Henare facing tough call on veteran Vukona
Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare has a pivotal decision to make around veteran forward Mika Vukona ahead of the looming Fiba Asia World Cup qualifying window.
Henare wears two hats as a hoops coach, calling the shots not only for New Zealand’s Tall Blacks on the international scene, but also the Breakers in Australia’s National Basketball League.
And Henare must weigh the wisdom of taking the 35-year-old Vukona on a gruelling February Fiba road double that could compromise the Breakers’ chances of advancing past the semifinal stage to contend for a fifth championship in the Aussie league.
Here’s the scenario: the Breakers wrap up their ANBL regular season with a home game against Illawarra on Friday, February 16 and a visit to the Sydney Kings just two days after that. The Tall Blacks then meet China in Dongguan on Friday, February 23 and Korea in Seoul on Monday, February 26.
Now here’s where it gets interesting: the ANBL playoffs get
(one to be omitted): Shea Ili, Jarrod Kenny, Corey Webster, Tai Webster, Tom Abercrombie, Reuben Te Rangi, Jordan Ngatai, Finn Delany, Isaac Fotu, Tohi Smith-Milner, Mika Vukona, Rob Loe, Alex Pledger. under way that week beginning February 26, and there is no guarantee that the schedulers will take into account the heavy contingent of Breakers in the Tall Blacks. At the very least they’re likely to be required to play game one of their semifinals as early as Wednesday or Thursday that week.
The Breakers have seven Tall Blacks regulars in their squad in the form of Vukona, Tom Abercrombie, Alex Pledger, Rob Loe, Shea Ili, Jordan Ngatai and Finn Delany.
But with plenty of cover in the power forward position, in the form of Isaac Fotu, Tohi SmithMilner and Delany, Henare may be tempted to spare Vukona the long haul to Asia and keep his legs fresh for the start of the ANBL playoffs.
All the Tall Blacks coach has confirmed at this stage is that his squad remains settled from the group he had for the November window, which means Europebased stars Corey and Tai Webster and Fotu are all available.
That will leave Henare to ponder the wisdom of taking Vukona on what will be a tough road double. China are unbeaten thus far and the Koreans toppled the Tall Blacks in Wellington in their Group A opener.
Clearly it will be a decision Henare will make in conjunction with his veteran forward, and one taken with the best interests of both the Breakers and Tall Blacks at heart.
Henare, at least, will have his three European stars in top form for the February double.
Tai Webster is fresh off a 24-point haul for the Fraport Skyliners in Germany’s BBL, which was matched by Fotu’s scoring total for Ratiopharm ULM in the same league.
Webster had 24 points on eightof-11 shooting (5 of 6 from deep) and three assists for the Skyliners in an 81-88 defeat to Ludwigsburg. At 11-9 they sit eighth in the German league.
The speedy point guard is the eighth leading scorer in the German league with 15.8 a game, to go with 4.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
Fotu’s 24-point haul for Ratiopharm, in an 89-84 victory over Goetlingen, also came at an efficient clip (7/10 FG, 2/3 3PT, 8/9 FT), with the Tall Blacks big man averaging 12.6 points and 3.9 rebounds on the season for his sixth-placed club (12-7).
Corey Webster has also been getting buckets in Israel for Ironi Nahariya, averaging 15.8 points for the season as his club sits eighth in the Winner League on a 7-9 record. He had 18 points (6/10 FG, 3/6 3PT), three boards and three assists in their most recent outing, a 101-97 win over Galil Gilboa.
‘‘They’re all playing really well, and all having very good seasons,’’ said Henare. ‘‘It’s very cool to see from a New Zealand basketball point of view young Kiwis playing well on the international stage at a professional level.’’
At last report, Henare was still awaiting confirmation from Corey Webster that he had been able to secure his visa for China (requiring a visit to Tel Aviv), but was not anticipating it being a problem.
And with both the November games in Asia, travel is at least reduced for the European contingent who do not have to make the long haul to New Zealand.