Penney steps up for Tall Blacks

The Tall Blacks needed something special after back-to-back defeats to open their European tour and they received it from a familiar source in Italy today.

Star shooting guard Kirk Penney stepped up and delivered a 35-point offensive outburst to propel the Tall Blacks to a 98-91 victory over Portugal on day one of the four nation men's basketball tournament in Trento.

After dropping those two close ones to Estonia to open the tour, this was a much-needed victory for Nenad Vucinic's inexperienced young squad. And Penney no doubt sensed that as the former European and NBA professional stepped up when his side needed it.

After being held to just three second-half points in the second defeat to Estonia, Penney poured in 23 points in the third and fourth periods as the Tall Blacks iced victory against the Portuguese, after leading 45-41 at the major break.

It was the third straight game that the New Zealanders ahd held the lead going into the final quarter - but this time they executed as they needed to down the stretch to come away with a win. \

Vucinic has called this a "learning curve" for his team of greenhorns, and perhaps they are taking their lessons on board already.

"It's a fantastic feeling to get a win," said point guard Michael Fitchett, who was one of four Tall Blacks to score in double- figures.

"We put some points on the board as well, which we hadn't been doing. Scoring 98 points, that's double what we had been putting up previous, so that was good to see. And to get a win against a team like Portugal is great. We feel like they're a step up from Estonia."

Penney was red hot, as all who follow him with the Breakers know he can be. Despite sitting out much of the second quarter with foul trouble, he drained five of his six long-range attempts and also had four rebounds and four assists in a world-class performance.

It clearly inspired his mates as the Tall Blacks sizzled from the field (37/57 FG, 64.9 per cent) and were an equally stellar 52.6 per cent (10/19) from beyond the arc.

Just to confirm they were on the money, the Kiwis went 22-of-24 from the free-throw line.

"We shot the ball really, really well," said Fitchett. "In the first half we hardly missed, and our defence was pretty good. We knew pretty much what they were going to do and were able to stick to the game plan pretty well.

"We executed well and we got out and ran some transition. They were reluctant to push the ball. They ran a short bench and we thought they were a bit tired so we pushed it whenever we could."

Rookie Tom Abercrombie continued his seamless transition to this level with 13 points (3/6 FG, 7/8 FT) and five rebounds, centre Alex Pledger, who got the start alongside 17-year-old Rob Loe on the front-line, had 10 points (4/5 FG, 2/2 FT) and eight boards, and Fitchett had 10 points (3/4 FG, 2/3 3pt), playing the most minutes at point guard.

"Kirk is scoring 20-25 when we're scoring 50 total, so he's been a bit of a lone ranger out there," said Fitchett whose pair of threes early on got New Zealand out of a 13-6 first-quarter hole.

"Getting a few more guys in double figures helps him out. They can't double-team him and it opens things up with a few more guys hitting shots."

New Zealand led throughout, stretching out to nine by the end of the third quarter and then held off the Portugese, one of six teams vying for the last place at September's Eurobasket championship.

The Tall Blacks hit the boards hard too, winning the rebounding battle 36-21, but 20 turnovers allowed the Europeans to stay in the game possibly more than they deserved.

Point guard Lindsay Tait chipped in with eight points and six assists, forward Mika Vukona worked hard for his eight rebounds and four assists, while 17-year-old sensation Loe, in his second straight start, had six points, two steals, two assists and two rebounds in 28 minutes.

The Tall Blacks meet Italy tomorrow morning (NZ time). The tournament hosts feature NBA players Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors) and Marco Belinelli (Golden State Warriors), along with a lineup of seasoned pros from the Italian Serie A.

New Zealand 98 (Kirk Penney 35, Tom Abercrombie 13, Alex Pledger 10, Michael Fitchett 10)

Portugal 91 (Carlos Andrade 18, Rui Mota 15).

1/4: 25-21; HT: 45-41; 3/4: 75-67.

- © Fairfax NZ News