New Zealand survived a tough challenge from Gilas Pilipinas on Friday, eking out a 106-102 double-overtime victory at Spark Arena in Auckland. Afterward, Tall Blacks head coach Judd Flavell described the game as a true test of international hoops and admitted that it “could have gone either way.”
“A game like that, there’s a lot going on,” Flavell said in the press conference after the game, which opened both teams’ third window in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. “The game could have gone either way. I think that’s a true test of international basketball.”
It was a true test, indeed. Both teams had their moments in a heavyweight back-and-forth that featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes while also needing 10 more minutes of basketball. Down the stretch and in the two OTs, both teams traded big shot after big shot, with New Zealand getting the marginal baskets in the end.
New Zealand Sees Pro-Filipino Crowd… in a Home Game
Making this test tougher for New Zealand was the home crowd that seemed to favor not the Tall Blacks but Gilas. Yes, it was supposed to be a home game for Flavell and his wards, but Pinoys came out in droves nonetheless to support Pilipinas basketball and all but negate what was supposed to be home-court advantage.
“When you’ve got a crowd like the Philippines that turn up every game, it feels like an away game. You know, that crowd, they might have been louder than what they were in Manila,” Flavell pointed out. “There is something to be said about just the noise and the momentum of the game and how that can sometimes [feel], for athletes or for competitors in those moments in the battle arena, [it can] throw some different types of dynamics at you.”
Lesser teams could’ve crumbled under that dynamic of playing at home but seeing the crowd predominantly cheering the other team. New Zealand, though, is hardly a lesser team, and that wasn’t lost on Flavell, who lauded the Tall Blacks for not buckling under the pressure.
Tall Blacks Stay Together, Hold Nerve Until the End
Friday’s game ultimately turned into a war of attrition as it reached double overtime. But even when pushed to the brink, New Zealand still found ways to win in the end, with Sam Mennenga scoring the marginal baskets—including a dunk off a beautifully executed high-low play with Reuben Te Rangi that made it 102-100, Tall Blacks.
“We didn’t have a lot in the playbook, but we executed just a great high-low down the stretch there… Those are the things I think that we get better at when we are together longer, but just really once again, holding our nerve and being able to figure things out,” Flavell said, alluding to that Te Rangi-to-Mennenga high-low. “I said to the group, I do depend on them to be problem solvers out there. And that’s where obviously some of the experience comes in…I’m just really proud of them for staying together…”
Indeed, the Tall Blacks of New Zealand held their nerve. They had to against that gallant Gilas stand.
