New Zealand men's national basketball team

New Zealand men's national basketball team
The New Zealand men's national basketball team is the senior men's national basketball team of New Zealand. The team is nicknamed the Tall Blacks. The Tall Blacks name is one of many New Zealand national team nicknames related to the All Blacks. Over its history, the team has won three FIBA Oceania Championships, and twice appeared in the Summer Olympic Games. It participated in its first FIBA Asia Cup in 2017, finishing in fourth place.
Haka
The Tall Blacks perform a traditional Haka (Māori challenge) before every game, influenced by Pāora Winitana and Paul Henare.
History
There is a long and storied history of basketball in New Zealand, here is a brief glimpse.
1986 FIBA World Championship
The Tall Blacks took part in 1986 tourney staged in Spain. Placed in Group D, finishing with a 1-4 record (13th overall), picking up a 77-75 win over Malaysia.
1999 Oceania Championship
Beating Guam 125-43, the TB's Qualfied for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
2000 Sydney Olympic Games
Finishing 11th with a 1-6 record, the TB's picked up a win against Angola (70-60) in their first ever appearance at the Summer Games. Playing in Group A against the US, Italy, China, Latvija and France.
Sean Marks finished the Tourny with 13 ppg (Points) and 7.3 rpg (Rebounds, 2nd) with a game high 21 points vs. Latvija.
Pero Cameron finished the Tourny 2nd in Steals (1.7spg) and also picked up a game high (4) steals vs. Latvija.
2001 Oceania Championship
The Tall Blacks wiped out Australia, in a three-game series 2-1 to qualify for the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, United States.
2002 FIBA World Championship
Held in Indianapolis, The Tall Blacks stormed out of Group D into the 2nd round with a 2-1 record. Beating China and Russia but suffering a loss to the US.
Finding themselves in the 1/4 finals against Puerto Rico, They picked up the win 65-63, before losing the semifinal to Serbia and Montenegro 89-87.
Playing for the Bronze medal against Germany the sadly lost 117-94 ending with a 4-5 record. To date this has been their best finish at a World Cup / World Championships.
Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron was the only non-NBA player named to the All-Tournament team in Indianapolis.
Phil Jones was listed as 9th best scorer at 19.2 ppg
2004 Athens Olympics
Held in Athens Greece, playing Italy, China, Serbia and Montenegro, Argentina and Spain - The Tall Blacks finished with a 1–5 record defeated the then reigning 2002 FIBA World Championship gold medalists, Serbia and Montenegro, 90–87.
In the play off for 9th position they lost to Australia 98-80 finishing 10th.
Phil Jones (Points) with 21ppg finished 2nd.
Mark Dickel (Assists) with 4.5 apg finished 3rd.
Dillion Boucher (Steals) with 1.8 spg finished 5th.
2006 FIBA World Championship
Held in Japan, the Tall Blacks were not to repeat their fourth-place finish from 2002. After an 0–3 start, the Tall Blacks rallied into the second round, with two straight wins to close out the group stage. However, they would fall in the round of 16 to the defending Olympic gold medalists Argentina, 79–62. After that disappointment, Tab Baldwin resigned as the head coach of the Tall Blacks, and was replaced by Nenad Vučinić, his longtime assistant coach.
2009 Oceanica Championship
New Zealand once again defeated Australia to Qualify for the 2010 World Championship to be held in Türkiye.
2010 FIBA World Championship
Pitching up in group C (Held in Izmar) playing 5 group games, the TBs made it through to the round of 16 with 3-2 record. Beating Lebanon, Canada and France, but losing to Lietuva and Spain.
In the round of 16, The TBs drew Russia, losing 78-56.
Kirk Penny finished 2nd overall in ppg (24.7).
Their final rank was 12th with a 3-3 record.
2011 Stanković Cup
Competing at the 2011 Boris Stanković Cup in China. They played 3 games against China, Russia, and Angola. After going down to Russia in the first game by just 3 points, the Tall Blacks quickly put that behind them, smashing China in their second game, which led to a good win against a strong Angolan team. Playing Russia in the final who were no match for Tall Blacks star shooting guard Kirk Penney. He scored 30 points, to give the Tall Blacks the win and the gold medal for 2011 edition.
2014 FIBA World Cup
Held in Spain, New Zealand were placed in Group C and finished up with a 2-3 statline in pool play. Recording good wins over Ukraine and Finland, after narrowly losing to Türkiye in their opening match. The Tall Blacks other two loses game against the Dominican Republic and the US.
