Shooting star Penney is the standout of the series against Hungary
Sunday Star - Times; Wellington, New Zealand; Jul 14, 2002; HINTON, Marc

IT'S HARD to say what's smoother. The manner in which Kirk Penney puts together match-winning performances for the Tall Blacks or the unassuming way this 21-year-old rising star handles it all.

The impressive shooting guard rained in a game-high 34 points as the Tall Blacks wrapped up the series against Hungary with a 110-88 win in Christchurch on Friday night, thrilling the record crowd of 4000 and putting the seal on an emphatic 4-1 series victory.

Penney shrugged off his second 30-point performance of the series as a product of his team-mates "distributing the ball so well" but this outstanding young man with the gilt-edged hoops future was surely being too modest.

He was the standout Tall Black of the series, shading point guard Mark Dickel for the honour. The former North Harbour and now University of Wisconsin senior shooting guard averaged 21.6 points in not many more minutes and showed that his game is maturing into a more complete package. His time at Wisconsin is proving beneficial.

Penney went there as a raw kid who could shoot the ball when left open.

He enters his senior year as a player with a deadly shot from three-point land, an ability to take it to the hoop, a developing post game, excellent court sense and a potential NBA future.

His Tall Blacks' coach Tab Baldwin has nothing but praise for the young man who will be a key performer in the world championship campaign. "Kirk is a really composed individual," said Baldwin.

"What we're seeing is Kirk emerge offensively as a prominent weapon in our arsenal. His confidence in that role and the team's confidence in him is growing in leaps and bounds."

And, most importantly, Baldwin sees all the right things in the character of the young man.

"All the mums in New Zealand probably would wish for Kirk as a son-in-law.

"He's an intelligent guy, a good person and a heck of a basketball player. He's got (former North Harbour import) Tony Bennett over there as a minder and mentor and we're confident he's in good hands."

"We all know we have a long way to go before the world champs.

"But we've got some tough European teams coming up between now and then.

"Everyone has to go away and work hard on their games and when we come back as a squad hopefully everyone has picked it up, the chemistry will fall back into place and we're ready to go."

Penney added: "We've got amazing battles coming up in foreign territory and it's something to look forward to. If everyone takes that attitude they should be willing to work as hard as they have to."

Baldwin hopes to name his 12 for Indianapolis this week. The team reassembles in August for an extensive buildup tour to France, Germany and Canada.

- Marc Hinton