Tall Blacks somehow win despite abysmal offensive display
New Zealand 63 Lebanon 60
The Tall Blacks are safely on track to reach the 2019 Basketball World Cup, but good lord, they just took one hell of a detour to get there.
A 63-60 victory over Lebanon in Rotorua featured one of the worst offensive performances ever produced by the Tall Blacks, but for all their struggles, somehow the end result was another win — their seventh in a row.
In what is surely the first time the Tall Blacks have ever won a game while shooting below 28 per cent from the field, some late free throws and a desperate defensive stand was just enough to grind out a desperately ugly victory which extends their lead atop their World Cup qualifying group.
Believe it or not, by the time this elongated qualifying campaign ends, the Tall Blacks will be safely among the teams heading to China, and while such a presumption may seem awfully generous to a team who provided enough bricks to solve New Zealand’s housing crisis, consider the following.
If the Tall Blacks can play that badly against purportedly the toughest opponent left on their schedule and still win, then imagine what will happen in their remaining fixtures with a simple dash of competency?
Had they put in last night’s performance earlier this year against South Korea or China, the Tall Blacks would have been bulldozed, but their opposition in the second phase of qualifying — Lebanon, Syria and Jordan — just aren’t at that level and so they got away with an offensive performance which was a tribute to the host town’s distinctive smell.
As it turns out, travel might be the toughest opponent on New Zealand’s schedule.
A 38-hour journey home following their win over Syria on Friday surely would have zapped energy levels, and it would be the only logical excuse for their horrendous start — shooting a remarkable 2/20 in the first quarter as they fell into an 18-7 hole.
Lebanese centre Ater Majok was playing defence like the lovechild of an octopus and the local car dealership’s inflatable tube man.
He disrupted everything at the rim as the Tall Blacks reached halftime shooting an abysmal 23 per cent in the paint.
To their credit, the Tall Blacks were battling on defence, and that, combined with Lebanon’s own offensive ineptitude, had the game tied
at 25 at the half, but just as you assumed regression to the mean would favour the hosts, the shots, well . . . they kept missing.
Not even the usually consistent Webster brothers (a combined 8/29 from the field) could connect, and as Majok started to get some offensive assistance from Elias Rustom, Lebanon suddenly led by nine with seven minutes to go.
Perhaps that was finally the wakeup call the Tall Blacks needed, as they ever so slowly ground their way back into the clash.
For all the missed shots, they were at least getting offensive rebounds, and their 25 second-chance opportunities eventually paid dividends as they hit the front with 22 seconds left.
That, mercifully, was enough to end the game, seeing off one last Lebanese attempt and sealing a victory which keeps the Tall Blacks in control of the race for the likely four available qualifying spots.
But while there’s little doubt the Tall Blacks will qualify for the Cup, one thing is for sure — performances like last night’s cannot be seen again.