Following an intense four-day training camp in Auckland, Tall Blacks head coach, Pero Cameron and his coaching staff have selected a squad of 14 athletes to travel to Japan, Germany and China in advance of the FIBA World Cup; held in the Philippines from 25 August – 10 September 2023.
The 14 athletes for the Tall Black’s extended FIBA World Cup squad are:
Dan Fotu, Finn Delany, Flynn Cameron, Hyrum Harris, Isaac Fotu, Izayah Le’Afa, Jordan Ngatai, Reuben Te Rangi, Sam Timmins, Shea Ili, Taylor Britt, Tohi Smith-Milner, Walter Brown and Yanni Wetzell.
The camp saw 18 players put through their paces by the coaching staff from Tuesday through Saturday, with trainings held both at Auckland’s Dilworth Senior Campus and the NZ Breakers facility on the North Shore. With Ethan Rusbatch (injury), Corey Webster (personal reasons) and brother Tai Webster (personal reasons) all late scratches from the camp, a trio of training-only replacements were bought in; Julius Halaifonua (NBA Academy), Charlie Dalton (Auckland Tuatara) and Isaac Davidson (Franklin Bulls).
Coach Cameron says that he is pleased with what he’s seen in camp over the past several days.
“It’s been a big week. It’s been really good energy in camp, especially from some of the newer guys, they’ve come in and just put themselves out there and given their absolute best – it’s been awesome to see,” says Cameron.
“Congratulations to the 14 who have made it through to the next part of this process, for us now it’s about making sure we can face whatever challenges pop up so we’re always good to go. There’s a lot of plusses and as always there’s a lot of work-ons too, so this next month [leading up to the World Cup] is when we can address the latter.”
Cameron says that while it’s never easy for players to miss out on selection, he is extremely happy with the group that he and his staff have assembled for this tour.
“We’ve chosen our squad of 14 based on a lot of different reasons and merits and we feel this is the best group going forward. It’s been tough for sure, but from the start we knew a couple [of players] wouldn’t make the final cut, it is what it is and everyone here knows how it works.
“Our focus is always to take things a day at a time, we’ve got more trainings to get through and then we play Japan twice [on 2 and 4 August], so we’re primarily looking ahead to these games. It’s all about trying to get a baseline of performance, a standard we want to meet – and then we’ll go from there.”
All but one of the 14 chosen athletes have appeared for the Tall Blacks across either the World Cup Qualifier games or the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup; Wetzell the lone exception as he looks to make his senior Tall Blacks debut.
Five of these players on this list – Delany, Isaac Fotu, Ngatai, Ili, Smith-Milner – have played in prior World Cups; all five appearing at the 2019 World Cup in China, where New Zealand led the entire competition with 99.4 PPG (Points Per Game) for the first time ever.
While Isaac Fotu is in line to make his third straight World Cup appearance, by contrast Te Rangi – a Tall Blacks veteran who has appeared in 52 games in the black singlet but missed out on the 2019 World Cup due to injury – is in line for his maiden World Cup appearance. He says the opportunity to head to the Philippines is a special one for him.
“I was definitely gutted to miss out on the 2019 World Cup due to injury, but I was able to be part of their preparations in Sydney – and to witness the growth of the team during that time was just amazing to watch,” says Te Rangi.
“Looking forward that’s what I’m most excited about, us continuing to grow as a squad. The belief and the culture in this team is unmatched, what we stand for and what we play for. We play every single game to win but also know how to enjoy these big moments and have fun.”
Te Rangi says that the level of competition in this World Cup is going to be “huge” and a challenge for the squad that the players and coaches alike are excited or.
“Obviously we’re going over to win games and show the world how we play. This next month is important for us; building and working on the things we want to improve on – we’ll be playing against the best players in the world at the World Cup, so we need to be at our absolute best. It’ll an awesome test for our team that we can’t wait for it.”
The Tall Blacks squad of 14 are now in Japan, where they will take on the Japan national team in a pair of friendly games on 2-4 August. Following this the squad departs to Istanbul, Turkey for more training, before heading to the FIBA SuperCup in Germany on 12 August for games against Canada and either China or Germany.
The team then heads to China to take part in the FIBA Solidarity Cup on 18 August, facing China and Italy in this inaugural competition. Once this tournament is finished, a final Tall Blacks squad of 12 will be selected for the FIBA World Cup in the Philippines, prior to the team’s first game on 27 August in the Philippines – shown live and free on TVNZ.
Find out more about the FIBA World Cup at www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023
Tall Blacks Extended Squad of 14 – Pre-World Cup 2023 Tour
Dan Fotu, Franklin Bulls / NZ Breakers
Finn Delany, Telekom Baskets Bonn / NZ Breakers
Flynn Cameron, Melbourne United
Hyrum Harris, Hawkes Bay Hawks / Perth Wildcats
Isaac Fotu, Utsunomiya Brex
Izayah Le’Afa, Wellington Saints / NZ Breakers
Jordan Ngatai, Hawkes Bay Hawks
Reuben Te Rangi, Auckland Tuatara / S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
Sam Timmins, Otago Nuggets / Sydney Kings
Shea Ili, Melbourne United
Taylor Britt, Canterbury Rams
Tohi Smith-Milner, Wellington Saints / Adelaide 36ers
Walter Brown, Canterbury Rams / Tasmania Jackjumpers
Yanni Wetzell, Alba Berlin
Head Coach – Pero Cameron
Assistant Coach – Michael Fitchett
Assistant Coach – Zico Coronel
Assistant Coach – Aaron Young
Tall Blacks Schedule – Pre-World Cup 2023 Tour
Friendly Games, Japan – Tall Blacks vs Japan (Game 1), 2 August 2023
Friendly Games, Japan – Tall Blacks vs Japan (Game 2), 2 August 2023
FIBA SuperCup, Germany – Tall Blacks vs Canada, 13 August 2023
FIBA SuperCup, Germany – Tall Blacks vs [China or Germany], 14 August 2023
FIBA Solidarity Cup – Tall Blacks vs China, 18 August 2023
FIBA Solidarity Cup – Tall Blacks vs Italy, 21 August 2023
