KEY POINTS:
The intimidation factor could play a huge role in the outcome of New Zealand's crucial Olympic basketball qualifying tournament quarterfinal against Greece tomorrow morning (7am NZT).
The Tall Blacks have their backs to the wall, requiring nothing short of victory in what promises to be a hostile environment against the tournament hosts in Athens.
Everything appears in Greece's favour. They have a world ranking of No 6, seven places ahead of the Tall Blacks, and will be buoyed by the partisan support of an expected crowd of 20,000.
"Greece is one of the top teams in the world at the moment, certainly the top four, and it's the toughest place to play on earth," Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic said today.
"It's a tough task, we all know that, especially with our new and inexperienced group, and I don't think New Zealand have played in front of 20,000 home fans before."
Greece - ranked behind only the United States, Argentina, Spain, Serbia and Lithuania - feature guards Theo Papaloukas and Nikos Zisis, who play for 2007-08 Euroleague champions CSKA Moscow, while the majority of the squad are from Greek powerhouses, champions Panathinaikos and Olympiacos.
The match marks the toughest of challenges for a Tall Blacks team who had only centre Craig Bradshaw playing in Europe last season.
"We're just going to get into our bubble, put five guys on court, prepare well for the game and go out there and try to win the game like any other," Vucinic said.
"It's a great opportunity for us to play in this sort of environment.
"None of the players have played in front of 20,000 opposing fans and very loud fans. It's a great environment to play in and a challenging environment, but this team isn't afraid of challenges."
New Zealand need to win tomorrow and again in the semifinals against either Slovenia or Puerto Rico to grab the top-three placing required to take them to the Games in Beijing next month.
Vucinic said his players remained positive.
"We think on any given night anything is possible and that's the attitude we're taking for this game. It's not just about giving them a run for their money, it's to beat them.
"We have to go into the game thinking we can win it. The Tall Blacks have always been known for that kind of attitude and we've beaten some very very good teams before, and who is to say that can't happen tomorrow.
"There is five of them, five of us. If we play good basketball, we have a chance to win. We intend to play good basketball, so we'll see what happens."
Playing good basketball will be the minimum required against Greece, who after unbeaten this northern hemisphere summer after tournament wins at the Super Cup in Germany and Acropolis tournament in Athens.
Tall Blacks shooting guard Kirk Penney leads the tournament scoring averages after the preliminary round, with 27 points per game, and they will again call on his outside shooting, but will also need large performances from captain Pero Cameron, Bradshaw and point guard Lindsay Tait to have any chance.
New Zealand, who have no injury concerns, qualified for the quarterfinals following a 77-50 win over Cape Verde and 71-89 loss to Germany in group B.
- NZPA
