The Tall Blacks enjoyed a marvelous campaign at the 2002 World Cup, eventually finishing fourth, and in so doing captured the imagination of the New Zealand sporting public.
The team reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Tall Blacks. Only 11 players have played 100 tests for New Zealand and six of them were at those World Champs in Indianapolis and astonishingly the 12 players totaled 1,173 international appearances between them. Head Coach Tab Baldwin was almost a centurion also, being at the helm of the Tall Blacks for 93 internationals. Many of the 2002 team continue to give back to the game in New Zealand and overseas.
Punching above their weight against international heavyweights New Zealand beat Russia 90-81 in the tournament opener with Pero Cameron and Sean Marks passing 20 points. Phill Jones and Kirk Penney scored 20 apiece as Venezuela were defeated 98-85. Despite 21 from Cameron, Argentina were too good for NZ as were Germany and USA. The final Pool game was against China with the Tall Blacks needing a win to make the quarterfinals. Cameron put the Tall Blacks ahead 82-81 with 4:30 to play and they would go on to win 94-88 : Phill Jones a masterly 33 points in the win. With 21 points Jones again top scored in the quarters where the Kiwis edged past Puerto Rico 65-63 with Cameron scoring New Zealand’s last 8 points to seal victory. Back home three-quarters of a million tuned in for the semi-final and despite a valiant performance from the Tall Blacks Yugoslavia, the reigning World Champs, prevailed 89-78. New Zealand lost 117-94 to Germany in the bronze medal game but a fourth place finish and the manner of the performances had put New Zealand on the “international map.”
Pero Cameron, a future FIBA Hall of Famer and BBNZ Legend, was named to the All-star team at the champs after averaging 14.7 points and a team high 5 rebounds per game. Phill Jones led the NZ scoring averaging 18.2 ppg while Kirk Penney tallied 16.9 per contest. They were the 6th and 8th highest scorers at the tournament whilst Mark “Sparky” Dickel was second in the assists category averaging 4.6 per game. These four players all amassed 100 international appearances as did Paul Henare and Dillon Boucher.
2002 Team
Staff:
- Head Coach: Tab Baldwin
- Assistant Coach: Nenad Vucinic
Players:
- Pero Cameron
- Phill Jones
- Kirk Penney
- Mark Dickel
- Dillon Boucher
- Sean Marks
- Robert Hickey
- Paul Henare
- Judd Flavell
- Paora Winitana
- Damon Rampton
- Ed Book
From this team Pero Cameron, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney & Sean Marks have previously been inducted into the New Zealand Basketball Hall of Fame.
