Game One vs Korea Republic

The Tall Ferns hit up this Asia Cup with a clear target in mind: a top four finish. Make the semi-finals of this tournament for the first ever time, see if they can’t win a medal while they’re at it, and most importantly stay in the hunt for Olympic qualification. That target was definitely achievable although as the somewhat distant fifth-ranked team at the tournament they were gonna need to spring at least one upset victory to make it happen. That didn’t have to be in the first game against South Korea... but this was always their best chance.

So it was a pretty sweet omen that the Ferns had a rampant start that put them up 8-0 before Korea called a timeout. Korea hit a three out of that pause but the Ferns kept the train going full steam ahead. Lots of pick and roll action. Lots of ball movement. Lots of patience within the shot clock. And most of all lots of Penina Davidson who was marked up against Korea’s star player Park Jisu and gave her fits with her physicality under the basket at both ends... as well as some magical finishes at the rim. South Korea did close up with a few late quarter buckets but it was 20-12 after the first ten minutes and Davidson already had 12 points.

Then came a 14-0 kiwi run to begin the second quarter. This was dream stuff. Korea didn’t score a point in the frame until more than halfway through by which stage Aotearoa built what maxed out as a 23-point lead. A shoulder injury for debutant Tahlia Tupaea took away some of the fun (she’s been prone to a few injuries in her career and her shoulders haven’t escaped that pain) however she did return once she’d had it all strapped up. A 41-25 lead at the half was unreal. The Tall Ferns had given themselves a fantastic opportunity to get this campaign off to the perfect start if they could keep it steady over the remaining twenty minutes.

Easier said than done. Korea had taken a chunk out of the lead towards the end of the second quarter and they made further adjustments having had half-time to talk it over. That meant zone defence and quicker transitions. The Tall Ferns suddenly couldn’t drag players around to find space and they were getting attacked before they could get their own defence set. On top of that... the threes finally started falling for KOR. The kiwis were still up by six at the end of 3Q but momentum was against them. Particularly after CLW and Tupaea each picked up their fourth fouls. TT would foul out on Tall Ferns debut with 7:14 remaining in the game.

Charlisse buried a huge one with around five left to make it 59-50... but just when it felt like they’d weathered the storm a new set of dark clouds emerged. Korea with a 9-0 run and this thing was all tied up with 3:30 to go. On the one hand, the Ferns had blown a hefty lead. On the other hand they had 210 seconds of gametime left to potentially edge out a famous win. Massive test of the mentality.

Yeah nah, nothing to worry about there. CLW scored off the stutter drive for the lead. Korea responded. Krystal Leger-Walker added a couple free throws. Korea responded. Then a wee bit of fortune with a loose ball as CLW chased down her own rebound following a missed corner three. The call went the way of NZ after the ball went out of play. They reviewed it but there was no conclusive evidence either way as to where the last touch came from. NZ retained the ball. Penina Davidson missed in close but scored at the second-attempt after a heroic KLW offensive board tearing the ball from the hands of a Korean player. Up the other end Danbi Kim launched a triple for the win which never looked likely, before Davidson out-scrapped Park one last time for the rebound. 66-64. Aotearoa victory.

Honestly, this may have been the best Tall Ferns win for a decade... certainly their biggest scalp since the pandemic hiatus. And the star, undoubtedly, was Penina Davidson. 24 points and 10 rebounds shooting 11/16 from the field with 3 steals and 2 assists... she played all forty minutes. Literally the only time she left the floor was for the 0.4 seconds after her game-clinching rebound where all the Ferns had to do was inbound the ball successfully and it was over. So technically it was 39:59.60 minutes for her but those things are rounded to the nearest second so we’ll stick with 40:00 flat. That’s absolutely immense for any centre but to do so while taking on the toughest individual match-up against former WNBA player Jisu Park (18 points on 8/23 shooting with 10 rebounds) was nothing short of legendary.

On top of that there was 20 points for Charlisse Leger-Walker plus Akiene-Tera Reed impressed with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Frankly, the story of the kiwi underdog team at a major tournament who start off brilliantly then gets steadily hauled in and beaten over the second half... that’s one we’ve seen many times before in many different sports. This was different. They blew the lead but they still made those clutch plays to win the game regardless. The Tall Ferns passed that mentality test with flying colours by playing like a team that had no other option but victory, and with that their top four hopes became so much more realistic as they opened up the possibility of finishing second in their group and thus getting a far healthier crossover match against the third-placed team from the other side of the draw.

