NEW Zealand beat Gilas Pilipinas, 87-70, on Sunday in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers despite an unusual environment that saw the visitors enjoy strong support from the crowd at the Spark Arena in Auckland.
When asked about the strange home situation for the Tall Blacks, head coach Judd Flavell said they enjoyed the atmosphere of playing in front of that kind of crowd and hope to learn from such a situation.
“That crowd, even when they (Gilas) were down 20 or whatever it was, they were still right into the game. I felt like the game was tighter than what it was just based on that. Typically, the crowd is quiet when that’s the case,” said Flavell.
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New Zealand led by as many as 28 points, but the Philippines cut it down to as low as 11 in the fourth quarter. The Tall Blacks eventually were able to steady the ship.
Flavell said the team already expected the crowd to be against them, knowing how supportive the Filipino community in New Zealand is of its sports teams - something they saw when the Filipinas women’s national football team competed in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the same country two years ago.
“The atmosphere was something else. I think the Philippines in particular, that’s what you get. We kind of knew that. We didn’t talk too much, but I guess everybody, when they signed up for this game, knew that this was probably going to happen,” said Flavell.
The Tall Blacks experienced nearly the same kind of atmosphere in their first match-up last November when they lost to Gilas Pilipinas, 93-89, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“As a competitor, even as a coach, these are the moments that you try to get as much of this experience as you can. And I think our Tall Black teams from the past, and now, that’s what we’re going to get.
“That’s what we’re going to face. And we expect it to be. A lot of positives with that. I think it probably gave them a little (more) production and a little (more) value to them than us. But ultimately, we want to play in these situations. We want to play in these,” said Flavell.
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