Basketball: Tall Blacks improve ranking

1.00pm

The Tall Blacks' slim defeats at the Athens Olympics may have been hard to swallow, but the basketballers can take some heart at their improved international ranking.

In FIBA (international basketball federation) rankings released yesterday, the Tall Blacks have improved to 16th place, up four placings from July.

The Tall Blacks lost four of their matches at the Games last month by less than seven points but beat world champions Serbia and Montenegro.

They lost their final game against Australia by 18 points to finish the tournament in 10th place.

Their current ranking is a long way from their fourth placing achieved at the 2002 world championships in Indianapolis.

Silver medallists Italy were the big improvers in the latest rankings moving from 10th to 4th, while the US, who captured bronze, usurp Serbia and Montenegro for the top spot.

The New Zealand's women's basketball side have taken 18th place after their exceptional performance in Greece.

The rank outsiders won two games to make the quarter-finals before being bundled out by Australia.

- NZPA