Tall Black Dion Prewster has made himself available for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
A mix of youth and experience make up the Tall Blacks' 14-strong squad to compete in next month's FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
The squad is: Taylor Britt, Walter Brown, Tobias Cameron, Max Darling, Dan Fotu, Julius Halaifonua, Tyrell Harrison, Izayah Le'afa, Alex McNaught, Jordan Ngatai, Dion Prewster, Ethan Rusbatch, Sam Timmins and Tom Vodanovich.
Tall Blacks head coach Pero Cameron has also named his assistant coaches for this window as Michael Fitchett, Trent Adam and Daryl Cartwright.
Window 1 sees the Tall Blacks travel to Chinese Taipei for their first game on 22 February, before returning to New Zealand to face Hong Kong in Auckland on 25 February. This is the first of three qualification windows for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, which will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August next year.
Cameron said squad featured a blend of experienced Tall Blacks veterans - including Rusbatch, Ngatai and Prewster - alongside newcomers to the black singlet in Halaifonua and Cameron.
"This group is a good mix of youth and experience; availability is always a factor with this roster at this time of year so I'm happy we can build an exciting and competitive squad in this window - they'll be hungry for the challenge of playing against Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong."
"When Dion [Prewster] first put his hand up, he made it clear he wants to be available for Olympics as well as Asia Cup qualification; I look forward to having him on board and he's excited to be part of the Tall Blacks again. He'll join Izayah, Ethan, Jordan, Tom and other seasoned Tall Blacks as players we know can perform on the international stage."
Cameron believed a blend of veteran experience and youth in the Tall Blacks squad helped the programme with both their immediate and long-term goals.
"One goes well with the other and the vets help these young guys coming in. For us it's about athlete development, giving the younger guys an opportunity to play at this level and get experience, while at the same time seeing what they can do against world-class competition. They need these opportunities to grow."
Tobias Cameron is coach Cameron's second son to play under him in the national team with Flynn Cameron playing at last year's Basketball World Cup for the Tall Blacks.
"This is a great opportunity for Tobias he's come up through the national teams pathways via the Junior Tall Blacks so he'll have a chance to show what he's capable of in these games; I'm looking forward having him in the squad.
"And with Julius [Halaifonua], he's big, he's got great size, great touch and there's a massive upside for him and our squad when he's in it. He just needs experience and to play at the highest level, so this is a huge opportunity for him. Good things will come to him if he trains and plays hard."
17-year-old Halaifonua, who at 7'0" will join Harrison as the squad's tallest player, is ecstatic to be part of the national team setup after previously training with the Tall Blacks squad last year prior to the FIBA World Cup. Halaifonua will join his Tall Black teammates in Chinese Taipei from the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, where he has been based since 2023.
"It feels great to be selected; throughout the past year [at the NBA Global Academy] I've been going up against players my height which has helped my development; it's allowed my game to grow in huge leaps over the past 12 months.
"My two big basketball goals are to make the NBA and the Tall Blacks, so this is a big step for me; having been around some of the Tall Blacks staff recently has helped me to be familiar with them and their system and it helps make [the transition to the Tall Blacks squad] easier."
Cameron said the FIBA Asia Cup is a pinnacle event on the New Zealand national team radar, with the squad aiming to build on their success at the 2023 edition of this tournament where the Tall Blacks claimed bronze.
"With the new windows format with FIBA, the Asia Cup is a pinnacle event for us - it's the third biggest tournament for the Tall Blacks behind the Olympics and World Cup. There's a huge amount of quality international teams that are part of this competition, and when you look at the top teams in the Asia region - including Australia, China, Korea, Lebanon, Japan - they'll all world-class teams.
"It's a tough and prestigious tournament and we're thrilled to be part of it. It's also a good opportunity to test the Tall Blacks depth chart too."
Cameron believed the Asia Cup qualifiers also provided the Tall Blacks with a chance to evaluate their game and style of play against the contrasting styles used by other countries.
"I see Asia Cup Qualifiers as giving New Zealand more quality games against a lot of different styles; every nation employs different play-styles and have different strengths and focuses within their squad. It's a great way to test your style against another country, and to see which players and programmes are developing within the different region and countries. Who's developing, what new styles are coming through, how do we stack up against them?"
