Cameron boys shun Australia to follow Pero’s basketball path
Pero Cameron is a proud father after both of the former Tall Black’s boys were named in the Junior Tall Blacks.
Tobias, 17, and Flynn, 16, Cameron were named in the squad for the Fiba Oceania Championships in Fiji despite living on the Gold Coast and being eligible for Australia.
For Cameron, who was named to the World Basketball Championship team of the tournament in 2002, it was an especially proud moment hearing that both sons had been selected.
“They have wanted it for a while now,” Cameron said.
“It keeps getting tougher and tougher to make any New Zealand side so I am really proud of them.”
While he said he hadn’t pushed his boys in to the sport it was always likely that they would follow him.
“I think they have always loved playing the sport. They really love the offensive end, I will say that.
“They remind me of a couple of my old teammates in Jonesy [ Phill Jones] and Kirk [ Penney].
“They love shooting the ball, they love the camaraderie and I think just being around it a lot influenced them.”
The siblings are both guards — Tobias a shooting guard while Flynn is a point guard.
Having fashioned a successful coaching career since his playing days finished Pero Cameron is quick to analyse the skills of his sons.
“I think the older one, Tobias — I try to teach him that all aspects of the game are really important. I tell him that you can’t just be good at one thing and he is — he is very good at a lot of the aspects of the game.
“The other one, Flynn — I just put him in the mould of Phill Jones or Kirk Penney and that is, he just shoots the ball. He is a point guard. He is a lefty as well.”
Cameron says the days of him providing detailed analysis of their play has long gone.
“My mum was a coach and I didn’t like to listen because she knew more than I did. I guess it is the same for them,” Cameron said.
“It is hard to coach your own kids so I try to stay to the side of that.”
Despite living on the Gold Coast and representing Queensland and Australia at age- group level, Pero Cameron said New Zealand was always where his sons’ hearts lay.
“I think they always bled black but there were certainly a couple of opportunities where they could have worn the green and gold.
“They got picked for the Australian schoolboys team but that didn’t affect their Fiba status.
“They have been biding their time to the point where they could play for the Junior Tall Blacks.”