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Game Two vs China

The second pool game was always going to be a bit of a throwaway against the top ranked team at the entire event. China are on another level with their size and speed and skill and the Tall Ferns never really had much of a chance. The win over South Korea did make it a little more interesting though because if they did spring the upset of all upsets then they’d have been playing for top spot against Lebanon and a path directly to the semi-finals.

Gotta keep it realistic though. Rather than risk the opportunity they’d already forged themselves with that opening day win, Guy Molloy made the decision to rest two of his starters against China. Penina Davidson didn’t kit up having played all forty minutes the day before. Tahlia Tupaea also had the night off probably in light of that injury scare to her shoulder.

Stella Beck also dropped to the bench to begin with which meant a starting five of: Charlisse Leger-Walker, Tayla Dalton, Tera Reed, Josephine Stockill & Esra McGoldrick. Whereas last time they stuck with a tight rotation, here all ten players who dressed got at least 8:50 of gametime and nobody went past 30 minutes (the same was true of China with a 12-woman rotation). They kept it serious to begin with but by the fourth quarter it was definitely bench-clearing time... which actually led to the most exciting part of the whole contest.

China were too good. Every one of their players looked a foot taller than their kiwi comparisons and they played like it. Can’t do much about that. The Tall Ferns were able to five the favourites some worries in the first quarter thanks to some fine defence, particularly around the rim, but the problem was they couldn’t take advantage with speedy points the way they’d done against South Korea. Charlisse Leger-Walker had a forgettable day, setting a bad tone with early misses and then never recovering it... and she was hardly alone. Esra McGoldrick was the only one hitting shots in that opening frame and that pipeline had dried up by the second quarter too.

The Ferns scored a combined 14 points in the middle two frames and no matter how well you’re hustling on defence that’s not gonna fly against China, who held a narrow but comfortable lead throughout the first half then blew it open with a 32-point third. And... that was that. No coming back from there. Forget about it. However we did get some funk at the very end when Grace Hunter settled her nerves at the free throw line and then exploded with three late triples to finish as NZ’s top scorer with 10 points. Including a triple right on the buzzer to end the game on a positive note. So that was cool.

It was sloppiness at the offensive end which killed them. You have to anticipate a lot of contested shots against one of the best in the world but that’s exactly why you can’t also be blowing lay-ups as the Ferns did here, particularly in the first half. Without Penina Davidson’s presence as an inside scorer they didn’t have much variety to fall back upon. CLW could work her shots out of screens with remarkable dribble control but those shots weren’t dropping. As a team, the New Zealanders shot 10/35 (28.6%) from two-pointers. That would be bad from the perimeter, let alone from inside. In fact with 7/21 (33/3%) from threes they were better at range than they were in close... thanks mostly to Grace Hunter.

Ah but that didn’t matter. They were resting players off the back of a massive victory the day before against the second-ranked team on the planet so who cares? Eyes were on the prize of beating Lebanon the day afterwards for a place in the semi-finals. Korea Republic beat Lebanon 76-54 a couple hours before the NZ vs China game. China had beaten them 89-44 on gameday one. Let’s go.

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Game Three vs Lebanon

Despite the must-win nature of the game (for both teams), or perhaps because of it, there wasn’t a lot of positive offence on display early on. The Tall Ferns must have carried their shooting woes from the China game into this one because it took five damn minutes before they finally made a field goal with only free throws keeping them around. Well, that and also some mint defence. Lebanon were having equal troubles - they may have been leading at the midpoint of the quarter but it was only 4-3 and that was the only lead they’ve have all game.

Tahlia Tupaea hit a triple to give the Ferns a little confidence. That spurred into a 9-0 run before Lebanon took a timeout yet the TFs kept up the pace afterwards. Mostly through Tupaea. It had been a solid but unspectacular debut against Korea from the 2022 Tauihi MVP and she then rested her sore shoulder against China. But here she was magnificent. It wasn’t only the scoring, it was also her passing and a bit of defensive mahi to boot... although the scoring was the key thing. Having that legitimate second outside scoring option beside Charlisser Leger-Walker is massive for this team, particular in halves like this were CLW was a tad wonky with her shooting touch. There were some good looks and she was aggressive from the start but those efforts weren’t dropping... so Tupaea carried the weight in the meantime.

It was 17-6 to Aotearoa after the first quarter with Lebanon shooting just 2/13 from the field to that point. Yet the river wasn’t flowing smoothly. Lebanon’s plan seemed to be to clog the paint and restrict Penina Davidson’s impact, which in turn allowed some open threes, especially from the corners, but they didn’t seem too worried about that. They were sweet with gambling on Tall Ferns shooting – and to be honest the percentages over the first couple games backed that strategy up. Without finding penetration, via either the dribble or the pass, the NZers got stuck a few times with the shot clock winding all the way down without finding a shot they were comfortable with. So Tahlia Tupaea had to throw up a couple deep heaves... and Tahlia Tupaea made those two deep heaves. Ideal defensive strategy from a Lebanese perspective only for two brutal triples to bust them anyway.

