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Penney drops
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Do you think Michael
Finley has heard of Kirk Penney now?
Questioned before the
start of the world basketball championships, the
"I'll be sure to
introduce myself," said Finley, when warned of Penney's presence in the Tall
Black team.
Well, the Dallas
Mavericks guard got a real close look at Penney when the Kiwi drove past him for
a layup during a spirited first-half showing at the
Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Americans eventually
blew out to an easy 110-62 victory to remain unbeaten at the event. What, you
really thought
But as they won the
first quarter and stayed with their more illustrious foes until just after
halftime, the Tall Blacks showed a glimpse of the form they will need to
recapture for an entire 40 minutes if they are beat
If nothing else, Penney
ensured Finley would have something to remember him by.
"He schooled you,"
Boston Celtic forward Paul Pierce taunted his teammate.
Without their only NBA
player Sean Marks, the Kiwis were up against a team of 11 veteran pros and one
future star, newly drafted pointed guard Jay Williams.
In the past, any clash
with the so-called Dream Team would have held only novelty value for everyone
involved. But that is not Tab Baldwin's way.
The Tall Black coach
adamantly refused to concede the game, maintaining there was some hope whenever
you step out on the floor. He instructed his players to control two specific
areas of play - the Americans' frighteningly quick fast break and their strength
on the offensive glass.
To this end, he planned
to play a big lineup all night, installing Ed Book into the starting lineup and
notifying little-used Rob Hickey he would see some court time.
Most would have thought
this lofty ambition beyond the humble Kiwis, but they had their fans in raptures
the entire first quarter as they opened up an early six-point lead and led 25-22
at the first break.
The Americans, with
exception of Finley, shot as cold as the Tall Blacks were smoking ... especially
from the free throw line where they went 2/6 in the first 10 minutes and 9/18
(50%) for the half.
Finley went off, hitting
three treys in his 13 first-quarter points, and, frankly, kept his side in the
game. Take him out of the equation, his teammates went a collective 3/15 FG
(20%) for the quarter.
Meanwhile, New Zealand
went 4/7 (57%) from beyond the arc with Penney, captain Pero Cameron, center Ed Book, and guard Phill Jones all connecting.
With Marks out, they
still struggled for an inside presence, but the American bigs never really took advantage of that.
It was probably too much
to hope for the
With NBA rebounding
champion (and defensive player of the year) Ben Wallace taking over the boards,
the Kiwis were getting no second shots and barely holding their own under their
own basket. By halftime they faced a massive 14-28 (0-11OR) rebounding deficit
and 42-48 on the scoreboard.
Still
respectable.
"We tried every trick in
the book, which we felt we had to do," said
"But the water on the
other side of the dam was deep and cold, and we didn't have enough fingers to
keep it from bursting."
The Tall Blacks were
still right there at 48-52, but then Pierce, as he has all tournament, owned the third quarter. While the Americans have
often struggled to assert themselves at this event, Pierce has bailed them out
time and again.
This time, he hit three
treys to spark a 20-0 run ... and that was all she wrote.
The home team benefited
from some generous refereeing and
Sadly, the rest of the
match turned into an exhibition as both side ran their benches. The Tall Black
reserves simply could not contain their counterparts and the crowd got to see
some spectacular plays from their heroes, including back-to-back alley oop dunks from Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion off passes
from LA Clippers point guard Andre Miller.
After shooting 51.5% FG
in the first half, the Tall Blacks could connect on only 6/32 (18.8%) in the
second and 2/11 (18.2%) 3pt. Only Cameron, who hit two three-pointers in the
fourth quarter, and Hickey, who led his team in rebounding with six, made any
impact.
"It was a real honour to play against this American team," concluded
Penney. "They just turned it up in that second half."
The Americans was very
complimentary of their opponents. Head coach George Karl of the Milwaukee Bucks
singled Cameron out as his favourite player.
"He's just an old-time
basketball player who knows how to play," he said. "We see Kirk play with
"This team is an example
of how I feel about the whole tournament. They are well coached and in the first
half, some of the stuff they ran on offence kind of froze us a little bit.
"But our size and talent
wears teams down."
For the Dream Team,
Finley and Pierce each scored 20 points, while Wallace ruled the glass with 13
rebounds.
Penney led his team with
16 points, while Cameron had 13 (3/6 3pt), five rebounds and six assists.
OTHER
RESULTS Russia
95 (Vassili Karassev 21)
Source: nzoom
Date published:
