Basketball New Zealand

Former Waikato Pistons forward Pero Cameron (Photosport)

Sam Worthington, Dominion Post
Pero Cameron is full of questions.

Full of questions for his coaching mentors and of Wellington, the city he has tortured over the years but will coach for the next three NBL seasons.

One of New Zealand’s greatest basketballers is now 35 and ready to boss others around.

The long-time Tall Blacks skipper is relaxed as he ponders dipping his toes into coaching from the Gold Coast, where he plays in the Australian NBL.

“The Gold Coast is lovely, sweltering, it’s 36 degrees [celsius],” Cameron said.

“Last year, I went home for a season in Waikato and on three different occasions, it was between -5 and -9. I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t had one of those in years. Frosty. It doesn’t get that cold in Wellington does it, -9? I know it’s windy as heck.”

Weather aside, Cameron has had his eyes on coaching for the last two years.

It has been a matter of waiting for the right gig and when Gordie McLeod left the organisation this year, Saints chief executive Nick Mills went to Cameron.

While he has no coaching experience, Cameron has been an on-court mastermind his whole career.

A heady player with a physique resembling a rugby forward, not a basketball one, the Saints believe they have picked up a future New Zealand coach.

The good vibes are mutual.

“Wellington’s a tremendous city, a big basketball city, they’ve always been competitive,” Cameron said.

“They’re a great organisation, they always seem on the ball. They’ve always been organised and a lot of that credit goes to Nick Mills and his support group.”

The Saints have locked in their new coach on a three-year deal, which suits Cameron.

“There’s no secret recipe, you’ve got to think long-term. You’ve got to build.”

His wife and three kids are settled in Australia and Cameron has no plans to shift them.

Cameron plans to visit Wellington in January, though he is under contract with the Blaze till the end of the Australian NBL season.

Their grand finals are in March, the same month New Zealand’s NBL started this year, though Cameron says there are plans in place to negotiate the double booking.

Complicating matters is a slight meniscus tear in his right knee, suffered a month ago.

Cameron will go under the knife shortly and expects to be back on court by January.

Asked what type of coach he will be, Cameron pauses.

“It’s all new to me, being on the sidelines, but you go with the flow. You don’t get too high on the highs, you don’t get too low on the lows.”
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He’s not done playing; if he can shake the knee injury he’d love to suit up for the Saints next season and bow out for New Zealand in next year’s world championships in Turkey.

“I’d love to put a Saints uniform on and go out and perform. But it’s not that easy. Coaching and playing is a little bit different for a lot of people. I’ve seen a couple of other guys do it and I haven’t seen huge success around it.”

Cameron shares Mills’ big-picture vision for the Saints to one day join the Australian NBL.

“That would be great. I’m sure the people in Wellington would like that.”

As a player Cameron didn’t always stuff the stat sheet but he did win.

Nine NBL titles, Cameron also inspired New Zealand’s most memorable basketball moment, fourth place at the 2002 world champs where he was voted on to the tournament team.

“Ambitious? Yeah. There will be a lot of mistakes made along the way, we’ll correct them and then we’ll move on.

“We’ll just strive to win, every one.”

Cameron says he will draw from the best of “10-15″ coaches that have shaped him during his career, including Tab Baldwin, Nenad Vucinic, Dean Vickerman, Judd Flavell and the late Murray McMahon.

“I’ll take something from all of them. We’ll try everything and if it doesn’t work, I’ll try and pinch more. I’m sure I’ve got 50,000 questions for them during the season.”

Cameron’s drive to win ended the Saints’ championship dreams on more than one occasion, the most recent a masterclass in last year’s finals.

Perhaps it’s now time for a little payback?

“I don’t think of it like that, I think of the last 10-15 years, the Saints stealing a couple from me,” Cameron chuckles.

”One year they won it, they beat us at Mystery Creek, it killed me. I couldn’t believe it, it took me a while to get over that one.

“They’ve always been close to success. The last couple of years they’ve been at least top-four and it’s about making the playoffs. If you make the semis, it all changes, anyone can win.”

Looking at history, that anyone is usually Cameron.