Aston, Timmins named in Tall Blacks for Asia Cup

OTAGO homegrown talents Luke Aston and Sam Timmins have made the most of their opportunities to be named in the Tall Blacks squad that will travel to Lebanon for the Asia Cup next month.

The pair were among 15 players Tall Blacks head coach Paul Henare had the chance to get a closeup look at during a training camp that is running in Auckland.

Three days into the sixday camp, Henare was tasked with selecting 12 players for the Tall Blacks who will travel to Lebanon, next month.

Both Aston and Timmins did enough to impress the coach and have the chance to pull on the black singlet for the first time.

The former Otago Boys’ High School pupils are joined as Tall Black newcomers by Isaac Letoa, James Hunter and Dyson KingHawea.

Henare has been impressed with what all of the freshmen have brought to the training camp.

‘‘The great thing about young players is their eagerness to learn and the freshness with which they approach everything.’’

‘‘Many of them have had a taste of international basketball with the Select team, but they know that this is another level.

‘‘I am fascinated to see how they react to the chance they have been given.’’

The southern duo’s selection also comes on the back of their strong showing in the New Zealand Select team that played a sixgame tour of China in late June.

Prior to that, Aston came off a strong season with the Southland Sharks in the National Basketball League.

During that competition, Timmins was on the other side of the world, playing his first season of college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle.

The experience new players in the Tall Blacks setup get from the playing in the Asia Cup should strengthen the side’s ranks as it aims to progress towards the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

‘‘It is important that we continue to build the depth of our playing pool, and ensure that we have players with international experience to call upon at any time,’’ Henare said.

To complete their training camp, the Tall Blacks team played the first of two closeddoor games against China yesterday, before playing it again today.

‘‘These games came at the request of the Chinese. For them, they are perfect given they have been touring in Australia and were looking for another couple of hitouts,’’ Henare said.

Otago can claim some extra pride from the Tall Blacks team announcement yesterday after Finn Delany, who had a short stint in the Dunedin club scene, was named in the side’s threeman leadership group alongside captain Reuben Te Rangi and Shea Ili.

Delany played for the Breakers last year.

Some experienced Tall Blacks players such as Corey Webster, Tom Abercrombie and Mika Vukona were not available for the tour.