Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings

POSTED BY: Eurobasket News

Shea Ili

Pero Cameron ‘s fast-improving Tall Blacks put on a clinic on Auckland’s North Shore on Monday night to pretty much clinch a spot at next year’s Fiba World Cup with still four qualifying games remaining. The New Zealanders made short work of Jordan in a Group E Asia/Oceania zone qualifying game, running out 100-72 victors to improve to 6-0 in the pool. With a Philippines victory over Saudi Arabia later in the evening, the Kiwis would already be on the start-line for next year’s World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines as the first of the half-dozen to progress from the region. Jordan, now 3-3 in qualifying, had been tabbed to give the New Zealanders a few anxious moments after running them close at the recent Asia Cup where Cameron’s men pipped them 83-75 to clinch the bronze medal. But they were never in this contest after trailing the red-hot shooting Tall Blacks 29-10 at the end of the opening quarter, and never got within challenging distance thereafter. The New Zealanders moved the ball well throughout, knocked down a decent clip of triples (16 of 35 overall), owned the boards (54-38) and had the sort of scoring spread that makes them a tough proposition at this level, with five players in double-figures, and three others just a bucket off. Starting point guard Shea Ili (184-G-1992), a heart and soul type who sets the tone for these Tall Blacks, led the way with an outstanding contribution of 16 points (on 5-of-12 shooting), 5 rebounds,5 dimes and a pair of steals. The Marquette-bound Ben Gold (211-F-2003) offered more than a hint of his potential with 15 points (on 6-of-12 shooting) and 7 boards, while Ethan Rusbatch (196-G/F-1992, college: Lincoln Trail) (14 points, including four triples), Flynn Cameron (196-G-2000) (13 points, 6 assists) and Reuben Te Rangi (198-F/G-1994) (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assist) all chipped in handily. The New Zealanders shot a crisp 46 percent from the floor and from deep and had an impressive 24 assists on their 35 made buckets. Jordan were led by 19 points apiece from sharpshooters Dar Tucker (193-SG-1988, college: DePaul) and Amin Abuhawwas (190-G-1994, college: Mars Hill), and did well to stay competitive after their ice-cold start. Cameron’s Kiwis had made the sweetest of openings, bursting out of the blocks behind some slick ball movement and pinpoint three-point shooting to lead 29-10 after about as efficient an opening quarter as you are going to see at this level. There were just 23 seconds left in the opening stanza when the Tall Blacks missed their first triple after making their first six looks from beyond the arc, with Rusbatch and Ili drilling two apiece, and Robert Loe (211-F-1991, college: St.Louis) and Tohi Smith-Milner (206-F-1995, college: Polk State CC, agency: BIG) adding their own long-rangers. The New Zealanders made 11 of their 18 shots for the spell and kept the visitors to just 4 of 18 from he floor as they pretty much put the contest to bed from the off, dominating the boards (14-7), dictating with their full-court defence and finding the open shooters pretty much at will. Jordan, to their credit, hung in the contest with an improved second-quarter effort, winning the spell 24-23 to head into the major break with at least a manageable 52-34 deficit. They were helped by the Tall Blacks cooling off from deep (going four of 11 for the spell) as the visitors began to find some offensive fluency of their own. From there it was all about whether the visitors could keep the margin respectable, which they sort of managed as the New Zealanders eased to the most comfortable of 28-point victories.
Courtesy of: stuff.co.nz