BASKETBALL: Matthew Dellavedova made himself a household name by being aggressive on court, and he says New Zealand should expect no less from the Aussies when they meet again on Tuesday.
Australia holds a 1-0 lead in the Oceania series, which doubles as a qualifier for the 2016 Olympics, after winning their opening game in Melbourne on Saturday.
They need to win the second leg, or at least not lose by more than 12 points, to secure a berth at Rio.
But NBA point guard Dellavedova said there was no point going in trying to protect their lead.
"You've got to be aggressive," he told AAP.
"They're going to have a lot of energy with a home crowd. They're going to give them energy like we got (on Saturday).
"We're going to have to come prepared for another 40-minute physical, tough battle because that's what it is every time you play against New Zealand."
Corey Webster was again the Tall Blacks' best, laying on a game-high 22 points.
Dellavedova did well to keep the point guard in check, restricting him to 10 shots from 24 from the field, but admitted that was not enough.
"We need to try find more ways to slow Webster down because obviously he's a big part of their offence and game plan," he added.
Veteran Brad Newley said Webster had been a focus of the Boomers, who'd all vowed to lend Dellavedova and fellow guard Adam Gibson a hand when needed.
"Those guys worked their butts off chasing him around and we were doing our jobs too," he said.
"But I think we can all help a bit more.
"He's hellava player. I hadn't seen too much of him because I've been overseas, but he's impressive and next game we've got to be wary of him - all of us."
While coach Andrej Lemanis was happy the Boomers managed to limit New Zealand to just six offensive rebounds, they needed to commit to it again in Wellington.
"If we give them second shots, that's going to make it tough for us," he said.
"It's like a playoff series - it'll be a chess match now.
"They'll make their adjustments, we'll make our adjustments and come out a little bit better prepared next time.
"At the end of the day, the key for me is playing with that intensity and desperation we need to over the course of the 40 minutes to give ourselves a chance to get the success that we're chasing."
AAP
