Basketball: Big task ahead for Tall Blacks

US-based Tall Black Craig Bradshaw was one of the stars in the tests against Australia. Paul Kane / Getty Images

A hectic next few days will ram home the size of the Tall Blacks' task of repeating their world championship semifinal finish four years ago.

Coach Tab Baldwin and his 12-man squad were to leave for Japan early this morning, arriving with little time to prepare for their tournament opener against world No 5 Spain on Saturday night.

It means an 11-hour flight, a night's stopover in Tokyo, then an early morning flight to Hiroshima where they've been allocated only one hour for a solitary training session before Friday night's opening ceremony.

But Baldwin and his charges are used to dealing with adversity and, with the lofty expectations of at least matching their fourth placing in 2002, won't be reaching for excuses if they lose on Saturday.

"We're about as well prepared to handle the travel as we can be, from a mental standpoint, because we've been through worse," Baldwin said.

Their preparation has been unconventional, but they aren't lacking match fitness.

They have played four tests against Australia, including a series win and a first win on Australian soil, seven tough matches in less than a fortnight in South America for just one win, then two low-key victories over Qatar in the chilly deep south.

"You can really feel the expectation among the players now," Baldwin said. "They want to just get on with it.

"We've invested a lot and we know a lot of people are counting on us and it's time to live up to that investment."

This year's championships have eight more teams than the 16 in Indianapolis in 2002 - one of the factors Baldwin thinks makes this tournament a lot tougher.

On rankings, their five group matches in six days against Spain, Germany, Angola, Japan and Panama will get progressively easier.

They need at least two wins to progress to the top 16.

From then on, it's sudden death, unlike 2002 when qualifying teams went into a second round of pool matches.

But Baldwin rejects suggestions they should take it easy against Spain and 13th-ranked Germany - who beat them in the playoff for third four years ago - conserve energy and target the lesser-ranked sides.

"I don't play that way. Some people might make the argument that it's more intelligent to do it that way.

"We want to be first in our pool and that means avoiding Serbia, Argentina or France [in the last 16], so I think that's an intelligent tactic."

The game against Spain will ruthlessly expose any weariness in the Tall Blacks' ranks.

Baldwin has read news reports that Spain are confidently aiming for a gold medal, and with Toronto Raptors NBA point guard Jose-Manuel Calderon working in tandem with future star Juan-Carlos Navarro, they will be a handful.

"They're an aggressive defensive team and they will play up-tempo basketball," he said.

"They're a bit unusual in that they play two point guards together. These two guys are both world class - one's in the NBA and the other's headed that way."

Baldwin admits his team's achilles heel is a lack of depth in the forward line, although US-based youngster Craig Bradshaw, who starred against Australia, has quickly stepped up.

The other issue is that the men in black won't catch the other teams by surprise this time.

Offsetting that, Baldwin said, was the fact his team were "extremely difficult" to prepare for tactically, were more mature and at their collective peak this time.

"We were probably more like the excited puppy [in 2002] having the first chance to run around outside, and I believe a lot of that energy was wasted.

"Now we're a much more intelligent team, and that comes through maturity and experience."


Tall Blacks' Draw

* Saturday: v Spain, at Hiroshima 10pm (NZT)
* Sunday: v Germany, at Hiroshima 7pm
* Monday: v Angola, at Hiroshima 4pm
* Wednesday: v Japan, at Hiroshima 10pm
* Aug 24: v Panama, at Hiroshima 7pm
* Aug 26/27: Top-16 knockout matches, at Saitama
* Aug 29/30: Quarter-finals, at Saitama
* Sep 1: Semifinals at Saitama
* Sep 3: Final at Saitama

- NZPA