Tall Blacks Schedule Set
Tagged in: Tall Blacks
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Home-and-away encounters with archrivals Australia on June 26 & 28 will set the NZ Tall Blacks on the path towards the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament less than three weeks later.
The national men’s team, facing a rebuilding phase with the retirement or unavailability of several veterans, will play at least eight games on their way to Athens and their last-chance attempt at snatching at spot at the Beijing Olympics.
They will begin their competitive build-up with a home game against the Boomers, venue yet to be finalized, then travel across the Tasman for the Ramsay Shield decider. Three games in Canada (July 1-5) break up the journey to Europe, where coach Nenad Vucinic will complete his preparations at a four-team tournament in Slovenia (July 8-10).
The Olympic qualifying event is scheduled for July 14-20, with the top three teams securing berths at Beijing.
“Usually, we have another month to prepare for major events, but this year we simply don’t have enough time to fit in more than one home game,” says Basketball New Zealand national teams general manager Grant Chapman.
“Since we can’t assemble a full squad until after the Dominion Finance NBL finals [June 19-21], we won’t get to spend much time in camp. We just have to be resourceful with the time we have, but Kiwis have a knack for making the most of less-than-ideal situations.
“Under the circumstances, I think we have about the right balance of games and recovery to ensure everyone is ready for a tough challenge.”
New Zealand have drawn Germany, led by NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki, and African upstarts Cape Verde in pool play at Athens. Should they progress to quarterfinals, they will likely face either world championship runners-up Greece or a Brazilian squad laden with NBA talent.
Meanwhile, the Junior Tall Blacks have also drawn an incredibly tough run at the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim, Germany, next month.
The young Kiwis have landed in the same pool as three of the world’s very best men’s basketball programmes – reigning senior world champions Spain, reigning Olympic champions Argentina and European powers Croatia.
The JTBs face the Spanish in the opening game of the tournament on March 22.
