Tall Blacks head coach Paul Henare is ready, he is calm and ready for the toughest challenge of his coaching career, certainly of his fledgling international career in charge of the national team.
On Saturday evening in Melbourne the Tall Blacks will take to the floor against an NBA laden Aussie Boomers team that is a heavy favourite to take out the first of the two game series, with the return leg in Wellington on Tuesday night.
It has been a long camp and a good one but Henare says they now need to be ready to play.
“There is a sense of excitement here amongst the group, trials were way back on July 8 in Auckland this group has been together since then and we have been through a lot and finally we are here. At the start of the week when we assembled in Auckland there was a feeling of wanting to get the game underway, now we are here you can sense the boys are ready.”
So what do the Tall Blacks have to do against the Boomers to be in with a shot of a place in Rio 2016?
“We have to be on point, consistent and disciplined, those are the factors that will give us the chance to beat them, they are classy, well coached and ready for us, we will have to be on point in every aspect of our game, we have certainly prepared that way.
“It is nothing new for us being underdogs, to be honest I think we play best when we are. It doesn’t happen too often where we are expected to win. We saw at the Stankovic Cup and playing well for a couple of games we were the best team and the by product is we didn’t play our best. That tag will stick with us throughout this series and we are happy enough to carry it.”
Henare certainly knows his opposition, and not only the players. He played for Boomers head coach Andrej Lemanis at the Breakers and has the utmost respect for his former mentor.
“Andrej and I have a lot of history together, that does not change the fact we are battling as fierce enemies but afterwards we will shake hands as the best of friends again, that is just one of those things an I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Henare has been pleased with the preparation that has taken his team from Auckland, Napier, London, Croatia, Slovenia and a win at the Stankovic Cup in China.
“I have been happy with our buildup, we have to leave New Zealand to get as much quality opposition as we can. Coming back from China a week out from game one was a good decision, it was a tough trip back from China last Sunday and you could see it in the legs on Monday but now we are here in Melbourne they are nice and fresh and well rested for the game.”
And he is confident he has his own weapons to trouble the Aussies, and will be able to look beyond Stankovic Cup MVP Corey Webster for offence.
“Corey is a big part of our team but we have several options. He has been patient and passed the ball well, we know he will get plenty of attention but he sees that coverage every game and finds a way to get himself going. But we have several other guys that can step up if needed.”
The winner of the two game series qualifies for the Rio Olympic Games next year. If the Series is level at one win each, the winner will be decided on points differential. If wins and points differential are equal, the second game in Wellington will go to overtime to decide the winner. Each game must have a winner.
FIBA Oceania Series
Tall Blacks v Boomers
Saturday 15 August, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
10:30pm NZT – live coverage on SKY Sport 3
Tuesday 18 August, TSB Stadium, Wellington
7:30pm NZT – live coverage on Sky Sport
