From an NZ perspective, it’s a real bummer that Steven Adams got injured this past NBA season. It’s been one of the big what-ifs of NZ basketball in the past decade to see how much he could elevate the Tall Blacks, and apparently Adams had finally expressed an interest to join the World Cup team prior to the injury.

The Tall Blacks did well in the first quarter, but seeing Canada do anything they wanted in the paint really did hammer home how much we miss having NBA-caliber talent on the team, especially on defense.