Boom or bust for Tall Blacks
NOT many people rate the Tall Blacks a chance of rattling the cage of Andrej Lemanis’ stacked Australian Boomers side in Melbourne tonight. The TAB doesn’t even have them getting within 20 points.
Not that you’ll find Paul Henare’s New Zealand men’s side losing sleep over their heavy underdog status. In fact, that’s just how they prefer it.
The Tall Blacks feel like they’re at their best when they’re being underrated by the pundits and possibly undervalued by their opponents. They back themselves to play with a pride and passion and singular purpose that very much makes them greater than the sum of their parts.
They’re not the biggest outfit around. But their peculiar brand of small ball, and their abundance of bigger guys who prefer to operate around the perimeter often makes them a handful to deal with.
Last year they came very close to upsetting both Turkey and Lithuania at the World Cup because much bigger, classier and storied teams just couldn’t figure out a way to combat their unusual style.
It’s a similar talent mismatch tonight when close to 15,000 people are expected to pack in for what the Aussies are calling their ‘‘homecoming’’. The Boomers have Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mills and Cameron Bairstow who all ply their trade in the NBA and make gazillions a year. Bogut alone (on US$13.8 million for next season with the Golden State Warriors) earns nigh on 10 times the combined salary of the Tall Blacks.
And their support crew are almost as good. Brad Newley, David Andersen, Chris Goulding, Ryan Broekhoff and Nathan Jawai are all, or have all been, big earners in Europe.
The Tall Blacks, in contrast, have Corey Webster who’s a big deal in New Zealand, and Isaac Fotu who is becoming a big deal in Spain. Rob Loe has just moved from Greece to Belgium to ply his trade, and Mika Vukona and Tom Abercrombie are respected players in the Australian NBL.
The rest are probably not even household names in their own households. Reuben Te Rangi is a kid on the rise, but a chunk of Henare’s squad can’t even get gigs in the Australian league. It’s a hoops version of David and Goliath.
‘‘It’s nothing new for us being the underdog,’’ Henare said yesterday. ‘‘I think we play at our best when we are the underdog. It doesn’t happen too often that we are expected to win games, and we’re more than happy to take that tag into this series.’’
The recipe for his men was pretty simple, and their room for error minimal. ‘‘We have to be on point, we have to be consistent and we have to be disciplined. Those are the key factors that will give us the best chance. They’re a classy side, well coached, and they’ll be well prepared for us. We’re going to have to be on point in almost every aspect of our game.’’