Basketball: Tall Ferns' Aussie coach plots compatriots' downfall

1.00pm - By JENNI RUTHERFORD

ATHENS - A dinkum Aussie wearing pounamu and the silver fern is plotting the downfall of a dynasty that he built.

Tom Maher's Tall Ferns will meet Australia, one of the world's powerhouse teams, in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women's basketball tournament at 7.15am Thursday (NZT).

New Zealand qualified for the knockout phase in fourth place after their 57-74 defeat by the Czech Republic yesterday, finishing the preliminary round 2-3 (win-loss record).

Melbourne-born but Sydney-domiciled Maher guided the Opals from basketball obscurity in 1992 when they failed to qualify for the Barcelona Olympics, to the bronze medal at Atlanta in 1996 and the silver behind the United States in Sydney in 2000.

Now he has crossed the Tasman and donned the greenstone necklace and silver fern-adorned attire as part of the New Zealand Olympic team.

And he will know, better than anyone, what the Tall Ferns are up against.

"They are just (in) another world to everybody else," Maher said. "I know it is 1000-1.

"To be able to stand up and survive against those purebreds is a wonderful opportunity and one I look forward to with relish."

He also knows how far New Zealand have come in a short space of time.

"If we played the Czechs six weeks ago they would have totally and utterly destroyed us," the straight-talking Maher said.

"If you'd have said to me six weeks ago will you get within 20 points of the Czechs I would have said, 'you're dreaming'. It was a win for us to get that close to them -- we couldn't run plays at all two months ago."

And he knows what it will take for New Zealand to pull off the monumental upset of the women's competition here.

"We have to hope for the sun and the moon to be in the right alignment.

"They are long and lean and they've got great depth, they shoot well and they have best player in the world (1.95m forward Lauren Jackson) and one of the big stars of the tournament, forward Penny Taylor.

"What we've got is heart and soul that makes up for a lot. We weren't supposed beat Korea, we weren't supposed to beat China and we weren't supposed to get within 20 points of the Czech Republic.

"We are getting better. I think you can lose brain cells trying to think what's going to happen [against Australia]."

Maher admitted that his inexperienced Tall Ferns have surprised him already at these Olympics.

"In that last game against China I thought Aneka Kerr was going to foul out in 15 minutes because that big girl was far too big for her," he said.

"She played 30 minutes and the greatest game of her life, so how do you know what is going to happen [against Australia]?"

All that is guaranteed is a top eight finish and a place in New Zealand basketball history.

- NZPA