Basketball: Baldwin looks for more from Tall Blacks

Tall Blacks basketball coach Tab Baldwin is looking for a more sustained focus from his team tonight in their second game of the Four Nations tournament in Perth.

Baldwin was happy to come away with a 90-70 win over China in last night's tournament opener, but was unhappy the Tall Blacks could not maintain the momentum which saw them power away to a 51-30 halftime lead.

"We had a very good first half at both ends of the floor, our defence was particularly good and offensively we were sharp in our execution," Baldwin told NZPA.

"I didn't have any complaints with the guys at halftime, I just wanted them to sustain that. But we didn't do a great job of that in the second half; there was a bit of a letdown.

"The key to this team is to get that mental consistency. We've got to be tough all the time."

The Tall Blacks had too much experience for a young Chinese team building towards the 2008 Beijing Olympics and missing the likes of National Basketball Association superstar Yao Ming.

Phill Jones, Pero Cameron and Ed Book shared shooting duties, all finishing the match with 13 points, while Li Nan topscored for the Chinese with 16 in a hard-fought, physical match.

Baldwin was happy to see Book back out on court after the veteran centre tore a hamstring last month.

"I don't think Ed is match fit yet, but while he was out there he did a real good job offensively for us and a good job on the boards.

"He needs to get some of the strength back in his legs because defensively he got pushed around a little bit, but he'll be working on that."

The form of Lindsay Tait, who did an excellent job keeping the team "focused and up tempo", pleased Baldwin while point guard Mark Dickel, who arrived in Perth on Monday after putting his honeymoon on hold, also impressed.

"We got a lot of effort and communication out of Mark. He probably didn't handle the ball as slickly as he normally does, but you have to take into consideration that he just got married and flew halfway round the world," Baldwin said.

China's coach Jonas Kazlauskas was disappointed with his team's effort, saying they were not ready for the physical contact the New Zealanders dished out.

"The referees allowed too much contact today. It was for both teams equally, but we were not ready for it," he said.

Baldwin was not too concerned at Kazlauskas' comments.

"There was nothing out there that you wouldn't expect to see in any international game. The Chinese coach said that we're too physical, but everybody sings that song when they lose to us.

"We play basketball not unlike a lot of teams in the world -- we're physical, but we're certainly not outside the rules."

The Tall Blacks' no-frills basketball last night had left plenty in reserve for upcoming matches, especially against trans-Tasman rivals Australia, Baldwin said.

"We ran the more basic offences that are probably the hallmark of Tall Blacks' basketball, but we'd like to think that we've got some curve balls we can throw out there.

"We didn't need to use any tonight because we executed very well.

"We'd like to practice everything we've got, but we don't want to over-expose Australia to it -- we're walking a little bit of a fine line right now."

- NZPA