Basketball: Baldwin sends SOS to Marks

Sean Marks

Coach Tab Baldwin wants former international Sean Marks, one of New Zealand's most successful basketballers, to wear the Tall Blacks singlet again.

Marks, a 2.1m, 114kg abrasive forward who claimed a National Basketball Association (NBA) championship ring in the United States with the San Antonio Spurs this year, retired from international basketball in June.

Now Baldwin has issued a plea for Marks to come back into the fold after New Zealand's lack of size and experience in the front line was exposed in their 0-3 Oceania series loss to Australia.

Australia claimed the third test 91-80 here today, with the Tall Blacks struggling on attack and defence throughout the series without a world class forward.

"The door is open for Sean and that will continue to stay open and he's aware of that," Baldwin said.

"The word from him is that he's retired. The word from us is Sean we appreciate your position, we accept what you say ... but.

"The door will always be open for Sean; he's a Tall Black."

Marks, 29, was the first New Zealander to crack the NBA when traded to the Toronto Raptors in 1998.

After a stint with Miami Heat, Marks was signed by the Spurs in 2003.

Weeks after winning an NBA ring this year, although he did not play in the 4-3 finals victory over the Detroit Pistons, Marks ended his Tall Blacks career.

With two young children, Marks said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

He was missed in this series by the Tall Blacks as Australia exploited some weak defence inside the keyhole.

They also suffered from not having a 'big' man on attack, an aggressive forward to secure offensive rebounds and score from close range.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian confirmed they exploited that lack of size.

"They don't have a seven foot go-to guy who you can throw the ball into.

"Pero (Cameron) does a lot for them but they don't have that piece. They battle and scrap and they play their arses off to try and stay in the game, but when you look at them, compared to other countries in the world, they're missing a huge piece.

"We stay on their shooters and make them beat us inside and they're missing that player."

While New Zealand's Tony Rampton offers height at 2.13m and played well for the Tall Blacks in this, Marks is in a different league.

Even though the Boomers were without the NBA No 1 draft pick this year in the 2.13m Andrew Bogut, they still had the lofty David Anderson and Matthew Nielsen who proved to be game-winners.

"Not only were their bigs pretty good, three of their front line bigs weren't here and they certainly are of international class," Baldwin said.

- NZPA