Fringe Tall Blacks shine in Saudi Arabia rout as World Cup selection gets tougher

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At Christchurch Arena, Chch: Tall Blacks 110 (Ethan Rusbatch 21, Reuben Te Rangi 17, Sam Waardenburg 17, Tohi Smith-Milner 14, Isaac Fotu 12, Tyrell Harrison 11) Saudi Arabia 63 (Abdulmalik Mohammednidal Ashoor 13, Mohammed Alsuwailem 11) 1Q: 36-16, HT: 65-33, 3Q: 94-47.

Pero Cameron is going to have some sleepless nights trying to whittle down his Tall Blacks’ squad for the Fiba World Cup.

Missing a stack of frontline players, the Tall Blacks ran out convincing 110-63 victors over Saudi Arabia in Christchurch on Friday night in their penultimate Asia-Oceania zone qualifying game.

The Tall Blacks have already qualified for the World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines in late August-early September.

Cutting his squad down to 12 for the global event will be a challenging job for head coach Cameron – especially when you consider the players not at his disposal for this window.

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When you add in the Webster brothers, Corey and Tai, Shea Ili, Rob Loe, Finn Delany, Yanni Wetzell, among others, the Tall Blacks have some healthy selection headaches. To think how strong they could be if Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams became available and was to suit up.

“I think it’s a good thing having a lot of choices,” Cameron said.

“We’ve still got a lot of things to navigate in front of us. It’s February and we’re still finishing off the Aussie league and then our New Zealand league starts, so you’ve got all of that and we start to come together that last week of the [New Zealand] NBL finals, so it’s exciting, and it’s close, and we’ve still got to wait on a few things.”

You wouldn’t have known the Tall Blacks were missing a bunch of their key personnel on Friday – through the looming Australian NBL grand final series, unavailability, and injury.

Canterbury’s Ethan Rusbatch had a strong Christchurch homecoming for the Tall Blacks against Saudi Arabia.

Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Canterbury’s Ethan Rusbatch had a strong Christchurch homecoming for the Tall Blacks against Saudi Arabia.

These sides last met in Saudi Arabia in August with the Tall Blacks prevailing 80-65, but it was much easier for the hosts on Friday on home soil – crushing them by 47 points.

It was just the bounce back performance Cameron and the side would have been targeting after losing both away fixtures to Jordan and Lebanon in November.

“We had a little talk about it and kind of thought about our last tour where we lost two games and I don’t think we’ve ever lost three in a row, so that was really tough to swallow the last window,” Cameron said.

“It showed in some of the boys and the way our assistant coaches and staff went about it. We knew we needed to get this win.”

Tall Blacks veteran Isaac Fotu (file pic) was one of six Tall Blacks to score in double figures.

Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Tall Blacks veteran Isaac Fotu (file pic) was one of six Tall Blacks to score in double figures.

The Tall Blacks put on an offensive clinic, scoring 110 points on 65% shooting from the field (42/65) and 46% from three point range (12/26).

New Zealand made a red-hot start, landing 12 of 16 from the field in the first quarter (75%) to establish a 36-16 lead by the end of the opening 10 minutes.

Christchurch lad Ethan Rusbatch, back in his hometown, put on a show early, dancing through the Saudi defence and hitting the bucket. Rusbatch a product of Cashmere High School, then drained two threes, helping himself to 10 first quarter points on perfect 4/4 shooting in front of family and friends.

Rusbatch, who hasn’t missed a game in qualifying, finished with a game high 21 points on 8/11 shooting, including 5/7 from deep – a performance that will have only enhanced his reputation as he pushes for a World Cup spot.

By halftime, the Tall Blacks were in complete control, leading by 32 points (65-33) after shooting 23/33 (70%) from the floor in the first half.

The Tall Blacks will get a better indication where they’re at when they face Group E leaders Lebanon (7-1) in Wellington on Monday, who beat them 77-65 in November.

Reuben Te Rangi (file pic) scored 17 points in the Tall Blacks’ win over Saudi Arabia.

Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images

Reuben Te Rangi (file pic) scored 17 points in the Tall Blacks’ win over Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, who sit fifth in Group E and had won just two of their eight games, produced some physical play to open the game. They struggled to slow down the Kiwis on offence though, who did a superb job finding the open man and getting strong looks.

Fresh off an encouraging ANBL rookie season with the Cairns Taipans, Sam Waardenburg, who linked with the national side in Christchurch on Wednesday, made his international debut in the first quarter.

Waardenburg was heavily involved, throwing down a dunk in the second term and finishing strongly at the hoop on several occasions.

The 24-year-old had a Tall Blacks’ debut to remember, notching 17 points and eight rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes on court.

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