Whistlestop tour takes toll on Tall Blacks

His players may be exhausted, but Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic remained stoic about a tough European schedule that he hopes will reap dividends in the long run for New Zealand basketball.

Vucinic's Tall Blacks crashed to their fourth defeat in five outings on the Continent when they were thrashed 90-68 by Canada on Tuesday morning (NZ time) in the final match of a four-nation tournament in Trento, Italy.

Vucinic admitted afterwards his players - particularly star scorer Kirk Penney - had "hit the wall" with the match being their fifth outing in six days on a whistlestop tour that sees them play eight internationals in 12 days.

"You could see it, and more than anybody on Kirk. He's the only guy who's been playing big, big minutes, and they were all over him the whole game and didn't give him any chances. Plus, he's marking very good players as well, and has to put a big effort in on defence."

It was no coincidence that Penney was held to a tour-low haul of just 14 points, making just two of his nine three-pointers and going 6/15 overall from the field.

As a result the Tall Blacks struggled to stay with the Canadians, particularly after halftime when their legs really got heavy.

The reality of the team Vucinic has on this tour is that it has its limitations offensively, and after Penney and, to a lesser extent, hugely promising rookie Tom Abercrombie there are few legitimate options.

Abercrombie had his third double-digit outing of the tour, as the young Breakers swingman went 5-of-14 from the floor and hauled in four rebounds and a team-high four assists.

But Vucinic refused to blame the taxing tour schedule as his side fell away badly after the halftime break when they trailed the Canadians by just four points (34-38).

"We've got no options, we can't even think about that," said the New Zealand coach about an itinerary, say, the All Blacks wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

"We want to give players an international tour to Europe, so we have to look after every dollar we've got. Over here they don't pay you more than a day before you come in.

"So it's a difficult position but I'd rather we were tired and lose games than don't have games at all. I'm pretty comfortable with the situation we're in."

Vucinic said in a perfect world he would have time between games to help his young players make the adjustments needed to the challenges they're facing at this level.

But the reality was something altogether different.

"We don't have that luxury. We have to prepare for teams on the go and adjust on the go. Tomorrow we've got a travel day, and no practice time. And we can't have practice anyway because we need some time off to rest players.

"Yes, it would be nice to have those eight games in 30 days rather than 12 days, but that's not the reality of basketball in New Zealand. And we're not complaining about it. We just have to make it happen."

In terms of what this tour is achieving, Vucinic said it was all about one far-reaching goal.

"The whole year, this tour included, is about development because we want to get a lot of our next generation players exposure to international basketball."

Vucinic said come August's Oceania series against the Boomers fatigue would not be an issue after a two-week break. But that didn't mean things were ideal heading into a matchup that would determine seedings for next year's world championships in Turkey (both sides will attend).

"Preparation will be a bit of an issue because we'll get only two days of training before we fly out for Sydney. We're hoping to have Craig [Bradshaw] and Pero [Cameron] in those games too. It's never enough preparation, it's not ideal, but we try not to make those excuses."

Next up for the Tall Blacks on this trip is back-to-back internationals against Belgium on Thursday and Friday (NZ time).

Despite a slight lessening of the intensity - Vucinic rates the Belgians on a par with Estonia and Portugal - it still won't be easy street for the young Kiwis.

"They're games that are within our reach, but they do have some very good players, and we expect more of the same really -- tough games and more challenges."

Welcome to life on the road with the Tall Blacks.

- © Fairfax NZ News