Basketball: Angry Baldwin slams 'lazy' Tall Blacks

HOBART - New Zealand's basketballers were best advised to steer clear of coach Tab Baldwin who slammed them as lazy after an agonising one-point loss to Australia here last night.

The 78-79 defeat at a packed Derwent Entertainment Centre gave the Boomers a 2-1 series lead heading into tomorrow's fourth and final match in Melbourne and left the Tall Blacks still winless on Australian soil.

Now faced with the tough task of lifting them for the series finale, Baldwin stormed out of the team's dressing room and delivered a damning press conference assessment that almost stripped paint from the walls.

"A basketball game is no place for anybody to be lazy at any point in time, and we were guilty of that tonight among other things," he said.

"That's one that's inexcusable."

Asked what he'd said to his players after they'd let a 45-31 halftime lead slip away, Baldwin replied: "Nothing. I'm pretty angry right now and sometimes emotions are better kept underneath your skin."

New Zealand led 65-60 with 10 minutes remaining, thanks to back to back three-pointers from Ben Hill, but the Boomers finally discovered their poise when it mattered.

Veteran guard Jason Smith hit the big shots and Australia never relinquished their lead in the dying minutes as New Zealand's offence stuttered.

Kirk Penney, who missed Friday's match with a groin injury, had a chance to tie the scores but missed all three of his freethrow attempts with four seconds left, Australia scored at the other end before Penney hit a three-pointer on the buzzer to reduce the margin to one.

Fresh from their memorable 72-53 win in the second match in Napier, New Zealand flew out of the blocks again last night and seemed to have the series at their mercy.

With Phill Jones' radar again sharp on the way to a 23-point haul, the visitors led 29-12 at quartertime and there was an eerie silence in a full house of 4500.

The Boomers were woeful in the first half, throwing stray passes and missing easy shots as their NBA star Andrew Bogut rolled an ankle before recovering to make an impact late in the match.

But Baldwin could sense the danger signs early on and admitted he was far from confident despite the 14-point halftime advantage.

"I was actually a little bit angry before the start of the game. I thought our haka lacked a bit of intensity and spirit and I told the players before the game.

"I didn't let up on them at halftime either. There were aspects of our game in the first half that simply weren't good enough.

"As I've said many times, if we're going to be successful on the international stage we have to realise our margin for error is so small, and tonight it was much bigger than that."

New Zealand, with young Craig Bradshaw leading the way, out-rebounded the bigger Australians 41-35 but their shooting percentages slipped away, 42 per cent to the Boomers' 52.

Jones was outstanding again with six from 10 three-pointers, but worryingly was assisted from the court in the final minute with an ankle injury.

Aaron Olson was the next highest scorer with 12, while Smith led the way for Australia with 24 points including four from seven of his three-pointers.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian admitted his team got out of jail after a poor first half.

"We had to put our feet down and make a stand or totally embarrass ourselves.

"I was just happy with what we did when it got desperate and it's going to help us leading into the next game."

- NZPA