Basketball: Hungary to feel full court heat

By PETER JESSUP

The Tall Blacks feel the Hungarians are susceptible to pressure and they'll be using speed and a physical approach against the visitors as they try to take a lead in the five-test series in New Plymouth tonight.

The exuberance of Friday night's come-from-behind 84-81 victory in Auckland was tempered by an all-the-way 110-99 loss in Palmerston North on Saturday, but the team are far from despondent.

The Hungarians shot 58 per cent from the field in Palmerston, and that's the statistic the Tall Blacks want to work on, closing down the opening they allowed in games one and two.

Auckland player/coach Kenny Stone will make his national debut at the TSB Stadium tonight as coach Tab Baldwin rotates the four naturalised Americans to decide which one will get the single spot allowed for expatriates at next month's world championships in Indianapolis.

Stone, 36, has recovered from the throat injury he received in the national league a month ago, but has a foot strain. He could have played "needled" at Palmerston but the management is wary of pushing things given the bad injury run already through the front line. Stone must still pass a medical and fitness test.

Of the other three Americans, Ed Book will also play tonight, with Terrence Lewis and Willie Burton rested. The Kiwis remain unchanged, with captain Mark Dickel, Kirk Penney, Phill Jones, Paul Henare, Judd Flavell, Paora Winitana, Dillon Boucher, Damon Rampton and Rob Hickey all backing up after the loss.

Height is becoming the big factor it looked before this series started, especially given the injuries to the big men Sean Marks and Pero Cameron.

"We can't make anyone grow, so we have to combat it with quickness and skill," said Baldwin as he prepared the team for game three.

"We've got some advantage over them there. We have an intensity edge on them but it was absent for some of that second game.

"We have to play a gambling type of defence and count on our quickness to put them off their game. But in Palmerston we gambled too much, we offered them too many easy scoring opportunities and they took them."

Baldwin was not overly concerned at the Tall Blacks' ongoing problems with execution, returning from the visitors' basket too many times without points.

"My only concern with our offence is that too much of it is generated from our defence. We're doing well in reacting after the steals [there were 16 in Palmerston and 13 in Auckland], playing good, instinctive basketball, but our systems and team plays are still sloppy, the timing isn't always there and we've got work to do on that."

Their free-throw percentage dropped from an internationally-ordinary 58 per cent in Auckland - 17 of 29 successful - to 43 per cent in Palmerston, or 10 of 22, so there are also points to be taken there. The best thing, Baldwin said, was that they were learning.

"The Hungarians play a typical European style and it's exactly what we'll face there and at the world champs so it's a good introduction."

Former NBA player Kornel David and captain Erno Sitku, at 30 the two veterans in a team of early-20s and at 2.08m a significant height advantage over the tallest Tall Black, have been star performers for the visitors.

Forward David, in particular, has been impossible to close down, with 15 points on Friday and 31 in Palmerston. Centre Sitku had 13 and 24. Guards Gergely Fodor had 13 and 20 and Balazs Simon 13 and 16.

So they're all improving as they learn to cope with the New Zealand hussle.

By comparison, the bulk of the Tall Blacks' points are coming from their guards rather than the front-line. Phill Jones got 24 from three-pointers in a game-high 34 on Saturday after Kirk Penney had four-threes in a game-high 17 on Friday. Of the big men, 2.01m centre Rob Hickey got seven on Friday and 10 on Saturday, forwards Damon Rampton, who is 2.05m, got seven on Friday and the 2.01m Book 10 on Saturday.

As Baldwin said, they're learning to cope. It's what they'll have to do at the world championships, as the other 11 teams are sure to enjoy height advantage.

They're determined to take a lead tonight.

"We want to learn but we're here to win too.

"We can't let them get any ascendancy on our territory," Baldwin added.

He wanted a big, noisy crowd to lift the team after the effort in Palmerston left both players and fans flat.