Basketball: Tall Blacks beat Hong Kong in Asia Cup qualifiers

Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell. Photo / Photosport

The Tall Blacks have started the third window of the Asia Cup qualifiers with a bang, dismantling Hong Kong to the tune of a 92-51 victory in Hong Kong.

It was a rapid start to the game with Sam Waardenburg winning the tip-off. The Tall Blacks immediately got on the scoreboard with captain Reuben Te Rangi bustling his way to the basket. Te Rangi’s aggressive play set the tone early, scoring nine of the New Zealand side’s first 14 points.

Hong Kong also made a strong start, getting to the hoop with ease and making their first five field goals to stay in touching distance.

Jordan Ngatai’s back-to-back triples and solid on-ball defence wrestled momentum back the way of the Tall Blacks, who ended the quarter with a 26-21 lead over the hosts. The first quarter saw Tama Isaac make his way onto the floor for his debut and join brother Kaia becoming the ninth pair of brothers to play for New Zealand.

Te Rangi and Ngatai continued their hot start, scoring at will early in the second stanza. The pair scored a combined 30 of the Kiwi’s 52 first-half points.

Impressive debutant Jackson Ball made his way on the floor, making an immediate impact with a huge block further energising the Kiwis as they opened the floodgates to go up by 19 points at the half-time break.

The Tall Blacks continued their strong play after the break, with debutants Ball and Isaac continuing to impress with their hustle and energy. The outside shooting of the Tall Blacks once again proved to be a key weapon for New Zealand, helping them extend their lead to 24 points at the end of the third.

Ball finally got on the scoresheet in the fourth quarter, completing the rare feat of all eleven Tall Blacks scoring in the game as they closed out a convincing win.

Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell was impressed with his team’s performance, particularly on the defensive end.

“We really wanted to come into this game tonight and establish a defensive identity which meant we wanted to be up the floor, pressuring the basketball and trying to make Hong Kong feel uncomfortable out there. In the first five minutes, Hong Kong got off to a great start, but I felt like we made some good adjustments from that point on.”

That defensive pressure equated to 24 Hong Kong turnovers.

“We have a lot to build, this is my second campaign with the group. We have half of the team that was here from November, and the rest of the guys were new to the system. So we always knew we were going to be a little clunky in a couple of places. But we really wanted to make sure at the end of the day, that our defence was going to get the job done.”

Tall Blacks 92 (Jordan Ngatai 20 points, Reuben Te Rangi 18, Tai Wynyard 13)

Hong Kong 51 (Duncan Reid 17)