Shea Ili of New Zealand. Photo /Getty
The Tall Blacks ran riot in their latest Basketball World Cup qualifier, thrashing Syria 107-66 in Beirut.
With just 200 fans in attendance at the neutral venue, the Tall Blacks moved to the top of their group with the easy win.
Shea Ili, Jordan Ngatai and Isaac Fotu all managed
16 points as the side now take three different plane trips back to New Zealand where they host Lebanon in Rotorua on Monday.
All in all, coach Paul Henare was pleased with the performance after a sluggish start.
"I thought we were a little ill-disciplined in the first half, especially at the defensive end. But we had high standards coming into the game and wanted to play our way and do things the way we wanted to do it, but it took us a while to get into the flow of the game. Once we did we moved the ball and got good shots and defensively we were a little more locked in to the game plan.
"Outside of maybe one or two of those attempts where we shot too early, the majority of the looks came from good ball movement and good pace. We tell the boys to take what is a good shot for them and if we can convert at that type of rate we will be in a good space."
Henare is warning that Monday in Rotorua will be a very different prospect though.
"The biggest challenge is getting back in a good space mentally and physically. There has been a lot of preparation and planning for the trip home, it is not perfect, but we will make the best of what we have. We will make it a fun and enjoyable trip home, get a good sleep and be ready for the game.
"Lebanon will be a step up, they are a good basketball team. We will watch them on TV for a bit tonight before we head to the airport, it will be good for the guys to get eyes on them and get familiar with them. The coaches will share video on the way home – we have plenty of time for that! We have done plenty of preparation behind the scenes, we will share that with the boys and move on quickly to that game now."
