I think NZ can and will win this game...

Everyone not named Tom Abercrombie came out flat. Dominican Republic up 25/19 with 5mins left in the second.

Man Garcia is a dickhead.

New Zealand playing flat and struggling to score, only Abercrombie &Vukona finding the net and once again Vukona left on the floor for too long and now has 3 fouls. Poor management of a crucial players minutes once again.

Abercrombie on fire (credit to Vucinic for making him the focus) and Vukona playing very well, but I think Vucinic needs to mix his bench and starters a bit more.

At the moment if Corey Webster's not hitting shots that bench unit struggles. I hate Webster on the high-ball screen to start the offence too, you can run that at the end of the set.

The Tall Blacks wasted a lot of good opportunities that first half, the game is still winnable but they need to lift in the second half.

Running some of those sets for Abercrombie again wouldn't hurt. The guy had 13p on 5/7 after eight minutes and hasn't got another shot!

I know he's on fire and then spends eternity on the bench and when he comes back he barely gets another touch.

@Mystro

100% agree in regards to Vukona being left out to long!!!

And WTF is Bartlett getting extended minutes for?

Penney has to play the whole 2nd half and they need him to be options 1 and 2 on offense. He's spending alot of time on the defensive end guarding Garcia, would like to see him guard someone else.

Four fouls on Vukona! Why didn't Fotu start in his place?

Loe and Fotu doing an awesome defensive job inside.

Is Vucinic running an old boys club for minutes? Loe & Fotu playing great when given opportunities yet no trust from the Coach. He prefers to get Frank & Vukona well into foul trouble before one of the youngsters can come out and make an impact with their energy.

Hopefully Cory Webster can get going in the 4th.

Good call Sean, they switch Abercrombie onto Garcia and Penney goes off at the other end. How about Abercrombie's block?!

Flop flop flop

When Tai got that steal. Loved it.
Cornado is an idiot

Franks passing!!!! 2 TOs in the 4th

Would love to see Tai and Corey play more together.

In fact would be great to see both Websters, Penney and Abercrombie on the court at once.

Well... FFS..

Looks like the only thing I have to cheer for in this WC is Turkey not getting out of the group..

Garcia = star calls

Reffing has been way too tight. Ridicolous.

Some of the rotations. In the 3rd quarter the tall blacks make a run with Fotu and loe playing. So what does Vuinic do starts the fourth quarter with Frank who commits some turnovers and plays poor D. And we don't even see Fotu at all. Plus tbe got hand in Abercrombie spending too much time on tbe bench too.

Last line should be hot hand in Abercrombie

End of our WC

A shame but oh well after all we are exceptionally young.

We have a 19yo starting PG, a 23yo starting C fresh from College, a 21yo PF playing extended minutes and some sub standard bench guys in Bartlett, Kenny and Anthony.

Bring on 2018 and 2022.

Hopefully this tournament will be the end of Frank. With Steven Adams, Rob Loe and isaac Fotu plus youngsters like jack salt due to begin their college ball career. The Tall blacks will be while served at the 4 and 5 in years to come

The Tall Blacks should be aiming squarely for 2016, rather than waiting for 2019.

Adams/Pledger/Loe
Vukona/Fotu
Abercrombie/Te Rangi/Henry?
Penney/Prewster?
Webster/Webster

That team is good enough to go mighty close in an Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and would also be highly competitive against Australia.

At what point does Vukona become a bench player. I would hope that by 2016. Adams would be at centre with Loe or Fout the starting PF.

Prewster will have to be a naturalised player.

Lets try convice Ced!

Ced indeed!

Vukona becomes a bench player when someone beats him for the spot, and no one is even close just yet. I like Fotu though, and by 2016 the TBs should have a two-headed rebounding monster at PF.

I differently think the plan is for Ced to become a naturalized New Zealander. I don't envisage him going back to Europe. A case of been a big fish in a small pond if u will and the adulation that comes with it.

I'm going to throw out that NZ are not well coached. Rotations are poor, offense is not effective, player sitting for long stints then coming in cold expected to do well.

What does everyone think?

I think when a country that has a grand total of nine or 10 professional players can be missing their only two centres and still be competitive in every game they play, they are very well coached overall.

That said, there were definitely some mistakes today, but that's going to happen sometimes.

The biggest issue for NZ without Adams and Pledger is they simply can't put pressure on defensively, and that means they can't generate many easy points.

There's not a lot a coach can do about that.

I disagree- Loe, Fotu, Frank and Anthony held their own against Turkey- I think coaching/execution hurt! Also, i am not intentionally going down a sack Nenad thread, but I just think some decison making/ lack of hurt!

The question underlying your statement is why do those players hold their own internationally? Does it have something to do with the system they're in?

fudged off!

yet again blown opportunity