MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and New Zealand have faced off four times in FIBA competitions since 2016.
The scorecard: Tall Blacks – 4, Gilas Pilipinas – 0.
Gilas Pilipinas, then coached by Chot Reyes, lost their last three encounters against New Zealand by an average margin of 29.3 points.
Mentored by Tim Cone this time and armed with confidence gained from the Paris Olympics Qualifying Tournament — where they defeated host Latvia and lost by just two points to Georgia — Gilas Pilipinas aims to defend home turf and score a breakthrough victory over New Zealand in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Thursday, November 21, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
New Zealand also had a creditable showing in the Olympic qualifiers in Greece, scoring a 90-86 victory over eventual finalist Croatia, which featured two NBA veterans — Los Angeles Clippers starting center Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric of the Denver Nuggets.
The Tall Blacks eventually got eliminated by Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic and Slovenia, 104-78.
Cone has already institutionalized a scheme for the national team program that works — stick to the same core and tap those with high basketball IQ who are already familiar with his system.
Gilas will bring in the same team from the Olympic qualifiers, with the addition of Scottie Thompson, who missed the games in Latvia due to an injury.
Ange Kouame, part of Cone’s team that won the Asian Games gold last year, also received a call-up as a possible alternate to Justin Brownlee.
AJ Edu is part of the pool, but is reported to be doubtful after suffering a knee injury in his last game in the Japan B. League before the FIBA break.
A team in transition
Gilas Pilipinas should have the advantage in familiarity and continuity as New Zealand is currently a team in transition.
Legendary Pero Cameron stepped down as head coach of the Tall Blacks after five years at the helm to accept an offer from the Ningbo Rockets in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Taking over is Judd Flavell, a teammate of Cameron in the historic Tab Baldwin-coached New Zealand team which made the semifinals of the 2002 FIBA World Cup.
Flavell was named the 2024 New Zealand NBL Coach of the Year after leading the Canterbury Rams to the title, the second straight year they won the championship. He coached the NZ U18 team in 2013 and also served as one of Cameron’s assistants in the men’s national team.
In his first foray as head coach in the senior international scene, Flavell will be missing some key players who have been fixtures in the NZ roster.
Shea Ili, who led the team in scoring during the Paris Olympic qualifiers with 23 points per game, will not be joining the team when they fly to Manila.
Only half of the team that played in the Olympic qualifiers are in the 13-man pool assembled by Flavell.
Also not in the pool are three players who registered double figures in points during the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers last February — 6-foot-11 center Samuel Timmins of the Sydney Kings, 6-foot-7 forward Dan Fotu, and 6-foot-5 guard-forward Ethan Rusbatch, who played one game in the PBA for Converge in 2023.
Fortunately for the neophyte head coach, he will not lack for scoring punch as he has in his roster the two other players who averaged in double figures during the Olympic qualifiers, Izayah Le’afa and Corey Webster, a pair of 6-foot-2 veteran guards who played college basketball in the US.
Filipino brand of play
It would be a huge mistake, though, to assume that the Tall Blacks will be dependent solely on their prolific backcourt.
The 6-foot-7 power forward Tom Vodanovich, with his knowledge of the Filipino brand of play after having played as an import for Converge in the PBA, and 7-foot center Tyler Harrison, who averages a near double-double of 12.9 points and 9.9 rebounds for the Brisbane Bullets in the Australian NBL, will force the Gilas defense to clog the low block.
Two young Kiwi bigs are posting impressive numbers in the Australian NBL — 6-foot-10 center Sam Waardenburg of the Cairns Taipan is norming 16 points, 7.1 boards, and 1 block this season, while 6-foot-8 power forward Sam Mennenga puts up 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds for the New Zealand Breakers.
With the possible absence of Edu, Japeth Aguilar’s role becomes even more crucial as he and Carl Tamayo will be needed to match up against Vodanovich and Mennenga, two strong forwards who like to also shoot from downtown. During the Olympic qualifiers, the two combined for seven attempts per game from three.
The Kiwis do not play up-tempo and rarely streak out in transition. In fact, in their two games in the Olympic qualifiers and their two games in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, the Tall Blacks only averaged 5.25 points in transition points, with 8 points as their highest in the blowout win over Hong Kong.
Despite their size, the Tall Blacks are not a strong rebounding team, losing the battle of the boards against Croatia and Slovenia in the Paris qualifiers.
Gilas Pilipinas, on the other hand, outrebounded the taller and heftier teams of Latvia and Georgia in the qualifiers. Brazil edged Gilas off the glass but only by a narrow margin, 43-40.
It will be curious to see if Flavell will stick to the deliberate type of play the Tall Blacks are known for, or if he will speed things up since half of the players in his pool are no older than 24 years old.
Another question for Flavell is if he will give Harrison and Waardenburg enough touches to attack the defense of Kai Sotto and June Mar Fajardo.
During the Paris qualifiers, the Tall Blacks shot 33 times from three, almost the same number as their attempts from two. Gilas Pilipinas, on the other hand, attempted an average of just 20 from three.
The circumstances are just about right for Cone and Gilas Pilipinas, ranked 34th in the FIBA world rankings, to finally get over the hump and notch a victory versus world No. 22 New Zealand.
The home court advantage, the Gilas chemistry, the Gilas size that allows it to match up well with the Tall Blacks, and New Zealand still trying to find its identity under a new coach — all these factors favor the host team.
It can be done.
But it will not be easy. It never is against the Tall Blacks. – Rappler.com
