Junior Tall Blacks head coach, Matt Lacey has named a talented group of 18 athletes for the New Zealand U18 men’s national team – a.k.a. the Junior Tall Blacks – selection camp in both Tauranga and Auckland.
The list includes: Hadi Alshami, Adam Barton, Will Blight, Jonty Bond, Kaden Bracey, Ezrah Eagle, Julius Halaifonua, Mahnaya Heke, Carter Hopoi, Ryan Hunt, Bart Jackowski, Keelan Magalogo, Xanda Marsters, Michael Ropotini, Te Tatau Strother, Troy Supple, Chris Wyllie and Josh Wyllie.
In addition, Icaro Teixeira and Manaia-Ariki Wharepapa have been named as non-attending reserves.
The list is headlined by 7’0” centre Halaifonua, who last Sunday made this debut for the Tall Blacks in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifier game; the 17-year-old racking up 4 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of blocks in New Zealand’s 39-point demolition of Hong Kong.
Halaifonua is one of six players in camp from last year’s U17 Men’s national team which claimed silver at the FIBA U17 Oceania Championships in Papua New Guinea; joining Blight, Eagle, Heke, Hopoi and Josh Wyllie.
Four others from that squad – Kahu Treacher, Nic Book, Christopher Christof and Tama Isaac – are unavailable to attend this selection camp due to other commitments, but remain in contention for the Junior Tall Blacks.
Camp Underway in Tauranga
Yesterday saw the first day of the Junior Tall Blacks selection camp in action, with Coach Lacey and Assistant Coaches Doug Courtney and Josiah Maama putting the athletes through their paces in Tauranga. The coaching staff has the unenvious task of selecting a squad of 12 athletes to travel to the FIBA U18 Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan from 2-9 September.
In a move from the traditional selection camp setup, the U18 squad will go up against a Whai men’s squad today before travelling to Auckland, where they’ll play the Franklin Bulls and Auckland Tuatara in a pair of friendlies over two days.
Coach Lacey says that from the very beginning of the campaign, he felt it was important for the athletes to be exposed to as high a level of competition as possible prior to the FIBA Asia Champs.
“It was always a hope for us to be able to schedule some pre-season games against Sal’s NBL clubs, in prep for FIBA Asian Champs this year. So we’re really pleased to be able to have games against the Whai, Bulls and Tuatara as they prepare for their NBL seasons,” says Lacey.
“Given the challenges our programme faces, whether it be financial or contact time with our athletes, we’ve got to be smart around how we allocate our resources and go about our preparations. We feel like this is a little different to other preparations we’ve had, but we wanted to be creative in how we get our athletes to prepare for high-level competition.”
Coach Lacey says that it’s important the athletes understand that constant improvement is needed between last year’s campaign and the FIBA Asian Champs this year, as there will be a notable step up in the quality of the opponents New Zealand will face.
“I’ve been really pleased with the buy-in and the approach of the guys so far in terms of how we want to play, the type of shots we want to shoot, and the style of play that we believe could give us some success on the world stage – so that was really pleasing.
“Where we’ve struggled in the past was the ability to execute under pressure and at pace against international size and athleticism. So hopefully playing against some of these professional athletes – these stronger and more experience players – will help prepare us for what’s to come at the FIBA Asian Champs.”
Junior Tall Blacks Camp Attendees, Feb/Mar 2024
Hadi Alshami, Harbour Basketball Association
Adam Barton, Nelson Basketball Association
Will Blight, Nelson Basketball Association
Jonty Bond, Nelson Basketball Association
Kaden Bracey, Nelson Basketball
Ezrah Eagle, Basketball Hawkes Bay
Julius Halaifonua, Harbour Basketball Association
Mahnaya Heke, Waikato Basketball
Carter Hopoi, Tauranga Basketball Association
Ryan Hunt, Waitakere West Auckland Basketball
Bart Jackowski, Harbour Basketball Association
Keelan Magalogo, Kapiti Basketball Association
Xanda Marsters, Rotorua Basketball Association
Michael Ropotini, Waitakere West Auckland Basketball
Te Tatau Strother, Waikato Basketball
Troy Supple, Harbour Basketball Association
Chris Wyllie, Harbour Basketball Association
Josh Wyllie, Harbour Basketball Association
Junior Tall Blacks Camp – Reserves
Icaro Teixeira, Canterbury Basketball Association
Manaia-Ariki Wharepapa, Canterbury Basketball Association
