All Blacks heading towards their own slice of immortality

ok FIBA world championships 1990 - 6:2 1994 - 8:0 1998 - 7:2 2002 - 6:3 2006 - 8:1 2010 - 9:0 2014 - 9:0 that is a 53:8 record over a period of 27 years. as faar as i know USA do not send professionals to the Pan American games and i dont know if they even play at Tournament of Americas ( not heard of it.) so if we look at the results of olympics and FIBA over the last 27 years from 1990 to 2016 the record s 104 : 11 . that is on average around 4 games per year (which is the problem with stats, not reflect the situation). still the issue is their frindlies are not counted and unlike in rugger there is no calendar for " b'ball tests". but if we look at data from 2008 onwards , they are unbeaten over a 9 year period in 42 official games !!!!

nice try CUW, impressive stats from the dream team yes indeed, but you have only included the Olympics and not the other competitions like the FIBA world champions, Pan American games and the Tournament of Americas that also take place during the years as well. Your stats are flawed. but their rum at the Olympics is one to marvel over that's for sure. from what i can see their best run was from 1936 - 1950 winning 21-1. So the all blacks still have a bit of work to do.

Going on current form, other teams in the RC don't appear to hold a candle to the Darkness, however, most teams lift when they face the AB's so anything can happen!

There was a tryless test (again against Aus) in 2004 too, I think.

A bit like Jack Niclaus' 18 Golf Majors - and 19 runner-up placings.

& US basketball had a 50 year head start on everyone else & has the most players & financial resources by a country mile, & we're talking a big country mile, it's hardly surprising is it? NZ is 7th, 8th in terms of player numbers for World Rugby, & is behind in riches to France, South Africa, & England. Maybe even Ireland & Wales.

"In 2011 they made it to 16 wins before a loss to South Africa. Then 2013 they made it to 17 wins before a meeting with England." Sheesh, get it right. It was 2011-12 16 wins stopped by a draw with Australia, & 2013-14 17 wins, again stopped by a draw with a Australia. In both these drawn tests, the AB's failed to score a try & I believe they're the only two tests in which the AB's have failed to score a try in the last 15 years or so... Basically, both performances were terrible & worthy of been considered chokes with history on the line, this coming from an AB's fan as well.

Gotta win the next ONE before we start thinking of the next 3, 4 5. You'd not be a coach with a chicken counter like that.

Kiwidave - nice write up champ. I have a feeling this current crop are better than their immediate predecessors, which is a scary thought - go the Mighty All Blacks!

The All Blacks will still be well short of the world record winning streak if they get to 18 wins. The record is currently held by the mighty rugby powerhouse Cyprus on 24 wins. That other rugby powerhouse - Andorra, finally ended their streak in 2014. The 17 wins is the record only for Tier 1 nations, but to really be able to call themselves champions, the ABs need to beat Cyprus!

"Good" losers are those who have had a lot of practice at it.

So by Faith's logic, it follows that "there's something false" about Sir Bradman's records because the teams he played in would have had different personnel over the years? Is that what you're trying to flog off to us Faith?? Thought so....

I'm not counting either. Best loss we ever had was last year in Sydney. Mr. Hansen made a comment about how the group really don't take a loss all that well. Not sore losers, just how losing does not sit well. Some of those games in SA at the end of the RC are epic affairs. Hope it's the same this year.

while ur at it the USA Basketball Team ( the so called Dream Team - though the originals of 1992 have claimed it was only them) has gone to 24 : 0 at 3 consecutive Olympics. (unbeaten in their last 25 games.) despite the very impressive results of at the all blacks , the USA bb team have a record to envy since, pro-players were allowed to compete at Olympics 1992 - 6:0 1996 - 8:0 2000 - 8:0 2004 - 5:3 2008 - 8:0 2012 - 8:0 2016 - 8:0 in 2004 they lost the first game thus ending a 22:0 run. they went on to lose 2 more games and only managed the bronze medal. even then , their 51:3 record over a 25 year period is something unreal !!! also this is not taking into account the "friendlies" they play as prep for Olympics. for eg. they played 5 prep games and won them all comfortably. and their win in the final was at a level noone could imagine . they had blown away the Serbian team by the 3rd quarter 79:43 (the same serbians who lost to usa by just 3 points in poll-play 94:91) . at the start of the 4th quarter USA were on course to set a world record with the score reading 90:49 (for the best ever margin at olympics - 44) , but took pity on the Serbians and took out all their starting lineup and played as if they were practicing. and to think that this is almost the "B" team , after their prime stars declined to come to RIO , fearing ZICA virus. it is very difficult to compare the USA bb team since they come together only for olympics and do not usually play in other years as a norm. however , their form at olympics (once every 4 years ) is unrivaled by any team in any game.

Each era to their own with their own circumstances. That team played SA once in NZ as part of that streak and had 11 home matches. They then lost 3 of their next 4 in a tour of SA. Any side winning over 15 straight are a good side and it's difficult to compare.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves Kiwi Dave. There is still along way to go and despite being at 17 at least twice (three times I think), we have never achieved 18. Hopefully it comes to fruition, but I'm not counting until we get to 15.

Me too, my focus only extends to the next game, I hope they win that then I will start thinking about the one after that.

The 65-69 run is more noteworthy. That spanned 5 years not 2 since a lot more tests per year are played. Also this current run included the RWC where wins against minnows are achieved , minnows are not played at other times. No RWC available in 65-69.

The frequency is what sets them apart. England are on a roll of their own and may have scheduled some matches with Malta and Spain to help seal the deal....

The scary part is they get close to the record so frequently!