Henare has heavy heart, no regrets
Outgoing Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare boarded the plane to Japan with a heavy heart but a clear conscience over a role that at times frustrated with its lack of resources but always delivered the ultimate kick for him as a New Zealander.
Henare took a parting shot over his sport’s well-publicised lack of funding support and both he and his bosses admitted that financial constraints ultimately meant he was unable to be offered a package to remain in the Tall Blacks role in the face of a lucrative offer in Japan.
But the Kiwi hoops legend also made it clear he departed for his new role, on a three-year deal as head coach of an ambitious Japanese second division club, with no real regrets.
Henare has ended a 17-year association with the Tall Blacks as a player, assistant coach and finally head of the operation and he told Stuff before flying out for Japan yesterday that he did so with plenty of reluctance, but ultimately with the understanding that this was the right move to make for his career and his family.
Because the Tall Blacks job is only a part-time role – funded as little more than a quarter of a job
Olympics and though the field is a daunting one, Henare believes their recent World Cup performance in China demonstrated palpably they have a shot.
‘‘We proved to everyone we can compete with and beat the best teams in the world, which we’ve done for the last 20 years . . . We fell short of our goal to qualify for Tokyo but I’m really proud of how we’ve been able to reinvent ourselves in multiple ways in my time, adapting to who we have available.
‘‘We don’t have an extreme depth of talent where we can have one style that fits all.
‘‘Every time we step on floor we have to evaluate who we’ve got, and figure out a system that best fits that.
‘‘We’ve been planning for two years for Tokyo 2020 and I hope that’s still a goal. But it’s going to be up to someone else to drive that.
‘‘I’m leaving the team in good hands in terms of where our leadership structure is at and where our values are at. It’s in a really good space.’’
Of course, Henare had to do his job on the smell of an oily rag and he admits the funding shortcomings in this country were at times heavily frustrating.
‘‘We’ve always been underresourced and always found a way make it work,’’ he reflects. ‘‘We don’t have high expectations in terms of financial gains and we know we’re not going to be flying business class. But it would help a lot having more funding. The new Fiba system is fantastic . . . but it has put the team and organisation under a massive strain.
‘‘It’s frustrating, but it’s how the guidelines are written in high performance sport’s funding model that is the problem.
‘‘Basketball is the second most popular sport in the world and it’s going through the roof here in New Zealand.
‘‘We’ve always competed at a high level … but for the powers that be that’s not good enough and that’s frustrating for a lot of people.’’
Basketball NZ boss Iain Potter said Henare would be sorely missed but went to his latest challenge with their best wishes.
‘‘He’s a big loss and what he achieved with that team [at the World Cup] in China was inspirational,’’ Potter said.
‘‘Watching those big crowds won over by the pluckiness and competitiveness of our team made me proud to be a New Zealander and appreciate how clever Pauli is as a coach.’’
Henare believes there should be ‘‘continuity’’ in the choice of his successor and Potter indicated an interim appointment was likely to take the team through next year’s commitments in Asia and the Olympic qualifying tournament before the role was reassessed.