The New Zealand 3×3 teams will have no shortage of familiarity or team chemistry when it comes to April’s 3×3 FIBA Asia Cup, with both the 3×3 2degrees Tall Ferns and 3×3 Tall Blacks announcing settled line ups for this year’s tournament.
Across both squads, six returnees from 2025’s edition of the 3×3 Asia Cup where #2pointnation took the world by storm, will again feature in this year’s competition.
For the 3×3 Tall Blacks, the familiar young trio of Te Tuhi Lewis, Christian Martin and Aidan Tonge will be joined by their U23 Nations League teammate, Josh Book. Nelson’s Aston Inwood, and Wellington’s Sam Gold will be reserves for the squad.
For Lewis, Martin and Tonge, this year’s presents an opportunity to better their bronze medal finish from last year’s 3×3 FIBA Asia Cup.
In that tournament, there was potentially no player more exciting to watch than our very own Te Tuhi Lewis, who shone brightly with some ridiculous 2-point shotmaking. Lewis averaging 8.8 points per contest, and shooting the long ball at an outrageous 55% clip.
“Asia Cup 2025 for me, was a very new experience. First time for me to ever represent New Zealand playing basketball, and for it to be 3×3 was just another part of the new experience as well.”
“What I didn’t know was that this tournament would be a catalyst for the rest of my year.”
Lewis a standout in the eyes of many at last year’s Asia Cup, with a selection to the Tournament team the icing on the top.
“I played some of the best basketball I had ever played in my life at this tournament and it was on the biggest stage I had ever been on in my career.”
I couldn’t believe it at the time it was happening, it was so surreal, but a few weeks after the tournament, I was on a flight to China looking at my first official 6 month Contract playing 3×3 basketball overseas full time.”
Another standout performance from last year’s 3×3 season, was that of Josh Book. During the FIBA U23 3×3 World Cup, Book’s incredible 17-point performance came ridiculously close to carrying the 3×3 Tall Blacks to a win over Serbia.
Book receiving his first Senior Men’s selection after the impressive display at U23 level last year.
“Being able to represent New Zealand at the men’s level has always been a dream of mine, and I’m very excited to make the jump from U23 3×3 to the Men’s senior team.”
With that out-of-this-world performance against Serbia igniting his passion for more, Book looks set to help the 3×3 Tall Blacks make another run at medalling at this year’s Asia Cup.
“The game against Serbia really lit a fire in me, it was great to be able to show what I am capable of, but to lose in that fashion, on a game winner, to go to the quarter finals of a U23 World Cup against a 3×3 powerhouse country was tough.”
“I remember watching the guys compete in this tournament last year and the success they had bringing back the Bronze medal. The expectation from myself and throughout the whole program is to keep building off of last year’s success and it will always be to win, that’s why we come to these tournaments to win it all.”
The 3×3 2degrees Tall Ferns also retain a solid core of their 2025 FIBA Asia Cup team, with Ella Fotu returning to the black singlet after a long injury lay off to join last year’s trio of Azure Anderson, Eva Langton and Sharne Robati. Kate Herman will be the squads one reserve.
Anderson and Langton, already getting their feet wet in the 3×3 space this year, attending the Manila 3×3 Hustle where they took on some of the best 3×3 club and international competition in the world.
Langton stressing the competition importance in preparing some of the squad for the busy schedule ahead.
“Manila Hustle was a really positive start to our 3×3 season. It was a great opportunity to test ourselves in a competitive environment, continue building our chemistry and identity as a group. Overall, a great experience and valuable preparation leading into the Asia Cup.”
Although no stranger to the black singlet, it’ll Sharne Robati’s first 3×3 trip since last year’s Asia Cup, where she led the 3×3 Tall Ferns with 19 of the team’s 27 points across their two games against China and Korea.
With incredible momentum after the 3×3 programmes 2025, it’s no secret that the 3×3 Tall Blacks and 2degrees 3×3 Tall Ferns will be looking to build on that success at this year’s first major 3×3 tournament in the lead up to the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, that remain a focus for both groups.
“We’re really excited to kick off our FIBA3x3 2026 season at the Asia Cup — it’s our first outing and straight into a major event.”
Basketball New Zealand’s 3×3 High Performance Manager, Nikolay Mikhalchuk, excited about the opportunity in front of both these teams heading into next week.
“It sets the tone for a big year ahead with the Women’s Series, Challengers and World Cup qualification all in front of us. We’re ambitious, but everything is building towards peaking at the Commonwealth Games, which we see as our pinnacle event in 2026. We’ll keep pushing our identity as #2pointnation and look to make a real impact on the global stage.”
The 3×3 Tall Blacks will have Qatar in their pool, with one team from Qualifying Group D (Bahrain, Hong Kong, India or Kazakhstan) to be added.
The 2degrees 3×3 Tall Ferns will have a tough battle against second seeded Mongolia, with India, Malaysia or Turkmenistan to come into the group after qualifying.
All games from the 3×3 FIBA Asia Cup will be live and free for all to view on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel.
2degrees 3×3 Tall Ferns for FIBA Asia Cup
Azure Anderson
Ella Fotu
Eva Langton
Sharne Robati
Kate Herman (reserve)
3×3 Tall Blacks for FIBA Asia Cup
Josh Book
Te Tuhi Lewis
Christian Martin
Aidan Tonge
Sam Gold (reserve)
Aston Inwood (reserve)
