KEY POINTS:
Wellington centre Nick Horvath has edged out Casey Frank for the naturalised spot in the New Zealand men's basketball team making a last-ditch bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
The Tall Blacks head to Athens for next month's Olympics qualifier, via tournaments in Canada and Slovenia.
Frank scooped the forward awards in this year's National Basketball League and was named most valuable player after averaging 21.6 points and 8.5 rebounds for Auckland.
He and Horvath, who obtained New Zealand citizenship in April, were both named in the NBL All-Star Five.
Coach Nenad Vucinic said Horvath had been picked over incumbent Frank because of the team's needs.
"This decision was not made on form. We looked at the composition of the team and felt we needed more cover for the centre position, we had the 'four' spot covered. As far as we are concerned, Casey is still a Tall Black, he is just unlucky this time."
Horvath, a former Duke University captain, averaged 17.5 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Saints, then 28 points in their finals loss to Waikato Pistons.
After their 57-94 loss to Australian in Melbourne on Saturday, the Tall Blacks will pick up star shooter Kirk Penney in Toronto for the Jack Donohue International Classic against Canada and Lebanon.
The Tall Blacks were given a lesson in defence by the Boomers. Australia, who won the first Al Ramsay Shield match 75-60 in Auckland on Thursday, handed the Tall Blacks a lesson in defence on the way to sealing a 2-0 series win.
New Zealand got off to a fast start to take an 11-2 early lead, with Michael Fitchett landing a tremendous three-pointer from 14 metres to star.
But the Boomers easily mastered their opponents, rebuilding after retirements of several senior players.
Australia stretched their lead out to 70-38 at the end of the third period before easing away to a final score of 94-57. New Zealand converted 32 per cent ) of field goal attempts and 27 per cent of three-point attempts.
- NZPA
