Basketball: Tall Blacks hope Qatar will put them back on song

Tab Baldwin knows little about Qatar's capability as a basketball nation but is clear on one point ahead of the Tall Blacks' two-test series.

Wins in Dunedin tonight and Invercargill on Sunday are critical to place the squad in a sounder frame of mind ahead of the world championships in Japan this month.

Baldwin would have preferred to start with the mysterious Middle East opposition before progressing to better-known powerhouses Brazil, Argentina and Australia.

But after a difficult tour of South America, which yielded just one win from seven outings, world No 28-ranked Qatar could be just the fillip New Zealand require.

"It's important now we play a team we feel we can build some positive momentum against," Baldwin admitted.

"If we can win these two games it will get us into the right frame of mind to head into the world championships feeling good about ourselves."

The euphoria of a historic test win in Australia's home court last month was quickly tempered by five losses to Brazil.

A 30-point win over Venezuela improved the mood before a final reversal against Argentina left the Tall Blacks with an unflattering 3-7 record.

"This is important for us, it's an opportunity to test all aspects of our systems," Baldwin said.

While Qatar should not prove too much of a threat, Baldwin said they would be respected as a fellow world championship participant.

"They got in ahead of South Korea and if they're at that level that means they're a reasonably good basketball team," he said.

"To be honest we know very little. We've seen the results in their preparation games - there's been some mixed results like ours.

"We have a little bit of video. They're difficult to scout because they haven't been operating on the international circuit at any significant level."

Qatar were the third and final qualifiers through Asia and recently pushed highly rated Turkey to the wire before losing in overtime.

Meanwhile, Tall Black guard Mark Dickel is steadily recovering from a knee injury suffered in South America.

Baldwin will take an unchanged squad of 12 to Japan.