All-Star Josh books ticket for trip to Asia
After taking the heat at the Oceania Championships in Papua New Guinea, rising Nelson basketballer Josh Book is ready to take on Asia’s best with the national team.
The Waimea College student was named in the FIBA U15 Oceania Championship’s All Star Five as a shooting guard, alongside Kiwi team-mate Tafara Gapare, who was also named tournament MVP.
Playing in 38 degrees Celsius temperatures in the capital Port Moresby, Book’s New Zealand team went through pool play unbeaten against the hosts, Samoa, Guam and a 59-57 win over Australia.
‘‘We love to get out there, push the defence and then play our fast break – it was all pretty fast paced,’’ he said.
However, the Crocs rebounded in the final to take a thrilling 61-58 victory over the Kiwis.
Book top-scored for New Zealand in the championship decider with 16 points, while Gapare and Sataan Tawera added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The FIBA U15 Oceania Championship served as the first step in the qualification process to the 2020 FIBA U17 World Cup.
Australia and New Zealand are the qualified teams to the FIBA U16 Championship in India next year, with the top four teams from that tournament going onto the worlds.
The next phase in Book’s international duty is still a year away, leaving a whole season of school and representative basketball to look forward to in 2019
Book said while 2018 had been a year to remember, he was only too aware of the work required to reach the lofty heights and opportunities that basketball afforded on the world stage.
‘‘I’m just going to keep on practicing and keep ticking more boxes – I’m always going to need to work on everything just to keep up with the competition and keep improving every aspect of my game – I’ve still got time.’’