Basketball: Tall Blacks looking to land killer blow

Brazil 95 Tall Blacks 83

New Zealand produced their best performance of the men's series against Brazil before again going down, in the third match at Rio Claro.

The Tall Blacks hit the front in the third quarter yesterday and trailed just 66-65 going into the fourth quarter, but the Brazilians defended stoutly to quickly open up a nine-point buffer.

After closing back to within four points in the final minute, the Tall Blacks couldn't land a killer blow and committed fouls to stay in the game.

New Zealand remain winless going into today's final match at Sao Paulo but coach Tab Baldwin was pleased with the side's improvement in each outing and hoped that would continue.

"We haven't seen how they [Brazil] perform yet when they get behind. That's got to be the objective," he said.

Baldwin was impressed by small forward Kirk Penney, who shot a game-high 25 points.

"He's an entirely different player than we've had with the Tall Blacks for the last couple of years," said Baldwin, citing Penney's relaxed attitude.

The side's focus on shutting down star guard Leandro Barbosa impacted on Brazil's performance, Baldwin said.

Paul Henare played a key 35-minute defensive role but was wearying because he was the only point guard for Mark Dickel is still recovering from knee tendinitis.

The Tall Blacks improved in three-point shooting, landing nine from 19.

Penney said that the team were gradually matching Brazil in mobility and rebounding intensity as they overcame jetlag that marred their early performances.

- NZPA