Schedule a grind – Henare

Tall Blacks basketball coach Paul Henare has taken a not-so-subtle dig at world governing body Fiba over the scheduling demands that served up a World Cup qualifier brickfest against Lebanon.

Henare’s New Zealand men’s side found a way to win the top-ofthe-table clash in Rotorua on Monday night 63-60, despite shooting a miserable 28 percent from the floor. It took them to 7-1, and No 1 spot in Fiba Asia’s group E, with Lebanon dropping to 6-2.

The Tall Blacks have all but sealed a spot at next year’s World Cup in China, but are now playing for seedings as they round out qualifying play.

Henare acknowledged the ‘‘ugly’’ nature of Monday night’s victory but felt the level of the hoops had been an unavoidable pitfall after the travel demands both teams had been put under.

The Tall Blacks played on Thursday night against Syria in Beirut (early Friday NZT) and had to undergo a tortuous return home, via Doha, Singapore, Auckland, and then finally on a bus journey to Rotorua that saw them arrive in the early hours of the morning on the game eve.

The total journey was somewhere in the region of 40 hours and clearly took a toll on the standard of hoops on display at Rotorua’s Events Centre.

‘‘Every win is important, but it’s just a bit disappointing with the scheduling from Fiba that it had to be a grindout game,’’ said Henare. ‘‘It was never going to be pretty. Both teams were always going to be ugly. I’m sure that’s not what Fiba are trying to achieve.’’