KEY POINTS:
New Zealand crashed to a 71-89 loss to Germany in their final pool match at the men's basketball Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece this morning (NZT).
Despite 29 points from forward Kirk Penney, the Tall Blacks were only in contention through the early stages against taller, more experienced
opponents in Athens.
Both sides had already qualified for the quarterfinals after easy respective wins over Cape Verde.
New Zealand face a daunting quarterfinal against Greece on Saturday morning (NZ time) after the tournament hosts beat Brazil 89-69 this morning.
With just the top three teams from the tournament qualifying for Beijing, only the quarterfinal winners will keep their Olympic hopes alive.
National Basketball Association star Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points for Germany while centre Chris Kaman contributed 20.
The Tall Blacks led 26-23 after the first quarter after shooting five from eight of their three-point shots.
Momentum started to swing midway through the second quarter and the Germans took a decisive 47-33 lead into the break.
With New Zealand veteran big man Pero Cameron on the bench with three fouls, Nowitzki and Kaman took over on the inside.
The 14-point advantage was Germany's biggest of the game as New Zealand fought hard to win the third quarter 24-21.
Outside shooting was a regular route for the Tall Blacks, who landed 10 of 29 from outside the arc.
New Zealand's haven't come close to beating Germany in their five matches dating back to 2002.
"It's a bit of a recurring theme coming through, unfortunately," Fitchett said..
"They're pretty tough, obviously they've got super duper stars and they came through."
Fitchett said athletic forward Nowitzki was like no player he had marked in his short international career.
"He's tough to stop, he was NBA MVP one year for a reason.
"We tried different things - double-teamed him, tried single coverage, gave him different defenders but none of it seemed to work.
"He did what he does."
Fitchett denied his team were guilty of looking forward to the quarterfinal.
He said their motivation was high today but lapses let them down.
"We failed to execute on key moments late in the second quarter, early in the third and they got a couple of runs on us.
"You combine that with a guy (Nowitzki) who they can throw the ball to and get a good look every time, it was a difficult matchup for us."
Germany 89 (Dirk Nowitzki 35, Chris Kaman 20, Pascal Roller 10) New Zealand 71 (Kirk Penney 29, Pero Cameron 14). Halftime: 47-33.
- NZPA
