Dialogue: Belief in ourselves brings rewards

By CHRISTINE RANKIN

We might be small and at the bottom of the world, but we can do it.

Something huge happened in New Zealand a week or so ago and it kept getting better and better. We needed it.

We need success and something to be proud of.

I am not usually remotely interested in basketball, but you couldn't help but get caught up in this victory, this out-of-the-blue win.

But the thing that felt especially good was that American accent proclaiming how great it was to be a Kiwi.

I felt so proud when I heard that. We born-here Kiwis do not have the self- confidence to say that easily. It made it extra special that someone who chose NZ as a second home proclaimed it so passionately.

Look where we came from to win. One hundred thousand dollars against one million for the Aussies, but it is not about money. Money doesn't buy desire and coach Tab Baldwin knows that.

He chooses his team based on whether he likes and respects them and believes they have character. This man knows the magic that happens when a group clicks. The power of real teams.

It is a dynamic that exposes the potential of every individual.

That individual contribution, combined with focus on one goal, moves mountains. And it did. We beat the Aussies and made the world finals. We last beat the Aussies about 18 years ago.

My experience in a Government department where the resource was constantly diminishing and the expectation increasing, was that if you haven't got money you have to plan, think differently and stretch.

It creates sharpness, creativity and fantastic outcomes.

Baldwin's dream is to see New Zealanders on podiums all over the world.

The basketballers have not had a high profile in NZ or the rest of the world. I'm sure that will change. With their self-belief and the taste of success and determination, I suspect they have exactly the fuel they need to keep winning.

Wayne Smith was another coach with a high profile this week for different reasons, and yet there were some similarities. He showed his passion in very different circumstances.

An ex-All Black showed vulnerability. He obviously takes very seriously his role and didn't want to do the job without New Zealanders' support. It is a death sentence, I think, when we expect them to win every time.