Those two threes were what finally got the kiwis going. The third quarter was a grind but it was a grind at both ends, with Lebanon not making their first three-pointer until late in the third (having missed their first 12 attempts). Meanwhile this was the point at which Charlisse Leger-Walker got cooking. Forget about the early misses, she ended up shooting 7/12 from the field for a very efficient 19 points. By the fourth quarter Guy Molloy was able to rest those who needed resting and give all dozen players in the squad some court time. Final score was 76-45. Two wins from three. Top notch outcome for the Ferns.

Tahlia Tupaea was the star this time around, scoring 20 points with 6/9 accuracy from deep plus 4 rebounds and 4 assists to go with that. She was a +32 in her 30 minutes of action... and it wasn’t only the stats. The timing of some of those buckets was enormous in the context of this game, from the first three pointer that got the Ferns into gear to the couple at the end of the shot clock which really spurred them into action. Penina Davidson kept up her fine work with 13 points and 13 rebounds despite Lebanon prioritising trying to nullify her. Then of course there was a heap of subtle work from all the role players bringing that typical energy and hustle. Stella Beck, Tera Reed, Tayla Dalton, etc.

You know what though? They almost got stumped when South Korea took China to overtime a few hours later. Absolutely thrilling contest swinging back and forth with all sorts of clutch buckets and thankfully China did squeeze out the victory in extras... because had Korea won then there’d have been a three-way tie in the group and in that case points differential would’ve been the tiebreaker. The Tall Ferns may have beaten Lebanon by more than Korea did but Korea avoided getting thrashed by China so that would’ve seen the Ferns end up in third anyway. Shout outs to China Basketball then for seeing it through. Third place would’ve meant meeting hosts Australia in the crossovers (after they got smoked by a three-point barrage from Japan) whereas instead they matched with the lower-ranked Philippines in a far more winnable game.

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Crossover Playoff vs The Philippines

This was it. Not the last game of the tournament, but for the Tall Ferns it was the defining one with that top four target on the line. Rankings suggested they’d beat the Philippines but then rankings also didn’t give them much of a chance against South Korea and that’s not how it panned out. They’d earned this opportunity and now they had to go out there and take it.

Tera Reed knew the assignment. She emerged with the first two buckets while team defensive pressure was also leading to points, the Tall Ferns grabbing three steals inside the first three minutes. However Penina Davidson was a little off her usual standards. A couple missed shots and a turnover from her led to some early Ritorya Tamilo minutes, which was kinda telling of how this game would unfold. The NZers had the size advantage at every position but the Philippines made up for their shortness with speed and chaotic energy. The teams that were able dictate the pace against them in previous games all absolutely crushed them but the Tall Ferns just weren’t able to do that.

But they were able to use their physical edge to get to the foul line, Charlisse Leger-Walker especially. The Tall Ferns were up 21-15 after one with both teams shooting exactly 7/17 from the field so the free throws were the difference (and would continue to be so all game). Another issue: the bench wasn’t scoring. None of them made a single field goal in the first half and they only ended up with 8 combined points overall. Granted, it’s not like all the starters were feasting either. It was really only CLW and Reed who were able to keep things ticking over – mostly because they’re the two best attackers on the drive.

45-41 to NZ at the half. Still winning but it was sweaty. The Philippines were popping threes to stay in range and their frantic energy had the Tall Ferns rattled. Even more so when a 5-0 run to start the third quarter sent the Phillies into the lead. That soon became a 9-0 run and Guy Molloy had to cash in a timeout less than two minutes into the half. It was a worry. The Ferns weren’t controlling things. They were getting dragged around and weren’t even bossing the boards like they should’ve been. Tera Reed did hit a triple out of that timeout but the Philippines quickly matched that.

Luckily, this was the Philippines rather than Japan or China so they missed some gimmes before CLW took over and restored the lead for Aotearoa. Those better teams would’ve punished the Ferns (and did, in fact) but Philippines left points on the table uneaten. Which was nice of them. Curious to see the NZers go small later in the third with Reed at the five, the first instance of a significant adjustment – also acknowledging that the Filipino bigs were in some foul trouble. It was 68-69 after three as Charlisse drilled a buzzer beating long two. It was initially ruled a three but her foot was on the line... still, those ones are always momentum-shifters. 50 of Aotearoa’s 68 points after three quarters had been scored by CLW and Reed.

