Henare: The job’s not done
‘‘It’s not the size of these guys, it’s the size of their heart.’’ Coach Paul Henare
‘‘Job not done.’’ With those three simple words, Paul Henare tucked away stage one of the Tall Blacks’ journey to next year’s World Cup in China. The New Zealanders concluded the first phase of Fiba Asia qualifying with a quality 67-57 victory over China in Auckland that saw them top Group A with a 5-1 record they’ll carry to the next round. No-one in the zone has a better mark and, with seven progressing to the global event, Henare’s men effectively have one foot on the plane to China. But the national coach is taking nothing for granted as he casts his mind ahead to a testing second stage of the process that will see the Tall Blacks play home and away against Lebanon, Jordan and Syria in in September, November/december and next February. The travel schedule should throw up some challenges for the New Zealanders. They open with a visit to Syria on September 13 and just four days later host Lebanon at home. ‘‘Lebanon and Jordan have been playing some great basketball,’’ Henare said of the teams that finished tied at the top of Group C with 5-1 records. ‘‘I haven’t got the calculator out yet, but all wins count and for us to come out of a really tough pool 5-1 is a tick for the first box. ‘‘But we’re only at the halfway point. Job not done.’’ Henare has to be happy about what he’s seen from his team over the last two windows. They backed up on two huge road wins in China and Korea in February by closing out in style at home. And doing so without the talented Webster brothers said a lot about the depth the Tall Blacks are developing. Shea Ili, Jarrod Kenny and Reuben Te Rangi did a solid job carrying the backcourt load in the absence of Corey Webster (in China) and Tai Webster (preparing for the NBA Summer League). Henare had some special praise on Sunday for Kenny who remains a valuable but unheralded backup point man. ‘‘Jarrod has been coming off the bench for a long time. Back in 2014 [at the World Cup in Spain] Nenad Vucinic subbed him in at the end to win us the game against Finland. That’s the type of trust we have in a guy like JK.’’ Still, it was the Tall Blacks’ frontcourt that spearheaded the victory over China in Auckland.. The 22-year-old Virginia-based Jack Salt, in particular, has made a notable return to the Tall Blacks after a five-year absence. He played only 7:52 in Auckland after striking early foul trouble, but brings a rugged physicality and defensive stoutness that adds another dimension to the Kiwi frontcourt. ‘‘We’ve got a good mixture of bigs with Rob [Loe] being a great shooter, me and Jack having the inside game and Mika [Vukona] just doing everything,’’ said Isaac Fotu, who turned down an NBA Summer League opportunity to play against China. ‘‘We’ve got a good core of bigs for the next couple of years.’’ That could grow even further with Tai Wynyard and Sam Timmins potentially to come into the mix out of the college game, and the experienced Alex Pledger still lurking in the vicinity. There’s no doubt their physicality remains the Tall Blacks’ primary advantage in the Asia zone. Fotu, in particular, was able to establish a significant low-post scoring presence on Sunday and the New Zealanders also grabbed 18 offensive boards and forced the visitors into an array of misses at the rim with their ability to challenge. China coach Nan Li afterwards highlighted the Tall Blacks’ physical play as the principal factor in unsettling his young team. ‘‘We’ve been winning rebound counts against bigger teams for a long time now,’’ added Henare. ‘‘It’s not the size of these guys, it’s the size of their heart, and that’s what counts for a lot of these rebounds. ‘‘We finished the game with Fotu at 6’6 and Vukona at 6’5, and that’s nothing to do with height.’’