New Zealand made it through to the final 16, playing against Lietuva, but lost the match 76-71.
New Zealand finished in 15th place overall.
2017 FIBA Asia Cup
Landing in Group C, New Zealand gained top spot and made their way through to the finals round. Overcoming Jordan in the 1/4 final 98-70. However losing to Australia in the semi final 106-79. This placed them in the playoff for Bronze which saw them come up against South Korea.
Sadly for the Tall Blacks this was the end of the line coming up short 71-80 and finishing with a 3-3 record.
Shea Illi was named to the All Star Tournament team as PG.
2019 FIBA World Cup Qualification
Partial Qualifier results:
23 Nov 2017 vs Korea at TSB Bank Arena, Wellington. Tall Blacks lost 80-86
26 Nov 2017 vs Hong Kong at Southourn Stadium, Hong Kong. Tall Blacks won 133-74
23 Feb 2018 vs China at Dongguan Basketball Centre, China. Tall Blacks won 82-73
26 Feb 2018 vs Korea at Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea. Tall Blacks won 93-84
28 Jun 2018 vs Hong Kong at Energy Events Centre, Rotorua. Tall Blacks won 124-65
1 Jul 2018 vs China at Spark Arena, Auckland. Tall Blacks won 67-57
13 Sep 2018 vs Syria, Nouhad Nawfal Stadium, Zouk Mikael, Lebanon Tall Blacks won 107-66
17 Sep 2018 vs Lebanon, Energy Events Centre, Rotorua. Tall Blacks won 63-60
29 Nov 2018 vs Jordan at Horncastle Arena, Christchurch. Tall Blacks won 95-69
2 Dec 2018 vs Syria, TSB Bank Arena, Wellington. Tall Blacks won 97-74
2019 Fiba World Cup
In the 2019 version held in China the Tall Blacks played a total of 5 games. Finshing 3rd in Group F with a 1-2 record, landing them in the 17-32 classification round.
Overall The Tall Blacks had notable wins over Japan 11-81, Turkey 102-101 (Class round) and Montenegro 93-83 (group play) to finish on a 3-2 record. The group losses came against Brazil and Greece.
A final ranking of 19th was picked up.
2022 FIBA Asia Cup
Starting in Group D - The TB's came out with a 3-2 record record, beating India and the Phippines but losing to Lebanon (72-86).
Setting up a playoff tilt against Syria which they won 97-58. After knocking over South Korea in the 1/4 finals (88-78) , the Tall Blacks faced Australia in the Semi finals. A loss 85-76 loss sent them to a 3rd place bronze play off with Jordan.
New Zealand were able to get past Jordan with a 83 - 75 win, picking up there first medal in 2 Attempts at the FIBA Asia Cup.
NZ lead the tourny (Rebounds) 49.6 rpg.
Finishing with a 5-2 record with their world ranking changing from 27th to 24th.
2023 FIBA World Cup Qualification
Post Covid restrictions The Tall Blacks played a game against the Philippines in Auckland on 3 July as part of the third window of the World Cup qualifying series. It was the first time the Tall Blacks played on home court since beating Syria 97–74 in Wellington in 2018.
New Zealand held 2 more games in Feb of 2023 beating Saudi Arabia in Christchurch 110-63 and then 2 days later toppling Lebanon 106-91 in Wellington. This locked in a spot for the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
2023 FIBA World Cup
Drawn in the same group as the USA, Greece and Jordan in Manilla. The Tall blacks made it through to the 17-32 place classification round after 2 losses to USA and Greece and hard fought OT win against Jordan.
New Zealand played a further 2 games against Mexico and Eygpt, Spliting to a 1-1 record to end the Tournment in 22nd Position with a 2-3 record.
2024 Paris Olympics
In finishing 22nd overall and placing higher than five other teams in the Asia / Oceania region, the Tall Blacks will be one of 24 teams heading to the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments in June next year, at a location yet to be confirmed. From this tournament, the top four countries will earn tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
2025 FIBA Asia Cup
New Zealand has been drawn into pool B of the Asia 2025 Cup Qualifiers alongside the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. They will play each team twice, on a 1 away 1 home schedule.
The windows for these games are Feb 2024, Nov 2024 and Feb 2025.
