New Zealand bullying the Koreans
Up by heaps
70-36 with 4:28 in the 3rd

NZ are up 56-24 at 1/2 time with Corey Webster leading scorer with 10.

Isaac Fotu looked like a young Vukona but bigger. 12 boards 8 points.
Tai Wynard looked great for a 16yo playing with men, first touch bucket on debut.
Josh Bloxham was pretty terrible, too small and not strong enough.
Everard Bartlett is a SG and can't deal with pressure ball handling and can't shoot well enough from outside compared to our other options.
Lindsay Tait still makes questionable offensive decisions but was still a solid option at PG.
Corey Webster was great. Ran the point very well, dealt with pressure & had 15points.
Kirk Penney was a bit rusty to begin with but then came on for 17 points 5/8 shooting.
Tom Abercrombie was kept fairly quit early before stepping up at both ends as opposed to being invisible in the first half.
Alex Pledger looked rusty, played sparingly as he found his feet but decent.
Nick Horvath set some big screens, played some D and was quite useful but is he necessary?
Mika Vukona played ok, missed a couple of easy ones early.
Benny Anthony was great, showed some leadership & played both ends of the floor and set some big screens.

Horvath is a lock IMO. Vucinic has a personal issue with him though - please take him instead of Frank this time.

If anything BJ is surplus to requirements. Give me a 6"10 PF/C over a 6"5 PF with limited offensive game any day of the week.

Cant wait to get Loe ans hopefully run some small ball with Vukona and Loe at the 4 and 5. I like Pledger but he does slow us down sometimes.

On another note Korea were terrible tonight.

CWebb and Tait will be relied on as PG. Our other PG options are terrible.

Replace Bloxham and Anthony with T-Webb and Loe for the final 12?? Good to hear Fotu played well.. he will be a key piece at the WC IMHO

Yep. TWebb and Loe to come in. Actually not a bad team. Feeling a little more confident (not because of tonights result - but with those 2 making up the final 12 i really like the balance and versatility of the team).

Big C and a mobile PF/C in Pledger and Loe/Horvath. Hustlin and heart player in Vukona, a world class scorer and shooter in Penney. Solid defence across the board. An athlete at the 3 spot who can get going off open looks (as the D will attend to Kirk). Mobile PF in Vukona and a very mobile and strong backup in Fotu. (Who can work off mismatches when playing the 3 spot). And although we don't have great PGs the one positive is that at least a guy like Tait never tries to do too much and excels in his role.

Given Frank's experience and knowledge of Vucinic's systems, which work better with big guys who can shoot, and the fact Horvath is not a physically strong player by international standards, I can't see how it won't be Frank if they take a naturalised player. Of course I could be completely wrong!

For me 11 players pick themselves:

Pledger, Loe, Frank
Vukona, Fotu, Anthony
Penney, Abercrombie
C Webster, Tait, T Webster

The 12th player would have been Te Rangi, but I'm not sure who it should be now.

Out of interest how well are the Tall Blacks expected to go this year? are they expected to break through the group stage?

Franks been serviceable. But to be fair, Vucinic always seemed to pre-select him - hence why naturalised players never get an invite to trial.

Horvath is a pretty damn good player - im not sure there are teams out there who wouldn't take a former Duke captain who led his team to the NCAA Championship.

I think you underestimate how good Horvath is paul.

Also, Tai Wynyard is an NBA prospect. The next Steve Adams.

how tall is tai? 6'7??

2.04m or 6"8 at just 16.

Shame Penney isn't a bit younger. If they timed his peak years with the arrival of Adams and a few of these younger guys, they could challenge a few teams.

Are great things still expected of the younger Webster or has he dropped off the pace a little?

Does Horvath still play NZ NBL?

Where is Adams?

Adams is playing summer league for OKC.

Webster has dropped off the pace a little as he adjusted to College life and basketball in the States, he'll come around.

I agree that the team Paul put down is more than likely the team that is going to Spain bar any injuries.

Horvath played in the NZNBL this past season. I remember years ago when he was at his peak he used to average 25 & 18 in the league. This season Horvath averaged 14.7 ppg and a massive 15.9rpg. Frank averaged 11.8ppg and 8rpg. Tai had a disastrous season at Nebraska - really bad.

I read somewhere that he turned it over on something like a quarter of all possessions and his shooting % were horrible. I know he can play though – like off the charts when he has freedom and space. He grew like 3 inches last year and is now 6"4ish (still only 19 or 20 so could get to 6”5). His Nebraska coach wanted to make him into a PG – it was just stupid. He is natural scorer and SG just like his older brother. Just a terrible decision by Coach Miles IMO.

Yeah, not the way to bring the best out of a talented young player. He can carry the ball and play some PG, but he's not a floor general yet. Has he made a decision on next season?

He has said provisionally that he will return to Nebraska.

Breakers put forward a fairly sizeable, long term offer though. Both him and Fotu in fact.

Im talking something like a 6y/$750k type of deal.

Fotu's was 3 years 300k. No way they'd dish out a 6 year deal for Tai, surely