Tall Blacks clinch morale-boosting win over Serbia

BELGRADE (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Imagine how good it must have felt to be a member of New Zealand's Tall Blacks squad on Sunday night when they walked off the court to generous applause by Serbia's knowledgable basketball fans.

The Kiwis heard claps at half-time when they led 52-43 and then again after their 102-96 victory.

"It was a great occasion," New Zealand's Serbian-born coach, Nenad Vucinic, said.

"We played vey well and we won in a stadium where very rarely any team in the world wins.

"We did that and had the arena applauding us at the end.

"The boys absolutely take all the credit for this amazing win."

Crucially for New Zealand, who open their FIBA Basketball World Cup Group C campaign against Turkey on Saturday in Bilbao, teenage point guard Tai Webster excelled.

Coming off a freshman season with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in American college basketball, Webster has been shaking off the rust during the preparations but against Serbia, he showed everyone why he is one of the biggest talents ever in New Zealand.

The 19-year-old, who made his senior team bow at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, finished with 21 points.

Vucinic gave a frank assessment of Webster's play, and his potential.

"I put the kid in the team two years ago at just 17 because I feel I've got a good nose for players and he's a player," said the coach.

"He played on a high, high level tonight.

"Of course he's 19, he's going to go up and down a little bit, but he's a capable player, he's got the mentality for the game, and has also got the ability.

"It's just a matter of time when he's going to get to a high level.

"He's a good kid as well, really enjoyable to have in the team."

Webster's older brother, Corey, has put in some good performances for New Zealand in the build-up to the World Cup as well but he was sidelined with an ankle injury and could only be a fan in Belgrade.

"The sprain itself is not bad but the timing is bad and I hope he's not going to lose too much form before the first game in Spain," Vucinic said.

Kirk Penney continued to excel for the Tall Blacks with a game-high 29 points.

He drilled five of his seven shots from behind the arc while New Zealand hit 11 of 20 as a team.

Tai Webster and Everard Bartlett each nailed two of three from the three-point line.

For Serbia, coach Alesksandar Djordjevic was unhappy with Vladimir Micov.

He sent him to the changing room at half-time and the CSKA Moscow player did not return.

Djordjevic later revealed that Micov would not play at the World Cup.

"His short national team career is over while I am the coach," Djordjevic said.

FIBA