Basketball: Big fright for Tall Ferns

Double international Belinda Colling threw a big scare into the New Zealand women's basketball camp yesterday when she trod on netball colleague Donna Loffhagen's foot then crashed to the court in tearful agony.

Colling rolled her right ankle badly, was helped to a chair and had the foot immediately strapped.

She had a bad limp on the way back to the team bus after training at the Olympic basketball dome and was to go for an MRI scan.

Colling put on a brave face to declare she'd be all right by game time.

That is early tomorrow, when the women open their account against the formidable Polish team.

Colling said the team had a big task ahead but were buzzing.

The Tall Ferns had a variety of professional elements that made a good mix and they would give a good account of themselves.

"We're thrilled to be here. Confidence could be a bit of a problem given the quality of the opposition but we've had a really good build-up.

"I think if we don't get carried away and if we can go all-out for the 40 minutes we will be competitive."

Back to help is 38-year-old Leone Patterson, the former captain who quit the side in 1996 and has since been playing in San Francisco.

She made a comeback just for the Olympics and laughs off any suggestion 38 is too old to be here.

Patterson has played with and against some in the US women's team including centre Yolanda Griffiths - and so has been battered with questions from the Tall Ferns who haven't.

"This is the best New Zealand team I've been in - we don't lose a lot in terms of momentum when we sub and there's strength right across the 12," Patterson said.

Among the fulltime pros is guard Megan Compain from Wellington, who will turn 25 three days after the Games begin.

She is the only New Zealander to have played in the United States WNBA, for the Utah Starzz, was last year in the pro league in Finland, and after the Olympics is looking for a job in Hungary.

Good efforts against Brazil and Canada, who are on the other side of the draw, had given them confidence, Compain said.

"Critics have written us off because we got here by virtue of Australia going in as host. With Russia, the US, Cuba and Poland in our pool we haven't got any easy ones - I'm not looking forward to the defence against the US," she said.

"If we can get into the top eight we'll be over the moon."

Coach Carl Dickel believes the team have the ability to play very well or very badly.

"People have been looking at us and saying we haven't improved - we're still making the same mistakes. But the other teams have been in camps for months, we've had three weeks."

New Zealand men's and women's teams have a reputation of playing basketball like they do rugby, knees and elbows in, plenty of aggro and no backward steps. Dickel makes no apologies.

"International basketball is not too far removed from rugby.

"Every other team here is bigger and has players with the size and ability to be imposing - we have to defend that with whatever we've got."

Dickel said he would probably make more substitutions than any other coach at the Olympics as he tried to keep the team fresh.

"If every player goes incredibly hard, if we compete for every rebound, make it hard for them to shoot, get our own goals and when we don't make those rebounds, then we'll make it difficult for anyone.

"We're the only amateur team here, we don't know what the other teams are on, we've just got to get out there and forget all that.

"If we're down at all we've got no chance."