FIBA Basketball
FIBA - Australia, New Zealand heading for showdown
MELBOURNE (Commonwealth Games Men) - Gold medal rivals Australia and New Zealand both picked up convincing victories on Sunday to remain on course for a final showdown at the Commonwealth Games
MELBOURNE (Commonwealth Games Men) - Gold medal rivals Australia and New Zealand both picked up convincing victories on Sunday to remain on course for a final showdown at the Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand's men's team made it three wins from three with a 91-51 triumph over Barbados to secure themselves a place in the semi-finals.
The Tall Blacks, for whom Troy McLean scored a game-high 20 points and hauled down seven rebounds, led by 26 points at half-time before going onto complete a convincing win.
Australia are also finding life fairly comfortable and they recorded their second success of the tournament with a 103-57 win over fellow FIBA World Championship participants Nigeria.
Convincing though the result was, Boomers coach Brian Goorjian still feels there is much to improve on.
"I'm positive about the game, but the team didn't play as well as expected. I've told the team we're not going to win every game by 70 points," he said.
"We played good defence and ran the ball well, but sometimes it's too quick and we need to contain the play."
Australia, who had 16 points from Jason Smith and 15 from Brad Newley, now face minnows India in their final pool match.
India have suffered defeats in both of their opening two games but Boomers captain Tony Richardson admits that following their scratchy display against
Nigeria, they won't be taking the Asian side lightly.
"It wasn't one of Australia's best games," he said. "We're not taking anything for granted against India."
India slumped to their second loss on Sunday after going down 67-57 to Scotland, Dan Wardrobe pouring in 21 points for the winners while Tom Pearson added 15 points and 14 rebounds.
The victory was Scotland's first of the event following their 129-52 humbling at the hands of hosts Australia in their opening match.
"We feel we can play a lot better. There is a huge gap between India and Australia but at least we got the job done today," said Scotland captain James Steel.
India, for whom Riyaz Uddin scored a team-high 20 points, lost 113-84 to Nigeria in their first outing.
From Mike Perez, PA Sport, Melbourne
New Zealand's men's team made it three wins from three with a 91-51 triumph over Barbados to secure themselves a place in the semi-finals.
The Tall Blacks, for whom Troy McLean scored a game-high 20 points and hauled down seven rebounds, led by 26 points at half-time before going onto complete a convincing win.
Australia are also finding life fairly comfortable and they recorded their second success of the tournament with a 103-57 win over fellow FIBA World Championship participants Nigeria.
Convincing though the result was, Boomers coach Brian Goorjian still feels there is much to improve on.
"I'm positive about the game, but the team didn't play as well as expected. I've told the team we're not going to win every game by 70 points," he said.
"We played good defence and ran the ball well, but sometimes it's too quick and we need to contain the play."
Australia, who had 16 points from Jason Smith and 15 from Brad Newley, now face minnows India in their final pool match.
India have suffered defeats in both of their opening two games but Boomers captain Tony Richardson admits that following their scratchy display against
Nigeria, they won't be taking the Asian side lightly.
"It wasn't one of Australia's best games," he said. "We're not taking anything for granted against India."
India slumped to their second loss on Sunday after going down 67-57 to Scotland, Dan Wardrobe pouring in 21 points for the winners while Tom Pearson added 15 points and 14 rebounds.
The victory was Scotland's first of the event following their 129-52 humbling at the hands of hosts Australia in their opening match.
"We feel we can play a lot better. There is a huge gap between India and Australia but at least we got the job done today," said Scotland captain James Steel.
India, for whom Riyaz Uddin scored a team-high 20 points, lost 113-84 to Nigeria in their first outing.
From Mike Perez, PA Sport, Melbourne