KATOWICE (Poland) - Despite a technical issue delay, a nicely packed Spodek arena was patient enough to get what they came for.
Poland defeated New Zealand, Jeremy Sochan got to play in his favorite jersey in front of the fans for the first time, while Mateusz Ponitka reminded everybody he's one of those players whose game just goes up a notch when playing for the national team.
The final score said 88-59, with New Zealand ready to fly towards Greece for their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Poland will stick around for another day before going to Spain, because they will play their last preparation game against the Philippines on Saturday.
The Story of the Game
The fun part about having Jeremy Sochan in the lineup for coach Igor Milicic is that now he has three players who can do a bit of everything. While the attention was on the NBA player, it opened up acres of space for the other two all-rounders to put on a show in the first half.
Michal Sokolowski and Mateusz Ponitka combined for 31 points in the first half, outscoring the entire New Zealand team, with Poland taking a 45-30 advantage to the locker room.
They did not take their foot off the gas pedal after the break, either. New Zealand struggled containing the passing game and the three-point shooting, and it was only a question of the final margin between them as the buzzer sounded.
The Player of the Game
There was a question not that long ago on our Social Media channels about players who become unstoppable when playing for their national teams. Mateusz Ponitka has entered the chat.
He has been a formidable figure in European basketball for some time now, but when he's in Poland's red-and-white, he looks like a superhero.
Ponitka had 17 points in the first half alone, hitting all three of his three-point attempts. He finished with 29 on the day, shooting 8-of-11 from the field, adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists to his final tally, all done in just 23 minutes of work.
The Stats of the Game
Poland are so good in sharing the ball, which is especially felt when they can knock down catch-and-shoot three-pointers. They were up to 19 assists and 8-of-16 shooting from deep even before the start of the fourth quarter, proving once again how contagious confidence can be within a team. Final numbers: 27 assists, 12-of-21 from three-point range.
On the other hand, New Zealand proved there's one thing even more contagious than confidence. It's the lack of confidence. Excluding Sam Mennenga, Tom Vodanovich and Shea Ili, the rest of the team combined for 3-of-29 from beyond the arc.
The Takeaways from the Game
Jeremy Sochan spent a total of 18 minutes on the floor, finishing with 7 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, and Poland were a +11 team with him on the floor. He will get a chance to show how effective he can be in back-to-back games, because Poland are trying to simulate their Valencia schedule this weekend.
They've only finished their game against the Tall Blacks, and 24 hours later, they'll be on the floor again, facing the Philippines. In Valencia, they take on the Bahamas on July 3, and follow it with a matchup with Finland the day after, so consider these two back-to-back preparation games as part of Igor Milicic's experiement.
As for coach Pero Cameron and New Zealand, the preparation games did not show their true colors this summer. They will hope for better at the tournament in Greece, but there's no room for error, with Croatia and Slovenia waiting in their group.
FIBA