LC
Years ago

Tall Blacks win Stankovic Cup, go unbeaten

New Zealand capped off a near perfect preparation for the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championships by claiming the Stankovic Cup in China thanks to a 70-66 win over Mexico.

The Tall Blacks went unbeaten throughout the tournament and were superbly led by MVP Corey Webster who erupted for 30 points in the final. Isaac Fotu also capped off an impressive event, following up his 34 point outing in the semi final win over the host nation with a further 16 points in the final. Both Webster and Fotu were selected to the All-Tournament team.

Webster and Fotu lead Tall Blacks to the Stankovic Cup

Topic #37673 | Report this topic


GWB  
Years ago

Lovely. Tall blacks are winning while the boomers debate about whether to bring in their best player.

Reply #541957 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

They will be very confident now, the Aussies should be worried!

Reply #541958 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Delly on Webster...

Reply #541959 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Surely someone has to point out to LC that there's already a thread on this?! Oops, I just did. ;-)

Reply #541961 | Report this post


PeterJohn  
Years ago

^yeah, that'll work because the Oceania series is only 2 games :)

Reply #541962 | Report this post


KingJames  
Years ago

They played China, Venezuela and Mexico. Hardly, basketball powerhouses....

Reply #541963 | Report this post


MACDUB  
Years ago

King James,

2 of those 3 teams are above the TBs on the FIBA World Rankings.

Granted I am not getting overtly excited by some of those wins but they have been building nicely and you can only play what's in front of you.

We've seen the TBs come agonisingly close to beating LTU at the world champa (and they always seem to at least compete against some of the bigger Euro teams) - so there is pat evidence which points to them been able to run with the 4+ ranking teams in the world.

Reply #541967 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

They'll be taking more out of how they played than just winning games, but certainly their ability to close out games strongly would be very pleasing for Henare and Co, particularly the way they came from 11 down in the last quarter against Croatia only to be beaten by a buzzer beater.

I still think turnovers are too big an issue (17 in the final), they have to fix that or the Boomers will wear them down.

Reply #541968 | Report this post


MACDUB  
Years ago

paul,

Yep and can't see that improving without a more controlling PG and more PG depth.

Tait can be TO prone at International level, Bartlett can be a turnover machine some days and is a massive proponent of the 50:50 ball (sometimes loves the 1:99 ball too), Shea and Kenny are probably out of their depth (no offence).

Would be great if we had a Dickel type coming through along with Wynyard, Adams, Fotu, the Websters, Te Rangi, Loe but sadly not :(

Reply #541970 | Report this post


KingJames  
Years ago

MACDUB those teams aren't bad as you said and are ranked above NZ (China 14th, Mexico 19th). So from that point of view it was a great effort.

However, Australia did play against stronger opponents recently. Slovenia 13th and Lithuania 4th, Granted that both teams werent at full strength but neither was Australia.

I think both Australia and NZ will be confident going into the matches.

Reply #541971 | Report this post


sharod  
Years ago

The China team played in the tournament was a 2nd unit team, their best is in Europe tour in preparation for Asia region Olympic qualifier. Other opponents were without their best players I think, at least Mexico were without 2 NBA players on their roster. Anyway congratz to the Tall Blacks on getting first title with new coach Pauli.

Reply #541975 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

I think you're a little harsh on Tait there MACDUB, since the start of the 2010 WC he's only averaged a turnover every 17 minutes in FIBA tournament play.

I think he's generally a safe pair of hands even if not 100% reliable. The Tall Blacks sure could have done with him during the 2013 Oceania champs.

Re warm-ups, NZ played Great Britain x 2, Croatia and Slovenia in Europe, the last two being quality opponents. They beat GB twice and lost narrowly to Croatia and Slovenia.

The Stankovic Cup field was development teams from each of the three opponents and they went 4-0 in what were mostly very physical affairs which will be good preparation for the Boomers.

Reply #541977 | Report this post


AngusH  
Years ago

NZ are the opposite of Australia in basketball - don't look strong on paper, but play with class on the court.

Reply #541979 | Report this post


Bear  
Years ago

So did Steve Adamas play? If not, that's their best starting 5 out for this event and with him in the side it makes a big difference I imagine. Aussie beware...

Reply #542104 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Adams didnt play, but C Webster, Vukona, Fotu and Abercrombie could all make strong cases to be in their best starting five and they all played. Adams is the only guy missing who'd clearly be in their best starters.

Reply #542107 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

Pledger would normally be the starting centre and Tai Webster would make a strong case to start next to Corey

Reply #542112 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Tai, Alex and Kirk could all make cases for starting - Tai has been fast tracked without necessarily being at that level just yet - but I think Adams is the only one who could just walk into a starting position next year without any doubt. The Tall Blacks certainly aren't missing their best starting five this year

Reply #542114 | Report this post


Bear  
Years ago

Sounds like the cohesion will be in place for NZ, my hope is that the Aussies are not too disjointed and can get their game going in time.

Reply #542120 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Bogut has perfoemed at his best his entire career against undersized opponents. Hopefully this continues. However, we need more scoring, anyone can see that, get Mills already

Reply #542157 | Report this post


GWB  
Years ago

Bogut was great in that first Slovenia game. He had a hand in everything on both sides of the court. If he is that form against New Zealand, I don't see what they are going to be able to do about him.

Reply #542160 | Report this post


Some_fulla  
Years ago

I got the tall blacks paying 12/1 with paddy power UK.. They have gone down to 10/1 since the exum injury!!

Reply #542230 | Report this post




You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.



Close ads
Serio: Tourism photography and videography
Little Streaks - The fun and interactive good-habits app designed especially for kids.

Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.

Recent Posts



.


An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 8:36 pm, Fri 29 Mar 2024 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754