It may not have been unfolding how they’d planned but, bottom line, the Tall Ferns had ten minutes of a close game left to earn that top four target. It was a position to be grateful for and a position to back themselves from. That they did. The Philippines finally seemed to tire in that final frame and, just as they had all game, the fouls made the difference. The Philippines put the kiwis into the bonus before NZ had even committed one team foul in that last quarter. A Davidson put-back took them beyond a single-possession lead near the end then a Charlisse steal in the final minute pretty much clinched it. 83-78 final score. It was an absolute slog but they got there, showing that same ability to grind out an ugly win as they did in the South Korea game.

Charlisse Leger-Walker was incredible. 34 points on 13/23 shooting with 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Some of the shot-making was immense. The ruthlessness to keep pushing through contact on those drives. The leadership. The clutch mentality. This was the highest individual scoring game of the entire Asia Cup and if they simply package her highlights from this game for WNBA scouts then it won’t even matter what she does in her last year at college (though no doubt there’ll be plenty more performances where this one came from). CLW is special. Best start building those statues already.

As to that free throw disparity, the Philippines shot 3/7 from the line compared to 20/27 for New Zealand. Twenty additional attempts. 17 additional points in a game decided by five. There were no reffing inconsistencies there – it was simply one team exploiting an advantage with 21 of those free throws were awarded to CLW and Reed. Tera Reed ended up with 23 points on 6/11 shooting, superb from her. Charlisse was the superstar but Reed gave her that essential secondary force. Plus even on a quiet day Penina Davidson still logged 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Thus the Tall Ferns had their top four ticket. Mission accomplished.

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Semi-Final vs Japan

The reward for that crossover win was their place in the Olympic qualifiers early next year... as well as the satisfaction of setting a target and achieving it. That they then got to play Japan in the semis was merely a bonus. Nothing to lose and just happy to be there. Then again, with this particular group of players you definitely got the feeling that they believed, deep down, that they had a chance for a legendary upset.

Bottle that feeling because as the Charlisse Leger-Walker era goes on and the growth of kiwi basketball continues on its exponential ways there may well come a time when we can rock up against teams like Japan (or China or Australia) and beat them. Only occasionally and only when things break absolutely right but beat them all the same. We’re not there yet though.

Japan had won the last five Asia Cups. They disappointed at the World Cup last year following a change in coach and some player turnover however they’ve surged back to form since then and if the Philippines gave the kiwis fits with their speed of play, just imagine what Japan could do playing equally as fast but with way more skill and precision. CLW was able to draw some fouls to get the Tall Ferns churning but it was more than four minutes before they made their first field goal. They were 9-1 down at that point. They were 14-3 down when Molloy took his first timeout.

Another thing Japan does really well is they drain their three-pointers. They made four of them in the first quarter whereas the Tall Ferns didn’t even attempt a three, in fact they only made four field goals overall to be 24-11 down after ten minutes. There was a great start to the second frame as CLW was able to make a few buckets off the back of the defence causing some more disruptions to the Japanese sets... but they couldn’t maintain it and those inroads were soon lost when Japan went on a 14-0 run. Japan were getting whatever they wanted. It was 47-25 at half-time and that only continued into the second as the Tall Ferns got silly/frustrated with turnovers. Relentless pressure.

88-52 was the final score, at least Coach Molloy was able to give all twelve of his team some minutes in their fifth game in six days (there was a sixth in seven to follow too). CLW scored 14 points. Tupaea had 12pts. The real story was told in the team stats with Japan shooting 75% from two-pointers, their bigs having plenty of fun with those post moves against a defence forced out to protect the three. New Zealand had 24 turnovers compared to only 5 for Japan. That meant a 30-2 contrast in points from turnovers. Japan were simply too sharp. What are ya gonna do?

BOX SCORE

Bronze Medal Match vs Australia

That all left one final game: the third/fourth classification against Australia. Despite their host status, the Aussies had been beaten by Japan in pool play and lost to China in the semis. New Zealand lost to both those teams too but the Tall Ferns were beaten by a combined 70 points against the two finalists whereas Australia only lost by a combined 39 points. China went on to beat Japan 73-71 in the gold medal match if you were wondering. China had lost three of the last four Asia Cup finals to Japan but they finally broke the streak.