Notable achievements
Summer Olympic Games
2000 Summer Olympic Games – 11th
2004 Summer Olympic Games – 10th
2024 Summer Olympic Games - TBD
FIBA World Cup
1986 FIBA World Championship – 21st
2002 FIBA World Championship – 4th
2006 FIBA World Championship – 16th
2010 FIBA World Championship – 12th
2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup – 15th
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup – 19th
2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup – 22nd
2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup - TBD
FIBA Oceania Championship
Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games – Runners-up
2018 Commonwealth Games – 3rd
2022 Commonwealth Games - Format was changed to 3x3 only
2026 Commonwealth Games - No games have been slated
FIBA Stanković Cup
2007 Stanković Cup – 5th
2011 Stanković Cup – Champions
2015 Stanković Cup – Champions
FIBA Asia Cup
2017 Asia Cup - 4th Place
2022 Asia Cup - 3rd Place
2025 Asia Cup - TBD
William Jones Cup
2000 William Jones Cup – Champions
New Zealand played 6 games, coming away with a perfect record.
AusTiger International Basketball Tournament
2019 AusTiger International Basketball Tournament – 3rd
New Zealand joined Italy, France and Serbia in a pre world cup tournment in China. Coming away with a 1-2 record, picking up a 88-82 win over Italy.
FIBA Super Cup 2023
Held in Germany, The Tall Blacks had 2 games against Canada and China in the Supercup. Registering a 107-76 loss vs. Canada and a 69-68 loss vs. China.
FIBA 2023 Solidarity Cup
A single game that resulted in a 88-81 lost to at the time world #10 Italy in China.
Team
Current roster
Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Notable players
Probably the most well-known former New Zealand Tall Black player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is former San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Marks. Another New Zealand player, former University of Wisconsin star Kirk Penney, briefly played in the NBA, and later played in the EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Žalgiris, after being released by the New Zealand Breakers. In past generations, players such as Stan Hill and Glen Denham, were well revered and respected players, who were the face of New Zealand basketball.
Ed Book – National Basketball League and Tall Blacks legend
Pero Cameron – 2002 FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team, two-time assistant coach (reappointed for his second stint in 2015, served as assistant to predecessor, Nenad Vucinic), named Head Coach in December 2019
Glen Denham – Tall Blacks legend
Mark Dickel – Tall Blacks star
Paul Henare – Former New Zealand Breakers captain, head coach from 2015 to 2019
Dillon Boucher – Former New Zealand Breakers player, General Manager of the New Zealand Breakers, Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Stan Hill – Tall Blacks legend
Phill Jones – Former Cairns Taipans captain
Sean Marks – Former National Basketball Association player
Kirk Penney – Former National Basketball Association player
Frank Mulvihill – Tall Blacks legend
Paora Winitana – Tall Blacks star, changed the Haka in 2006, only player to not play on Sundays due to religious reasons [Other than (at least) Byron Vaetoe and Tony Smith]
Past rosters
1986 World Championship: finished 21st among 24 teams
Gilbert Gordon, Peter Pokai, Stan Hill, Neil Stephens, Dave Edmonds, Ian Webb, Dave Mason, Tony Smith, Colin Crampton, Frank Mulvihill, Glen Denham, John Rademakers (Head Coach: Robert Bishop)
2000 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 12 teams
Sean Marks, Pero Cameron, Mark Dickel, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney, Robert Hickey, Nenad Vučinić, Tony Rampton, Paul Henare, Brad Riley, Ralph Lattimore, Peter Pokai (Head Coach: Keith Mair)
2002 World Championship: finished 4th among 16 teams
Sean Marks, Pero Cameron, Mark Dickel, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney, Robert Hickey, Dillon Boucher, Damon Rampton, Ed Book, Paul Henare, Paora Winitana, Judd Flavell (Head Coach: Tab Baldwin)
2004 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 12 teams
Sean Marks, Mark Dickel, Phill Jones, Pero Cameron, Kirk Penney, Dillon Boucher, Ed Book, Paul Henare, Paora Winitana, Tony Rampton, Aaron Olson, Craig Bradshaw (Head Coach: Tab Baldwin)
2006 World Championship: finished 16th among 24 teams
Kirk Penney, Pero Cameron, Phill Jones, Mark Dickel, Casey Frank, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Paora Winitana, Tony Rampton, Craig Bradshaw, Aaron Olson, Mika Vukona (Head Coach: Tab Baldwin)
2010 World Championship: finished 12th among 24 teams
Thomas Abercrombie, Benny Anthony, Craig Bradshaw, Pero Cameron, Michael Fitchett, Casey Frank, Phill Jones, Jeremy Kench, Kirk Penney, Alex Pledger, Lindsay Tait, Mika Vukona (Head Coach: Nenad Vučinić)
Kit
Manufacturer
2015: Peak
References
External links
FIBA profile
Men's national basketball teams