Basketball: Tall Blacks no match for red-hot Germany

7.35am

A weary Tall Blacks team were hit by a first-half German blitzkrieg as they were consigned to fourth place at the world basketball championships today.

Germany won bronze in Indianapolis with a 117-94 victory after racking up 74 points in the first 20 minutes to shut New Zealand out of the game. For both sides it was comfortably their best finish at the tournament.

It brought to an end the Tall Blacks' outstanding run at the championships, where they won four of their nine games in the space of 11 days to be ranked fourth in the world, remarkably ahead of hosts the United States.

They claimed the big scalps of Russia, Venezuela, China and Puerto Rico along the way before losing yesterday's semifinal 78-89 to Yugoslavia, who were to meet Argentina in the final.

Tab Baldwin's men were noticeably tired in today's game and after leading for much of the first quarter they could just stand and watch as their opponents took command.

It all looked so promising early on at the Conseco Fieldhouse as Tall Blacks scoring machine Phill Jones gave his team a flier.

The Reefton product, bound for a season in the strong Italian league, hit three consecutive three-pointers and scored 16 of New Zealand's first 21 points as they kept their noses in front.

Germany though snatched a 35-27 lead at the end of the first quarter and were rampant in the second, racing to a 74-48 halftime lead.

The Germans shot a brilliant 77 per cent from the field in the first half, including nine of 11 three-point attempts, as their towering star Dirk Nowitzki hit 25 points.

Baldwin rotated his weary starting five of Pero Cameron, Jones, Ed Book, Kirk Penney and Mark Dickel as Germany ran riot, scoring 18 first half points off the fast break.

After Jones' early heroics, New Zealand's offence went cold and they shot just 46 per cent in the first half and the German beanpoles were able to clean up the costly misses.

There was little better in the third period as the Tall Blacks hit just 13 points and their opponents cruised to a 96-61 lead.

But the Tall Blacks showed the guts which has seen them far exceed expectations at the tournament with a late comeback, led by Cameron, Jones and Penney, to finish in style.

They outscored the Germans 33-21 in the final period.

In the playoff for 5th and 6th spots this morning, Spain beat the United States 81-75.

- NZPA

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