Basketball: Tall Blacks excite former coach

Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic has had to rebuild the side after losing several experienced players to retirement. Photo / Getty Images

Unexpected Oceania series success means Tall Blacks boss Nenad Vucinic has arrived as an international basketball coach.

New Zealand stunned Australia with a resounding 100-78 win in the second test in Wellington last night to seal the two-match series on points differential.

It was by a wide margin the most significant result of Vucinic's 38-match reign since he inherited the Tall Blacks role from Tab Baldwin in 2007.

It also marked a tremendous turnaround from the opening international which was lost 77-84 in Sydney on Sunday.

One person well placed to put the performance in perspective is Steve McKean, who guided the Tall Blacks from 1972-81 and was in charge for their historic first win over Australia in 1978.

McKean today reserved his highest praise for Vucinic, who he rates as an outstanding coach.

"After all of the success enjoyed by Tab it was only natural that it would take a while for Nenad to stamp his brand on this team," McKean said.

"His attention to detail is second to none and he's surrounded himself with two ex players (Chris Tupu and Dillon Boucher) who are fine students of the game and are going to be excellent coaches.

"Those three guys are pretty special as a coaching team."

McKean said the Oceania title was the result of two years' hard work by Vucinic, who had lost a swag of experienced players but now had a young squad to mould as he saw fit.

New Zealand's record under Vucinic now reads 13 wins and 25 losses during a period he has had to fill gaps created by the retirements of Sean Marks, Mark Dickel, Tony Rampton, Boucher and Phill Jones, among others.

In their place the next generation have been introduced to complement the proven class of new captain and shooting guard Kirk Penney, who has himself stepped up to fill the shoes of injured skipper Pero Cameron.

McKean likes what he sees of Penney in the leadership role and he has also been taken aback at the progress of 22-year-old Alex Pledger, whose selection he described as a master stroke.

The 2.13m centre had little game time for Waikato at domestic level this year, but his tenacious qualities under the defensive boards attracted Vucinic's attention.

"That kid rebounded the sh** out of the Aussies. He came of age. He did one hell of a job. He has some future," McKean said.

Throw into the mix a revitalised Mika Vukona and bustling forward Craig Bradhsaw, who was unavailable for the Australian series, and McKean is excited at the team's future prospects.

"Nenad has made these guys believe in themselves," said McKean, who thought the series success validated the many changes Vucinic had implemented since he was promoted into the top job after a period as Baldwin's No 2.

"The systems he has put in place are different to those used by Tab, who ran a triangle offence and was half-court oriented.

"Nenad has loosened the reins and let the guys push the ball and play more of an up tempo game. He has opened it up and the guys have finally responded to that."

McKean was blown away by the manner of the team's success last night, saying he never thought he would see a New Zealand team put 22 points on Australia.

"It doesn't get any better than this, it is something special.

"They executed offensively but I don't think I had seen a New Zealand team defend across the boards as well as they did."

Both New Zealand and Australia have already qualified for next year's world championship in Turkey but the Tall Blacks will claim a superior seeding courtesy of their series win.

The Tall Blacks do not play again until August next year, when they will reassemble for the Commonwealth championship in India before heading to Turkey.

Their status as Oceania champions should be enough for them to hold on to their current world ranking of 13th and it is also expected to earn them invitations to international tournaments such as the Diamond Ball and Stankovic Cup in China.

As well, it will give basketball officials a persuasive case when they next front funding agency Sparc to bankroll the team's international schedule.

- NZPA