New Zealand men's national basketball team

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New Zealand

FIBA ranking	25 (9 August 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA	1951
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	Basketball New Zealand
Coach	Pero Cameron
Nickname(s)	Tall Blacks
Olympic Games
Appearances	2
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	6
Medals	None
FIBA Oceania Championship
Appearances	22
Medals	Gold: (1999, 2001, 2009) Silver: (1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015)
FIBA Asia Championship
Appearances	1
Medals	None
Home Away

The New Zealand men's national basketball team is the senior men's national basketball team of New Zealand. The team is nicknamed the Tall Blacks. The Tall Blacks name is one of many New Zealand national team nicknames related to the All Blacks. Over its history, the team has won three FIBA Oceania Championships, and twice appeared in the Summer Olympic Games. It participated in its first FIBA Asia Cup in 2017, finishing in fourth place which they said, that they will try harder next time.

Haka[]

The Tall Blacks perform a traditional Haka (Māori challenge) before every game, but due to the influence of Pāora Winitana and Paul Henare, it is very different from the ones performed by the All Blacks.

History[]

There is a long and storied history of basketball in New Zealand dating back to when Wilt Chamberlain vacationed at the island paradise back in the 60s and introduced the game to the Kiwis.^{[citation needed]} The Tall Blacks competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and finished with a 1–5 record, their only win coming against Angola, in the playoff for eleventh place.

In 2001, they defeated Australia, in a three-game series to qualify for the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, United States. At the tournament, they finished fourth, after beating Puerto Rico in the quarter-finals, before losses to Serbia and Montenegro and Germany. Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron was the only non-NBA player named to the All-Tournament team in Indianapolis.

The Tall Blacks also qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but again finished with a 1–5 record, and lost to Australia in the playoff for ninth place. Their most noted moment was on the 7th day of the games, when they defeated the then reigning 2002 FIBA World Championship gold medalists, Serbia and Montenegro, by a score of 90–87.

2006 FIBA World Championship[]

At the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the Tall Blacks were not to repeat their fourth-place finish from 2002. After an 0–3 start, the Tall Blacks rallied into the second round, with two straight wins to close out the group stage. However, they would fall in the round of 16 to the defending Olympic gold medalists Argentina, 79–62. After that disappointment, Tab Baldwin resigned as the head coach of the Tall Blacks, and was replaced by Nenad Vučinić, his longtime assistant coach.

2011 Stanković Cup[]

The squad competed at the 2011 Boris Stanković Cup in China. They played 3 games against difficult opposition, China, Russia, and Angola. After going down to Russia in the first game by just 3 points, the Tall Blacks quickly put that behind them, to smash China in their second game, which led to a good win against a strong Angolan team. The Tall Blacks came up against a strong Russian team in the final, but the Russians were no match for Tall Blacks star shooting guard Kirk Penney, as he scored 30 points, to give the Tall Blacks the win and the gold medal for 2011.

Performance table[]

Summer Olympic Games[]

• 2000 Summer Olympic Games: 11th
• 2004 Summer Olympic Games: 10th

FIBA Basketball World Cup[]

• 1986 FIBA World Championship: 21st
• 2002 FIBA World Championship: 4th
• 2006 FIBA World Championship: 16th
• 2010 FIBA World Championship: 12th
• 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup: 15th
• 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup: 19th
• 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup: TBD

FIBA Asia Cup[]

FIBA Oceania Championship[]

Year	Position	Host
1971	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1971
1975	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1975
1978	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1978
1979	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1979
1981	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1981
1983	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1983
1985	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1985
1987	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1987
1989	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1989
1991	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1991
1993	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1993
1995	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1995
1997	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 1997
1999	1	FIBA Oceania Championship 1999
2001	1	FIBA Oceania Championship 2001
2003	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 2003
2005	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 2005
2007	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 2007
2009	1	FIBA Oceania Championship 2009
2011	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 2011
2013	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 2013
2015	2	FIBA Oceania Championship 2015

Commonwealth Games[]

• 2006 Commonwealth Games: Runners-up
• 2018 Commonwealth Games: Third Place

FIBA Stanković Cup[]

• 2007 Stanković Cup: Fifth Place
• 2011/2 Stanković Cup: Champions
• : Champions

William Jones Cup[]

• 2000 William Jones Cup: Champions

AusTiger International Basketball Tournament[]

• 2019 AusTiger International Basketball Tournament: Third Place

Team[]

Current roster[]

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2021)

Roster for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

New Zealand national basketball team – 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster v t
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 0 Tai Webster 24 – (1995-05-29)29 May 1995 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Galatasaray F 3 Finn Delany 24 – (1995-08-12)August 12, 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) New Zealand Breakers PG 5 Shea Ili 26 – (1992-10-06)October 6, 1992 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Melbourne United PG 6 Jarrod Kenny 33 – (1985-09-17)17 September 1985 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Cairns Taipans SG 9 Corey Webster (C) 30 – (1988-11-29)29 November 1988 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) New Zealand Breakers SF 10 Thomas Abercrombie 32 – (1987-07-05)5 July 1987 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) New Zealand Breakers C 14 Robert Loe 28 – (1991-08-05)5 August 1991 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) New Zealand Breakers PF 16 Tohi Smith-Milner 23 – (1995-10-06)October 6, 1995 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Melbourne United SF 20 Jordan Ngatai 26 – (1993-03-07)March 7, 1993 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) New Zealand Breakers SG 25 Ethan Rusbatch 27 – (1992-05-04)4 May 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Hawke's Bay Hawks C 35 Alex Pledger 32 – (1987-03-27)March 27, 1987 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) Melbourne United PF 42 Isaac Fotu 25 – (1993-12-18)18 December 1993 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Universo Treviso Basket	Head coach Paul Henare Assistant coach(es) Pero Cameron Ross McMains Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 31 August 2019

Depth chart[]

Notable players[]

Probably the most well-known former New Zealand Tall Black player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is former San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Marks. Another New Zealand player, former University of Wisconsin star Kirk Penney, briefly played in the NBA, and later played in the EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Žalgiris, after being released by the New Zealand Breakers. In past generations, players such as Stan Hill and Glen Denham, were well revered and respected players, who were the face of New Zealand basketball.

