Basketball New Zealand

Basketball New Zealand

Basketball fans will see the New Zealand senior men’s and women’s teams live later this month during the FIBA Oceania Championships, with Basketball New Zealand and SKY Sport confirming a partnership.

The Tall Blacks game two meeting with the Australia Boomers on Tuesday, August 25 from Wellington’s TSB Bank Arena will be the first basketball game in New Zealand broadcast in high definition.

Game one of the FIBA Oceania Championship for Men from the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on Sunday, August 23 will be screened live at 8pm, followed two nights later by the New Zealand leg of the two-game series, with coverage from 7pm on Sky Sport 2.

The Tall Ferns open the FIBA Oceania Championship for Women against the Australia Opals from Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Monday, August 31, with coverage from 7pm. Game two will be broadcast from AIS Arena in Canberra at 9pm on Wednesday, September 2.

“It’s great to have international basketball back on SKY Sport and having the Tall Blacks-Boomers game broadcast in HD will add another element to the audience’s viewing experience,” said BBNZ national teams general manager Grant Chapman.

“The recent FIBA U19 World Championship on SKY has hopefully whetted viewers’ appetites for international basketball. Our Tall Blacks will be playing for a better seeding at next year’s world championship while our Tall Ferns will be attempting to upset the defending world champion Opals for a place at the 2010 tournament.”

Dennis Katsanos will host SKY’s coverage of the New Zealand games, with Dan Hennessey, former Tall Blacks centre Ed Book and former Boomers forward Tony Ronaldson handling the commentary duties.

Broadcasts and commentary for the games in Sydney and Canberra will originate from Fox Sports Australia.

SKY Sport was the broadcaster for the two-game Al Ramsay Shield series between the Tall Blacks and Boomers in 2008, showing both games live, and in 2009 has also screened the National Basketball League playoffs and 23 games from July’s FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland.

“SKY is pleased to be broadcasting the Tall Blacks vs Boomers game in high definition,” said Kevin Cameron, SKY Television’s director of sport.

“This is the first basketball game in New Zealand to be broadcast in high definition and adds to the increasingly high number of sporting events that are now broadcast in high definition to MY SKY HDi subscribers.”

FIBA Oceania Championship for Men

Game One

Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Sydney
Live on Sky Sport, 8pm

Game Two

TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Live on Sky Sport 2, 7pm (HD)

FIBA Oceania Championship for Women

Game One

Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua
Live on Sky Sport, 7pm

Game Two

AIS Arena, Canberra
Live on Sky Sport, 9pm

* All in NZ times