NZL - Fern’s Big Comeback

BEIJING (Olympics) - A convincing second-half performance against world championship semifinalists Brazil has set the NZ Tall Ferns up nicely for their Olympic opener in Beijing on Saturday.

In their final practice game before the start of pool play, the Kiwi women fell 74-76 to the South Americans, fighting back strongly from a 23-point halftime deficit. They enjoyed a 31-11 advantage in final quarter and simply ran out of time to complete the comeback.

Coach Mike McHugh was thrilled with his team’s determination over the final 20 minutes against a side that plays a very similar style to the Ferns’ first Olympic opponents, African champions Mali.

“The Brazilians were big, strong and athletic, but unlike Mali, they can also shoot the three-pointer,” he said. “They knocked down everything in the first quarter and we didn’t play well … we turned the ball over a lot.

“I wasn’t worried too much about their shooters, I was more worried about keeping their scorers out of the paint and we did that OK. We played full-court pressure the whole second half and their guards crumbled.”

“This is a pretty good lead-in and gives me a lot of hope for the game against Mali.”

After losing to eventual champions Australia in the 2006 FIBA World Championship semis, Brazil lost several of their veteran stars to retirement and are in a rebuilding stage of their programme. They qualified for Beijing by snatching the fifth and final berth available at the world repechage event in Madrid, two months ago.

New Zealand’s scoring was dominated by their tall timber, led by Jillian Harmon (16 points) and Lisa Wallbutton (15 points). Point guard Angela Marino and centres Jess McCormack and Aneka Kerr also scored in double figures in perhaps the Ferns’ most balanced offensive performance all year.

“Defensively, we were really, really good in the second half,” observed McHugh. “It’s always good to come back from that far down.”

The Tall Ferns will rest up tomorrow and watch the opening ceremony from the village, before taking on Mali at 3.15pm NZ on Saturday.


Grant Chapman
Basketball New Zealand