Tall Blacks Olympic path confirmed

The Tall Blacks’ Olympic hopes are on the line in July, with New Zealand needing to win a qualifying tournament held in Greece in order to book its place on the plane to Paris, and head coach Pero Cameron has named an extended squad of 19 players that will hold the nation’s hopes in their hands.

NBL24 representatives Flynn Cameron, Finn Delany, Hyrum Harris, Tyrell Harrison, Shea Ili, Izayah Le’Afa, Reuben Te Rangi, Tom Vodanovich and Sam Waardenburg have all been named to the active 14-man squad, while Dan Fotu, Sam Mennenga and Sam Timmins are part of the non-traveling reserves list.

New Zealand will prepare for the tournament by facing Finland and Poland prior to selecting a final squad of 12 who will fight it out at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus, Greece.

Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Egypt and the Dominican Republic stand in the way of the Tall Blacks’ first Olympic qualification since 2004, when head coach Pero Cameron was a key player for the side.

NBA stars Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic) could all feature in the tournament, which will run from 2-7 July.

New Zealand will face Croatia and Slovenia in the group stage.

Melbourne United’s Shea Ili was recently named New Zealand’s men’s player of the year for his contributions to the nation’s 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign, and says there’s a belief the Tall Blacks can defeat anyone they play against.

“As a team we’ve always shown that when we step foot on that court, we’re capable of beating any opponent we’re up against; but it’s about taking that next step and being able to win the games we need to win to make it through,” Ili said.

“We’ll be going up against some big powerhouses in Slovenia and Croatia in group play, and if we can make it through to the crossover, we’ll face Greece or another team. We’ll focus on being able to make it through and take that next step; we can’t just be happy with playing well – we have to make it through to the next stage, do ourselves proud and make the Olympics.

“Our main goal is to try and make the Olympics and as a team we’ll be going out to do our absolute best; for me the one thing I’ve always wanted in my career is go to an Olympics and do my family – and our country – proud.”