first win of the summer for Vucinic and his Tall Blacks, a heavy burden off their shoulders after two thorough drubbings at the hands of Australia and a third blow out by Canada in the team’s three previous matches.
“Yes, the opposition wasn’t as good as the first three games, especially defensively,” conceded Vucinic. “Australia is probably one of the best defensive teams in the world and Canada is very athletic.
“We lack a bit of size and athleticism, but we have to make that up with execution and mental toughness, and tonight after a really slow start I thought we came and showed some guts and played a good game of basketball,” said the Kiwi coach.
The game was a see-saw affair that saw eight ties and 10 lead changes before a 15-5 run by the Tall Blacks broke the game open to start the fourth quarter.
Forward Craig Bradshaw led a balanced attack for New Zealand with 18 points and 5 rebounds, while Kirk Penney added 17 points to the cause.
Lebanon, despite being undersized, managed to outrebound New Zealand 32-27, while also seeming to get to the rim at will. Rony Fahed had a spectacular game for the losing team, leading all scorers with 20 points and adding 7 rebounds, 7 assists and two steals while shooting over 50 per cent from the field.
Unfortunately for Lebanon, Fahed was a one-man show on this night, with his near triple double not enough to overcome a 27-17 disparity in points off the bench for New Zealand. Overall, Lebanon shot only 31 per cent from three-point range and 67 per cent from the charity stripe, not nearly enough to overcome an 11-trey barrage by the Kiwi’s.
Vucinic was not taking much time to bask in the victory, however, as his Tall Blacks gave the ball away 20 times on the night, but saw most of those mishaps negated by Lebanon’s own turnover woes (17 for the game).
“With a young internationally inexperienced team, that will happen, but we haven’t got a whole lot of time,” explained the coach. “In the next game against Canada we have to really execute even better and cut the turnovers down.”
New Zealand will attempt to avenge their loss to the host team when they face Canada again on July 4 at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum.
Lebanon will now have two days to rest before they also get a second crack at the host team, with the fifth and final game of the JDIC scheduled to be a Lebanon vs. Canada showdown on July 5, also at Ricoh Coliseum.
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