Basketball: Tall Blacks in check-up before Czechs

By PETER JESSUP in Christchurch

Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron is not sure he will be fit to take the court against the Czech Republic in Invercargill tonight but is itching to play.

"It hurt watching them lose the first game, it's a tough pill to swallow every time you lose and I'd love to get out there," he said last night.

He completed a tough training session at the QEII stadium in Christchurch last night despite influenza and a bothersome calf strain, ending prone on the floor with the physio stretching his leg.

Coach Tab Baldwin said he would play Cameron if the big centre was up to it. Ed Book also had influenza and a stiff neck along with his calf strain but one or other would have to start.

Baldwin will also use Dillon Boucher, who was still in isolation yesterday with a fever, even if he is wasted after two days of heavy illness.

"If I can get 15 minutes from Dillon I'll take them," he said, in a testament to Boucher's ability to upset attacking patterns. "The doctors won't like that but the doctors don't have to beat the Czechs."

That signalled a change in thinking: Baldwin originally said he would use all 14 players in the squad during the series. He will settle on the team today once the illness and injury clouds clear but Lindsay Tait may be the one to miss out given the point-guard strength.

It is likely he won't play unless Cameron and Boucher do. There would be less concern then about the leadership.

The Tall Blacks worked hard on methods to counter the zone defence that worked so effectively for the Czechs in the second half of the 83-72 loss in the first test of the Jeep International Series. They planned traps to force turnovers or work steals.

"We have to be ready to attack whatever defence they put on us."

The Tall Blacks had the better of the first half in Christchurch on Monday when the Czechs played man-to-man, but Baldwin thought they would try that again, falling back to build a zone until the Tall Blacks force them to change it.

That would come if they could nail the three-pointers that hit the rim on Monday. The coach said he had faith in his shooters to do that, and at practice guards Phill Jones, Aaron Olson, Paora Winitana and Paul Henare all looked sharp.

"If we don't hit the threes, they won't come out and defend."

The players had to be quicker and more accurate in their passing. The only area of the game on Monday that got a pass-mark was the offensive rebounding, and that was because the shooting was so bad.

"We've been analytical and breaking down the game and working on our deficiencies," said Baldwin.

"It's not appropriate for this team to be either complacent or despairing."

But the players were disappointed in themselves. Auckland forward Daryl Cartwright admitted he struggled with the size of the Czechs - and knew he wasn't up against their even-taller starting five.

"They're huge and when they sat in that zone at the back we just couldn't get inside them."

But the Tall Blacks needed to take the game to them more, he said.

He could not explain the loss of shooting accuracy as the game in Christchurch developed.

"Sometimes everything goes right, sometimes one person goes off and it can be contagious in the same way, everyone goes cold and it just builds up."

The players were disappointed because they knew they were capable of much better. The new caps would improve after a taste of the increased speed of the international game.

The Czechs had a practice game against a composite team of Canterbury Rams/retired Americans/and NCAA New Zealand players on holiday, Luke Ruscoe and Gerard Bowden. Baldwin used that to fire his troops up in mid-training.

"They're playing a game on this court soon and they'll have their shirts on and play like an international team. You have your shirts on - let's play to win," he said.

* TV details: Delayed coverage on TV2 from 10pm.