Considering also that New Zealand had lost the past twenty meetings in a row against the Australian Opals, this was not expected to be too close. We know how these things go. Even with the Opals rolling with a young squad, similar to the Tall Ferns, there was still that familiar talent gap. Aussie had seven players unavailable due to WNBA duties and a few more out injured but they could still pick a pretty solid group based mostly from their own NBL competition – a stage which only a small handful of the best kiwis players have access to each year. Krystal Leger-Walker did win a championship with the Townsville Fire last season so that was useful. There are obviously other Trans-Tasman connections too, from Guy Molloy being an Asutralian coaching New Zelaand to Tahlia Tupaea having recently swapped allegiances from AU to NZ.

Tupaea started this game as the Ferns went with the usual five... but she didn’t last very long before jamming her shoulder and heading straight off the court in plenty of pain. She wouldn’t return – settling on the bench with an ice pack on her shoulder. Same shoulder that’s been strapped up since she re-aggravated it against China. The team was already without Tayla Dalton who sat out as a precaution after a head knock in the semi-final so their guard depth was already being tested less than three minutes into the contest.

Actually, the Ferns held their ground for a lot of the first quarter. Aussie’s slower more deliberate tempo, with fewer three-pointers, was much more in their wheelhouse than what they’d face in the previous couple matches and it wasn’t until 11-9 that Australia took their first lead. But early fouls and turnovers (the latter a pattern all tournament, the former was not) stopped the Ferns from getting much rhythm. The Opals ended the frame on a 15-5 run and never looked back.

Once Australia took a clear lead, the Tall Ferns simply didn’t have the offence to haul them back. They weren’t able to feed the ball into Penina Davidson often enough and the sturdy Australian defence meant that once again there were shot clock worries and frisky turnovers caused by the Ferns not moving the ball quick enough to find separation. And when they did shoot it wasn’t pretty – NZ missed their first eight three-point attempts until Tera Reed finally got one to drop. It was 22-14 after one quarter. It was 39-28 at half-time. It was 63-45 after three. It was 81-59 at the final buzzer.

Australia won every quarter. They never had a killer run because they never needed one, steadily pushing the margin out as they went along. It was 19-9 in terms of turnovers and Aussie cashed in for points on many of those. Penina Davidson did still get 19 points and 11 rebounds although she deserved more than 10 shots for her troubles. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 12, battling well off the drive but missing all five triples. Ah but that’s just how it goes against the Opals. Make that a 21 game losing streak. The Tall Ferns are on the rise but they’re not at that level yet... and anyway they’d already done what they set out to do.

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Tall Ferns Tournament Stats/Notes

Charlisse Leger-Walker is taking over and this was the tournament where that idea graduated from the future into the present. Even though her shooting percentages were relatively average, the consistency of her scoring meant she was always a factor and we can’t ignore that many of those missed shots came as a result of the defensive targeting that was put upon her playmaking. Yet she forced through that, time and time again, providing the forward motion that got the Tall Ferns rolling.

With the possible exception of the China game, CLW was one of the two best players on the court for Aotearoa each time... you expect that of a star player but what’s funky is how the other top contributor kept changing. It was Davidson against Korea. It was Tupaea against Lebanon. It was Reed against the Philippines. That feels like a very good thing.

Getting Penina Davidson more involved has to be a priority in the future but that’s tough to do, especially against the better teams when the Tall Ferns weren’t getting space. They want to be deliberate with their half-court sets, moving the ball around until they can work a good shot, but they weren’t able to catch the likes of China, Japan, or Australia slipping thus both turnovers and also shot clock dramas were a regular problem. Also partly why the overall shooting was kinda mud... although let’s be fair this just isn’t a particularly strong shooting team. That’s not how they win basketball games.

How they win, as they did three times here, is by playing hard and with energy. Very kiwi basketballing ideas. Not cutting corners, all five players working for each other, applying themselves on defence, boxing out, making that extra pass, getting to the foul line, diving on loose balls... et cetera. That was never not on display – both for wins and losses. Role players like Stella Beck and Tayla Dalton kept up the hustle throughout.

As for the Olympic qualifying, the way they did it last time was there were sixteen teams split into four groups. Top three teams from each advance to the 12-team Olympic Games, with the hosts and the World Champs automatically assured of their places yet for some reason still partaking. In this case that’ll be France and the USA. Those games will be next February so Guy Molloy’s gonna need to do some sweet-talkin’ to Washington State University to ensure that Charlisse Leger-Walker is available. The Tall Ferns haven’t made the Olympics since 2008 and this is the best chance we’ve had since.

Ah yes and one more thing...

Penina Davidson thus becomes the first Tall Fern to make an Asia Cup All-Star Five. Have some of that.

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