The Tall Blacks' Commonwealth Games squad has been named this morning, with head coach Paul Henare forced to combine young talent with proven veterans in their quest for a medal on the Gold Coast with many key members unavailable.
Henare has named 12 players for next month's tournament, all of whom have recently experienced play at international level in one form or another, but is without some key players.
Europe-based players Tai and Corey Webster as well as Isaac Fotu are all unavailable, leaving a serious chunk of talent and experience needed to be filled by younger members of the squad.
Henare is also missing some of his best young talent from the US, including big man Tai Wynyard who is currently playing for the University of Kentucky.
But the Tall Blacks coach believes he's got the talent to get the job done regardless.
"While some of this group are younger in years, they have all benefited from recent international basketball, through the 2017 Asia Cup when we took a very inexperienced team away, to recent New Zealand Select tours to China, and of course many were involved in recent FIBA World Cup qualifying windows," Henare said.
"Guys like Ethan (Rusbatch), Derone (Raukawa) and Tohi (Smith-Milner) are young but bring the experience of that Asia Cup campaign to every team they play for, while others such as Shea (Ili), Finn (Delany), Jordan (Ngatai) and our captain Reuben (Te Rangi) all benefited hugely from that experience and have a great understanding of the pressure they will face in the next few weeks."
The Tall Blacks won silver the last time basketball was included as a Commonwealth Games event in Melbourne in 2006.
The only player still in the squad from the successful campaign, Mika Vukona, says he's excited he has another shot at gold.
"I remember that tournament vividly, we won silver but what I remember is being in a great position to win gold," he said.
"We led the Aussies going into the final quarter and it was only a couple of key moments that saw the game go away from us.
"To have another chance at winning a medal and to do so with this new group of players and coaches is a huge honour."
The tournament differs from the typical FIBA format players are used to, with the top four seeded nations grouped together in Pool A.
The top two sides from that pool progress directly to the semifinals, while the bottom two will play against the top two teams from the lower ranked pool, with the winners of those two games also progressing to the semifinals.
New Zealand will play Nigeria, Canada and Australia in pool play, with all matches being played in Cairns, before teams move back to the Gold Coast for semifinals and medal rounds. The other pool consists of England, Scotland, India and Cameroon.
The first match for New Zealand is against Nigeria on April 6th.
Watch FULL LIVE COVERAGE of the 21st Commonwealth Games free-to-air on TVNZ from April 4, 2018.
New Zealand Men’s Basketball Team (name, club/s, position)
Derone Raukawa, NZ Breakers/Southland Sharks, guard
Shea Ili, NZ Breakers/Wellington Saints, guard
Jarrod Kenny, Perth Wildcats/Bay Hawks, guard
Reuben Te Rangi, Brisbane Bullets/Southland Sharks, guard
Ethan Rusbatch, Bay Hawks, guard
Jordan Ngatai, NZ Breakers/Wellington Saints, guard/small forward
Tom Abercrombie, NZ Breakers, guard/small forward
Finn Delany, NZ Breakers/Nelson Giants, forward
Mika Vukona, NZ Breakers, forward (captain)
Tohi Smith-Milner, Melbourne United/Nelson Giants . Forward
Rob Loe, NZ Breakers, centre
Alex Pledger, NZ Breakers/Southland Sharks, centre
SHARE ME