Tall Blacks can repeat 2002 win – Book

Ed Book says the Tall Blacks are capable of replicating their historic 2002 victory against Russia when they tackle the formidable European side at the world basketball championships in Turkey tomorrow morning.

Book, a 2.1m forward from Nelson, was a key member of the New Zealand team who finished fourth at Indianapolis in 2002 and who kick-started their tournament with a stunning upset over the Russians.

"I know they won't take New Zealand lightly ever again after that. But I give New Zealand a shot of winning especially after how they played against France."

Russia finished second in their pool with four wins and a loss to Turkey while New Zealand came third in their group on countback after a three-way tie with Spain (second) and France (fourth). The match is the first of the sudden death last-16 round.

"Russia will be big and athletic like most European sides but if we can put it together like we did against France, who knows what is possible."

Book was impressed by the way the Tall Blacks, coached expertly by Nenad Vucinic, were playing to their strengths. He believed seven-footer Alex Pledger, who was not used against France, could be a factor against the taller Russian team.

"Nenad has a game plan for each time and adjusts his tactics and players accordingly. Russia will be a bit bigger than France and they could need to use him."

Book said Vucinic's decision to take veteran Pero Cameron on the tour, when he had not played all season, was inspired.

"He knows what Pero can do and you saw against France how important he was. He is such a cool head and when you get the ball in his hands he makes the right decisions."

New Zealand beat Russia 67-65 two weeks ago in Zadar, Croatia – a game where leading scorer Kirk Penney did not score in double-digits, and following on from a 13-point loss six days earlier in Maribor, Slovenia.

"There is a bit of a feeling amongst the whole environment of this tournament that we're lucky that we have Russia in the eighth-final," Vucinic said.

"Russia is a very strong team. Maybe not as strong to play as Turkey at home but we know this game is going to be the hardest game we've had so far."

"They are very good defensively. They're great athletes and also very smart defensively and they've got one of the best coaches ... in David Blatt."

Tall Blacks backup centre Casey Frank said the Tall Blacks were playing much better now than in their earlier two meetings with Russia. "In the first game we played terribly bad and the other we got a win but still didn't play terribly great and can definitely make improvement."

The Russians have a strong history in big tournaments. Although they did not qualify for the last world championship in Japan, they won the 2007 EuroBasket tournament, finished ninth at the Beijing Olympics and grabbed the last automatic qualifying spot from last year's EuroBasket by finishing ninth since Blatt took over as coach.

If the Tall Blacks can upset Russia, their prize later in the week would be a quarterfinal match-up against the United States, who meet Angola in the eighth-finals.

-with Fairfax

- © Fairfax NZ News