Basketball New Zealand

Anthony Corban

Anthony Corban understands his international coaching debut is mostly about being in the right place at the right time.

One minute, he was preparing to manage and scout for a national U18 men’s team at a FIBA33 tournament in Germany; the next, he was stepping into the lead role when head coach Alex Stojkovic dropped out for health reasons.

Stojkovic’s withdrawal from next month’s Youth Olympic Games in Singapore left Corban as the logical replacement.

He has never been part of the national junior programme, but has coached extensively at national level. Corban (41) currently holds roles as Sportsforce basketball development officer with Sport Waikato and community basketball manager with Waikato Basketball, and is grateful to both employers for their support in this new venture.

This season, he has coached Waikato U19 women (runners-up at the NZ Championships), U15 men and the Cambridge High School premier girls.

But most importantly, Corban’s trip to Germany makes him the only Kiwi to have coached in an international FIBA33 tournament, giving him valuable insight into a new style of basketball loosely based on the traditional three-on-three format.

“Getting to Germany has been a massive help in seeing how this FIBA33 is played,” he says. “The boys are used to four 10-minutes quarters, where they’re careful about playing defence and they get to work their way into a game.

“I’ve had to undo all that muscle memory.”

His Cambridge girls have also been willing guinea pigs in his experiments with this form of the game.

“I see a lot of potential in this concept, especially as pre-season conditioning for association teams,” says Corban. “It makes a nice pleasing change for the kids, instead of flogging them in the gym.”

Basketball New Zealand chief executive Tim Hamilton agrees.

“We are delighted that someone of Anthony’s calibre as taken up the challenge of coaching FIBA33 at an international level,” he says.

“We believe the game has huge potential and this group’s lessons, not only in Germany, but also at the Youth Olympic Games, will help us consider the opportunities to develop this concept in New Zealand.”

The young Kiwis open their Youth Olympic campaign against Greece on August 15, followed by further pool games against Puerto Rico, Serbia and India.