• Ed Book – National Basketball League and Tall Blacks legend
• Pero Cameron – 2002 FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team, 2-time assistant coach (reappointed for his second stint in 2015, served as assistant to predecessor, Nenad Vucinic), named Head Coach in December, 2019.
• Glen Denham – Tall Blacks legend
• Mark Dickel – Tall Blacks star
• Paul Henare – Former New Zealand Breakers captain, head coach from 2015 to 2019
• Dillon Boucher – Former New Zealand Breakers player, General Manager of the New Zealand Breakers, Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
• – Tall Blacks legend
• Phill Jones – Former Cairns Taipans captain
• Sean Marks – Former National Basketball Association player
• Kirk Penney – Former National Basketball Association player
• Frank Mulvihill – Tall Blacks legend
• Paora Winitana – Tall Blacks star, changed the Haka in 2006, only player to not play on Sundays due to religious reasons. [Other than (at least) Byron Vaetoe and Tony Smith.]

Past rosters[]

1986 World Championship: finished 21st among 24 teams

Gilbert Gordon, Peter Pokai, Stan Hill, Neil Stephens, Dave Edmonds, Ian Webb, Dave Mason, Tony Smith, Colin Crampton, Frank Mulvihill, Glen Denham, John Rademakers (Head Coach: Robert Bishop)

2000 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 12 teams

Sean Marks, Pero Cameron, Mark Dickel, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney, Robert Hickey, Nenad Vučinić, Tony Rampton, Paul Henare, Brad Riley, Ralph Lattimore, Peter Pokai (Head Coach: Keith Mair)

2002 World Championship: finished 4th among 16 teams

Sean Marks, Pero Cameron, Mark Dickel, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney, Robert Hickey, Dillon Boucher, Damon Rampton, Ed Book, Paul Henare, Paora Winitana, Judd Flavell (Head Coach: Tab Baldwin)

2004 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 12 teams

Sean Marks, Mark Dickel, Phill Jones, Pero Cameron, Kirk Penney, Dillon Boucher, Ed Book, Paul Henare, Paora Winitana, Tony Rampton, Aaron Olson, Craig Bradshaw (Head Coach: Tab Baldwin)

2006 World Championship: finished 16th among 24 teams

Kirk Penney, Pero Cameron, Phill Jones, Mark Dickel, Casey Frank, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Paora Winitana, Tony Rampton, Craig Bradshaw, Aaron Olson, Mika Vukona (Head Coach: Tab Baldwin)

2010 World Championship: finished 12th among 24 teams

Thomas Abercrombie, Benny Anthony, Craig Bradshaw, Pero Cameron, Michael Fitchett, Casey Frank, Phill Jones, Jeremy Kench, Kirk Penney, Alex Pledger, Lindsay Tait, Mika Vukona (Head Coach: Nenad Vučinić)

New Zealand Tall Blacks – 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club PG 0 Shea Ili 22 – (1992-10-06)6 October 1992 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) New Zealand Breakers G/F 1 Reuben Te Rangi 20 – (1994-10-14)14 October 1994 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Brisbane Bullets PG 4 Lindsay Tait 33 – (1982-01-08)8 January 1982 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Super City Rangers SG 5 Everard Bartlett 29 – (1986-02-06)6 February 1986 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Southland Sharks PG 6 Jarrod Kenny 29 – (1985-09-17)17 September 1985 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Perth Wildcats F 7 Mika Vukona (C) 33 – (1982-05-13)13 May 1982 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) New Zealand Breakers G 9 Corey Webster 26 – (1988-11-29)29 November 1988 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) New Zealand Breakers SF 10 Thomas Abercrombie 28 – (1987-07-05)5 July 1987 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) New Zealand Breakers F/C 11 Tai Wynyard 17 – (1998-02-05)5 February 1998 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Kentucky Wildcats F/C 12 Isaac Fotu 21 – (1993-12-18)18 December 1993 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) CAI Zaragoza G/F 13 Dion Prewster 25 – (1990-01-10)10 January 1990 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Wellington Saints C 14 Robert Loe 24 – (1991-08-05)5 August 1991 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) New Zealand Breakers	Head coach Paul Henare Assistant coach(es) Pero Cameron Ross McMains Mike Fitchett Video analyst Judd Flavell Scout Tim Fanning Strength and conditioning coach Gavin Cross Doctor Dr. Sam Mayhew Physiotherapist Anousith Bouaphone Team manager Andrew Dewhurst Operations manager Peter Kadar Groupie/Ball bag Greg Elliot Cultural ambassador Paora Winitana Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 15 August 2015

Kit[]

Manufacturer[]

2015: Peak^[2]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Zealand national basketball team.

• Basketball New Zealand official website
• FIBA profile