Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic gambled with his starting line-up and paid the price as Spain beat New Zealand 101-84 in their second game of the World Championships in Turkey.
Kirk Penney top scored with 21 points, with four from eight field goal attempts, three from seven thee-point attempts and he shot 80 percent from the free-throw line, for New Zealand while Tom Abercrombie secured six rebounds and Pero Cameron made four assists. Marcus Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies scored highest for Spain shooting 62.5 percent to score his 30 points.
The Tall Blacks took the court on Monday morning (NZT) with a slightly different starting five than the one that featured in the loss against Lithuania on Sunday day.
Vucinic chose to back the speed of Michael Fitchett at point guard and the height of Alex Pledger down low. This was a move that would prove costly for the Tall Blacks as Pledger found himself with three fouls and a seat back on the bench within the first three minutes of the game.
The Tall Blacks quickly reverted to the favoured combination of Kirk Penney, Tom Abercrombie, and Craig Bradshaw, and began to find their rhythm. They were able to halt the steamrolling Spaniards to finish the first quarter trailing 28 points to 19.
The Tall Blacks began the second quarter with plenty of intent and purpose. Pulling down rebounds and defending like they had everything to play for. All 12 players in the squad received game time during the first half, with the majority making solid contributions both on defence and attack.
Tom Abercrombie's aerial game was a pleasure to watch, and he racked up 13 points before the half time break. The half ended with the unlikely hero of Alex Pledger returning from the bench with 0.6 seconds left on the clock to sink one from just outside the key. The Kiwis had managed to reduce the deficit to only four points, Spain 48, Tall Blacks 44.
Abercrombie said: "It just felt good out there, completely different to last night when I was the one having to watch from the side line in foul trouble."
The first half luck that the Kiwis had wasn't to last. With none of the Tall Blacks' shots dropping, the Spaniards capitalised and built their four-point halftime lead to 15.
Frustrated, the Kiwis tried everything to stem the flow of points and bravely hung on for a 77 points to 63 score at the end of the third quarter.
The small contingent of New Zealand supporters sprung into voice during the final quarter as a final ditch effort to inspire the Tall Blacks and give them the boost they so desperately needed. Three pointers, alley oops, you name it, the Spaniards pulled out everything from their bag of tricks as the defending champions sailed toward 100.
Abercrombie said: "There was little we could do to stem the flow of onslaught Spain threw at us. Once a team like Spain get their tails up they're nearly impossible to stop."
New Zealand now has a day off before their third game against Lebanon on Wednesday morning (NZT).
Assistant coach Dillon Boucher thinks the team will spend the day in the gym. "We'll be reviewing our defensive strategies, because when you give up 100 points to a side there's little chance of beating them no matter how good you are."