Tall Black forward Yanni Wetzell is with the New Zealand squad for the first time. Photo: Supplied
Yanni Wetzell's basketball journey has taken him to different parts of the world and now the Tall Blacks are making him feel at home for the first time.
After five years playing for three different colleges in the US, Wetzell started his professional career in Melbourne in the Australian NBL followed by a season in his hometown of Auckland with the Breakers, before he signed with clubs in Spain and most recently Germany.
The globetrotting had previously prevented the 27-year-old forward from making himself available for New Zealand.
Now he is on the cusp of playing in the FIBA World Cup.
Wetzell is among 14 Tall Blacks vying for a place on coach Pero Cameron's final 12-man roster for the World Cup during a pre-World Cup tour that takes the New Zealanders to Japan, Germany and China.
The 2.08m Aucklander played his first minutes in the New Zealand singlet in a loss to Japan in a friendly on Wednesday.
In a few weeks he could be playing the biggest game of his budding international career when the Tall Blacks take on the five-time champions USA in their opening game of the World Cup in the Philippines on 27 August.
San Diego State Aztecs forward Yanni Wetzell (5) during a college basketball game between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs in 2020. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Being around like-minded players means Wetzell is feeling comfortable in the Tall Blacks environment despite his rookie status.
Touring with the Tall Blacks is a mix of serious hard work and cracking jokes, Wetzell says during his first camp with the national side.
"I think every guy would say that about their national team there's just a special camaraderie with the guys that you were raised up with and have that similar sort of upbringing.
"It's got a definitely a unique feel to it. As compared to playing on your professional team with a bunch of guys from all over the world, you're playing with guys that you've known your whole life and who have those similarities when it comes to culture.
"It'll be real interesting to see how we bond together and I'm really excited for it."
Wetzell will return to Alba Berlin the popular and successful club in Germany after the World Cup for a second season.
His first stint at the club this year was a learning curve.
"It took few months to adjust to the level at Euro League, but honestly, just the simplicity of it all, which blew me away at first was basketball's a simple game and and it should be played the right way and if you can play the right way, and just keep things crisp, then that's really effective.
"Pretty much just the way that guys play at such a high level is crisp and passes are clean and people just play with a really high IQ.
"There's obviously a lot more length a lot more size, and a lot more pace to things over there. So that was probably the biggest adjustment, just learning how to play with it and less space, playing with guys that really know how to play. So definitely picked the brains of some of the veterans on my team and just watching a lot of film. So I think I've definitely grown a lot in that past year and looking forward to implementing some stuff on this tour."
Yanni Wetzell has developed as a basketball player after leaving the Australian NBL. Photo: Photosport
Wetzell is aware that the Tall Blacks match up differently than other international basketball sides.
"We don't have a ton of size and that's kind of New Zealand in a nutshell, we don't have the plethora of talent that other countries and powerhouse European teams do just given the smaller population.
"We make do with what we have and and we'll play our own style and try it we'll try play a unique style, which we'll be good at in our own right and, and we'll see if we can beat some of these powerhouse teams with that."
Drawn against some strong basketball nations in the group stage of the World Cup in USA and Greece as well as Jordan the Tall Blacks will have an uphill battle at the global tournament.
"It's obviously an amazing opportunity as a unit to try to beat these teams and advance into the knockout stages, but at the same time, it's hard not to think about the eyes and an opportunity for individuals and being able to play on that platform in front of a lot of scouts and this great exposure for all of us as individuals."
