Basketball: Tall Blacks rue missed chance

By DAVID LEGGAT in Athens

Fourth at the world championships two years ago, 10th at the Olympics.

But for coach Tab Baldwin there is no comparison between the quality of basketball the Tall Blacks played at Indianapolis in 2002 and at Athens over the last 10 days.

The Tall Blacks set their sights on an Olympic medal. Instead, they left the tournament with a one win-five loss record after getting a 80-98 beating - every bit as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests - from Australia yesterday.

Their four pool defeats were by two, seven, four and four points against Italy, China, Argentina and - in the one they ultimately had to win to stay in the medal frame - Spain on Monday.

But Baldwin pointed out that their opponents knew what the Tall Blacks were capable of, after being stung by their performance in Indianapolis.

Yet rivals were still unable to put New Zealand away convincingly, and that is a positive in his book.

"Based on our own goals, objectives and dreams we failed," Baldwin said. "But we played better basketball than we ever have in our collective careers.

"Unquestionably, we were 30 to 40 per cent better than in Indianapolis."

Ace shooter Phill Jones says it is wrong to follow the scoreboard and place New Zealand as 10th-best team in the 12-team tournament.

"We could have won the first three games in our section and have been top.

"For someone to read into a 10th finish that we are 10th in the world is a joke. We know we're not - we know we're top four in the world."

The hurt was showing for Jones, who was in sizzling form against the Australians, drilling 26 points, which moved him to the top of the individual points-scorers in the tournament with 126 and with the best average, 21 per game.

The most disappointing part was knowing the Tall Blacks could have done better.

"Ten to 12 days ago everything was in our hands but as the tournament went on ... one basket, one call from the ref, one ball slipping out of someone's hands, those things come back to haunt you.

"We had the chances and let it slip through our fingers."

Jones admitted the team found it hard to get up for the Australia game - "9th and 10th, what's the difference?" - and put that down to the disappointments of earlier games.

In pure performance terms, Baldwin said the problems lay in defence.

"The standard we have to play needs to go up a notch.

"We're only going to get that when we have the opportunity to play against these guys in crucial situations on a regular basis."

That's a standard cry from New Zealand athletes across the board. A glance at the globe shows part of the problem. Funding is another factor.

The next basketball world championships are in Tokyo in 2006. Baldwin hopes he can hold an ageing team together for one last shot at the big stage.

He is contracted until then but added that he would like to stay with the Tall Blacks "the rest of my life if I could".

Australian point guard Shane Heal, playing probably his last game for his country, slotted a game-high 30 points yesterday.

From the end of the first quarter, when Australia led 28-15, they were always in charge against a flat, dispirited Tall Blacks.

"Our life was taken away against Spain," Baldwin said. "I don't know what we were playing for against Australia, but it wasn't enough."