Basketball New Zealand

Tall Ferns forward Natalie Purcell (Getty Images)

The New Zealand Tall Ferns will warm-up for the FIBA Oceania Championship series later this month with three games in four days on home hardwood against Japan.

The Tall Ferns, guided by first-year coach Shawn Dennis, assemble on Sunday in Napier for a training camp that will include two closed scrimmages and a full international against touring Japan next week.

New Zealand face the defending world champion Australian Opals in a two-game Oceania series starting Monday, August 31 at Porirua’s Te Rauparaha Arena.

The Tall Ferns and Japan will meet at Pettigrew.Green Arena, near Napier, on Thursday, August 27, tip-off 7pm, in a full international, and will also play scrimmages on Wednesday, August 26 in Napier and Saturday, August 29 in Porirua.

“It’s really important because we don’t have the budget of other bigger nations, so it’s always great to get international competition in New Zealand,” said Dennis, who has coached the Bay Hawks men’s National Basketball League team in Napier the last six seasons.

“To have the opportunity to expose our players to international teams is hugely beneficial to the future of the Tall Ferns.”

Japan, playing in the Asia zone, is ranked number 14 in the world, one spot ahead of the New Zealand programme, which gained a place in July, as Serbia dropped rankings points following the FIBA U19 World Championship in Thailand.

Japan has made the semifinals at the last two FIBA Asia championships, and in recent world tournaments finished 10th at the Athens Olympics, after losing in group play to the Tall Ferns, and finished 13th at the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Tickets for the Thursday night test match in Napier, ranging from $10 for adults and $5 for children, will be available from Pettigrew.Green Arena.

“We’re hoping to get a crowd of 1800-2000 to our game next week,” Dennis said. “The Hawke’s Bay is really getting behind it – the schools, the arena and the local businesses, they’re really helping us put together a quality camp for the girls.”

Dennis has named a fresh training squad with an average age of 21, limited by a number of unavailabilities from the Beijing Olympics team 12 months ago, for the camp.