Tall Blacks build impressive depth
Paul Henare could have some sleepless nights next year deliberating on his Tall Blacks Fiba World Cup squad.
New Zealand moved within one win of clinching a place at next year’s global tournament in China in August-September after crushing Arab nation Jordan 95-69 in Christchurch on Thursday night.
The Tall Blacks would secure their berth with another Asian zone qualifying victory over Syria in Wellington tomorrow, booking their ticket with two further games to play in the Middle East in February.
Henare was pleased with the growing pool of talent they had exposed to international basketball during World Cup qualifying.
He was bracing for the prospect of some challenging World Cup selection decisions next year, should the Tall Blacks qualify as expected.
New Zealand have several USbased college players, including University of Virginia standout Jack Salt, to come back into the mix. The million dollar question of whether Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams is willing and able to link up with the Tall Blacks for the World Cup will also need to be answered.
‘‘Once we get to that stage where we’re having to choose 12 players to represent New Zealand at the World Cup that’s going to be a very difficult selection process,’’ Henare said.
‘‘Leading into every [World Cup qualifying] window we’ve got to select a long list of 24 players and even selecting that one right now, if we had everyone available right now, is a difficult selection.’’
Tall Blacks veteran Tom Abercrombie, who scored a game-high 18 points, while collecting four rebounds, said the team’s performances in qualifying had illustrated New Zealand basketball’s new-found depth.
He believed it was as strong as it had been during his long involvement with the national side.
‘‘The depth is certainly there at the moment.
‘‘Obviously, with these qualifying windows and different availability of different guys at different times that depth gets tested, but I certainly think we’ve ticked that box – that we do have guys ready to step in when needed and get the job done.’’
New Zealand have won eight straight games in World Cup qualifying since being knocked over by South Korea in Wellington last November in their first game.
The feeling within the Tall Blacks squad was a confident and positive one and Henare was proud of what they were creating.
Tougher tests than Jordan lie ahead next year, but the Tall Blacks are tracking in the right direction.
‘‘All of these guys have put so much physical, mental, emotional energy and effort into getting us to this place right now and the message to the group is we’re not yet there,’’ Henare said.
‘‘Let’s keep pushing and striving for greatness in terms of how we’re trying to play.’’
It’s a potential greatness they hope world basketball will see in earnest next year.Despite being without several of their frontline stars for this qualifying window, including the Webster brothers, Corey and Tai, Isaac Fotu and Finn Delany, the Tall Blacks had far too much quality for Jordan, who trailed 51-30 at halftime and were always chasing the game.
With the majority of the Tall Blacks side getting into Christchurch late on Monday after the NZ Breakers’ long trip back from Perth, Henare made sure he rotated the court-time around with no-one playing more than 22 minutes.