Tall Blacks Schedule Set
Tagged in: BBNZ News, National Teams, Tall Blacks
The New Zealand Tall Blacks will play eight games in 12 days during their 2009 European Tour.
The national men’s team will play their counterparts from Estonia, Italy, Canada, Portugal, Belguim and Finland from July 22-August 2, as part of their preparation for the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship for Men in August.
New Zealand, under third-year head coach Nenad Vucinic, will meet the Australia Boomers in Sydney on Sunday, August 23 and in Wellington on Tuesday, August 25, in the two-game FIBA Oceania series.
“This Tall Blacks campaign is organised with the 2010 FIBA World Championship in mind,” said Vucinic, who has guided his BC Kalev/Cramo club to this week’s Estonia KML finals series.
“We will be looking for a comprehensive preparation next year, so this year’s programme is a bit shorter than usual.
“We envisage that the team will again be a mixture of experienced campaigners and some younger players that are labeled as the future for the programme.”
The Tall Blacks will start their Euro trip with two games against Estonia on back-to-back nights, July 22-23, in Tartu. Estonia will compete in the Eurobasket Division A relegation round this August.
They will face hosts Italy, the eighth-ranked country in FIBA’s world rankings, Canada and Portugal in a four-team tournament in Treviso, northern Italy, from July 25-27.
Italy, the Athens Olympics silver medalists, and Portugal will compete in Eurobasket’s additional qualifying round, along with later Tall Blacks opponents Belguim and Finland, for the last berth for September’s Eurobasket 2009 in Poland.
Canada, who split two games with New Zealand in 2008, will attempt to qualify for the next year’s world championship at September’s FIBA Americas Championship.
The Tall Blacks finish up in Europe with two games against Belguim, on July 29 in Kortrijk and July 30 in Antwerp, and one against Finland on August 2 in Helsinki.
“Preparation is limited as we need to have a longer programme next year and resources in this economic situation are hard to get,” Vucinic said.
“Having said that, we believe we have put together quality games for the team that will culminate in late-August against our arch rival Australia in the FIBA Oceania series.
“Although both teams have qualified for Turkey 2010, I am sure there will be two exciting games for the public to see.”
Vucinic will assemble the Tall Blacks extended squad on July 14, for a five-day camp at the Millennium Institute and NZ Breakers facility, with the traveling group cut to 12 players before departing on July 19.
Tall Blacks 2009 Schedule
Tall Blacks in Estonia
Wednesday, July 22
Tall Blacks vs Estonia, Tallinn
Thursday, July 23
Tall Blacks vs Estonia, Tallinn
Tall Blacks in Italy
Four-Team Tournament, Treviso
Saturday-Monday, July 25-27
vs Italy, Canada & Portugal
Tall Blacks in Belgium
Wednesday, July 29
vs Belgium, Kortrijk
Thursday, July 30
vs Belgium, Antwerp
Tall Blacks in Finland
Sunday, August 2
vs Finland, Helsinki
FIBA Oceania Championship Series
Sunday, August 23
Tall Blacks vs Australia Boomers, Sydney
Tuesday, August 25
Tall Blacks vs Australia Boomers, TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
