Basketball: Bounce Blacks batter Czechs to submission

By PETER JESSUP in Invercargill

NZ 98 CZECH REPUBLIC 87

The Tall Blacks brutalised the Czech Republic all the way through their game at Stadium Southland in Invercargill tonight and led all the way to score a win that levels the series and sets up what promises to be an action-packed decider in Hamilton tomorrow night.

The shooting accuracy that hovered just under 34 per cent on Monday was lifted to nearly 53 per cent tonight. The Czechs were harried down to 47 per cent.

Captain Pero Cameron showed how much he'd been missed in game one, with first points to set the 2400 full house alight.

His sheer bulk, vision and skill caused the Czechs all sorts of problems under the posts at both ends. He offered options on attack, smartly seeking out the free shooters and marshalling the defence. Though only on court 11 minutes his contribution was critical to the good start.

With Paul Henare and Mark Dickel running a smart game from point and Phill Jones carrying on his man-of-the-match performance from the first test the Tall Blacks took a 35-21 lead at the first break.

The home team effort on defence was outstanding in the second quarter and they extended their lead to 17 points, 56-39, at halftime.

The enthusiasm with which they went for the block, the rebounds and loose balls had the Czechs on the back foot and their passing and shooting fell away. The visitors were called several times for travelling, unusual in the international game and a measure of the pressure.

Auckland Stars point guard Lindsay Tait made his international debut with 2m 53s to go to halftime and, after a nervous start, scored four points in as many minutes.

New Breakers signing Aaron Olson sank a three-pointer to end it but there had been fewer of those than in the loss in Christchurch in the first test of the Jeep International Series. That was down to tougher work from the forwards, Ed Book and Mike Homik contributing well.

The Czechs had trouble getting their big guys into it and guard Marek Stuchly was equal top-scorer with their best man Jiri Cernosek with 12. The Tall Blacks had a wider contribution of scorers.

A measure of how physical the game was getting came from the fouls score, 12-all. Both coaches had a go at the referees at times. But the calls were consistent and Ken Coulson, in particular, made them clear to players and the crowd.

Cernosek collected his fourth personal foul mid-third period for interference as Miles Pearce swung from the hoop about to dunk and from there he had to keep his cool, which didn't help the visitors' chances.

The Czechs dropped back to the zone defence that had worked for them in test one but the Tall Blacks were offering more variation in attack. With Pearce tough at forward, Henare a livewire and Jones leading the scoring with 26, they extended the lead to 78-57.

The Tall Blacks could smell a win by then and kept the Czechs scoreless for four minutes of the last spell, then conceding only through free-throws.

Coach Tab Baldwin gave the referees a serve afterwards for allowing the game to get too physical.

"I was pretty disgusted with it actually. I'll be happy if I never see another game like that."

Players would always go to the limit of what the officials allowed and they allowed tonight he added. "It was allowed to get to who had more machismo."

He was disappointed the defensive intensity dropped off in the fourth quarter and labelled the Czechs favourites for game three. "We let them off the hook in that fourth quarter and those things can come back to haunt you."

He'd given referees lots of advice over the years, Baldwin said, "and they've listened to 0.2 per cent of it."

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt had been at the airport to welcome the team and laid on some pressure, telling them no New Zealand team had ever been beaten there. The record stands.

New Zealand 98: Phill Jones 28, Aaron Olson 13, Ed Book 10.

Czech Republic 87: Veroslav Sucharda 15, Ondrej Starosta 14, Jan Pavlik 14.

First quarter: NZ 35-21; halftime NZ 56-39; third quarter NZ 78-57