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Ready For Battle
July 28, 2007
NZ Tall Black point guard Paul Henare (Photosport) Point guard Paul Henare is poised to put a nagging knee injury behind him as the Dominion Finance NZ Tall Blacks seek a little payback over Angola at the Boris Stankovic Continental Cup in Guangzhou.
Henare missed the third test against Venezuela in Wellington on Tuesday, resting the knee that had bothered him during the NBL’s latter stages, but has been cleared to take his place in the line-up against the African champions on Saturday.
“I’ve had a couple of trainings since we arrived and I’m feeling a lot better, like the strength is back in it. Hopefully, it will settle down some more with more physio treatement.
“Right now, I’m looking forward to our first game against Angola.”
And well he might. The Tall Blacks are still licking their wounds from their 73-95 loss to Angola in pool play at last year’s FIBA World Championships, a game in which Henare played all but five minutes for eight points (3/5 FG, 2/4 FT), four rebounds, three steals and an assist.
“Going on their form at the world champs, they have improved immensely over the last few years,” he says. “They gave us a good old-fashioned hiding and they’ve got a lot of the same players that were in Japan.
“We do have a battle on our hands. It’s not so much about revenge, but we’re certainly looking for a better performance.
“They are very athletic, they have a number of shooters, but they are also very disciplined. They didn’t run as much as we thought they would in Japan, but they have some tough inside players to go with their shooters.”
The New Zealand v Angola contest will tip off the Stankovic Continental Cup, followed by China v Venezuela, then Slovenia take on the NBA Development League Ambassadors.
-Boris Stankovic Continental Cup-
Guangzhou
Saturday, July 28
3.30pm Angola v Dominion Finance NZ Tall Blacks
7pm China v Venezuela
9pm Slovenia v NBA D-League AmbassadorsSunday, July 29
3.30pm Venezuela v Angola
7pm China v Slovenia
9pm Dominion Finance NZ Tall Blacks v NBA D-League AmbassadorsMacau
Monday, July 31
4pm NBA D-League Ambassadors v Venezuela
7.30pm Angola v China
9.30pm Slovenia v Dominion Finance NZ Tall BlacksTuesday, August 1
4pm NBA D-League Ambassadors v Angola
7.30pm Dominion Finance NZ Tall Blacks v China
9.30pm Venezuela v SloveniaWednesday, August 2
4pm Venezuela v Dominion Finance NZ Tall Blacks
7.30pm China v NBA D-League Ambassadors
9.30pm Angola v SloveniaSimondaballa 39291.5169560
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