Shea Ili in action for the Tall Blacks. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Timing can be everything in sport and it could be on the Tall Blacks side during a hectic five-day span this month.
The three-game Trans-Tasman Throwdown, which tips off on 7 May in Adelaide, is scheduled at a time when neither sides can call on players plying their trade in international leagues.
Instead, two teams will take the floor with rosters that have predominantly been playing downunder for an inaugural series that moves to the Sunshine Coast on 9 May and concludes in Hamilton on 11 May.
Tall Blacks head coach Judd Flavell has selected players who have been involved with the New Zealand NBL, as well as domestic competitions in Australia for the past few months.
"[The Throwdown] is not necessarily a walk in the park for anybody, so they have to be in game shape, and all of these guys are currently in the middle of this season, so they've built a good resilience, as well as fitness," he said.
"There is a good list of names there that are unavailable, but this has really given us a great chance to look at some of the younger guys that we have, as well as mixing them in with the experienced Tall Blacks that have been there many times before."
The stability and form of Tall Blacks captain Reuben Te Rangi, who recently signed to return to the NZ Breakers is something Flavell was happy to have on hand. Te Rangi began the NZ NBL season with Franklin Bulls and has since joined Gold Coast in Australian domestic competition.
Wellington Saints and Melbourne United point guard Shea Ili was "one of the best in the world", according to Flavell, and he was looking forward to joining 100-gamer Corey Webster, who had impressed the national team coach with his form for Manawatū Jets.
"The Jets team is sitting somewhere in the top six, which has been a real surprise, probably for a lot of people, and certainly, with a new make-up that they've had a lot of changes in their team and players and coaches, and obviously he's steering the ship nicely for them."
Taylor Britt in action for Canterbury Rams. Photo: photosport
Flavell has had a close eye on the Canterbury Rams set-up as an assistant coach this season, and sung the praises of Tohi Smith- Milner, Walter Brown, Taylor Britt and Max Darling.
"Those guys have really forged their way throughout the New Zealand NBL and got a good number of games under the belt with the Tall Blacks, but they've certainly got a lot of years ahead of them as well."
The Boomers will have seen less of Oscar Goodman, Julius Halaifonua, Jackson Ball and Tama Isaac.
"These guys are youngsters that are part of our NZ Junior Tall Blacks team, so they actually go to the World Cup later on in June, but the majority of them will get an opportunity to be out there on the floor against the Boomers, which will be a great test for them."
Flavell knows what to expect from the world seventh-ranked side.
"Australia is one of the superpowers of world basketball and a lot of those players are in the NBA," he said. "They would be able to put together a team full of NBA guys, but it doesn't always work out like that for them.
"They still have a number of guys that are world class in terms of playing international basketball. DJ Vasiljevic is one of those guys, Xavier Cooks is another one of those guys.
"They have a good blend of talents and they do have some youngsters in there, but a lot of their guys are probably more known for carving out their trade and their craft in the Australian NBL.
"Anytime you play any Australian team, doesn't matter who they put in front of you, it's going to be a war and we're embracing that challenge."
Xavier Cooks in action for Sydney Kings against NZ Breakers. Photo: Brett Phibbs
The Throwdown will be the first series between the Tall Blacks and Boomers in a decade. In the intervening years, sporadic one-off games have been dominated by the Boomers.
In 2020, the Tall Blacks ended an 11-year losing streak against their trans-Tasman rivals with a 109-98 win in the opening game of the 2021 Asia Cup qualifiers, but they could not back that up a year later, when they lost 81-52 to the Boomers in Cairns.
The Tall Blacks roster for that Asia Cup qualifier did not feature any NZ-based players, due to quarantine restrictions during the Covid pandemic.
Last time New Zealand played the Boomers at the 2022 Asia Cup in Jakarta, Australia won 85-76. Three players from that loss will return in Flavell's roster for The Throwdown.
Flavell played for a Tall Blacks side that beat the Boomers in a 2001 series that sent New Zealand to the World Cup the following year - a turning point in New Zealand basketball.
"It at all started with a bunch of us that got to play against Aussie in 2001," he said. "That was a fun time, and certainly something that I think is very special and something you don't take for granted.
"Since then, we've been able to knock them off a few times."
Last time the Tall Blacks won a series over the Boomers was 2006. This series would be a good opportunity to repeat that, but that was not on the coach's mind.
Flavell is now into the third window of his tenure as Tall Blacks head coach and said it had been a slow build, with a playing group that had largely been a part of his plans since he first took the role last year.
"The ultimate goal is building cohesion, so we can really double down on that, when it comes to Asia Cup later on in the year."
The roster for the Asia Cup in August could look different to the one that takes the court against Australia, but Flavell was focussed on the even bigger picture.
"We work in cycles and the World Cup for us is in 2027, so we have a goal that's in front of us.
"Our job is to qualify for the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, so that's the big dream goal for us and in order to for us to achieve that, there are little markers along the way that we got to make sure that we tick off.
"We actually have to be quite strategic - we have to system build very carefully. We have to invest in our future right now.
"Even though there may be some better players currently, [we have to look at] players that we see in 2028 that could be putting on the black singlet, so we have to be looking at all of those things to build.
"When we get together, there's no mistake the reason we are here is to prepare for for Australia, but ultimately, the goal is to get us better, and get us a step closer towards a World Cup or an Olympic berth."
NZ Tall Blacks extended roster for Trans-Tasman Throwdown
Jackson Ball, Hawke's Bay Hawks, 2 games
Taylor Britt, Canterbury Rams & NZ Breakers, 31 games
Walter Brown, Canterbury Rams & Tasmania JackJumpers, 18 games
Flynn Cameron, Franklin Bulls & Adelaide 36ers, 28 games
Max Darling, Canterbury Rams & NZ Breakers, 6 games
Carlin Davison, Taranaki Airs & NZ Breakers, 1 game
Oscar Goodman, University of Michigan, 1 game
Julius Halaifonua, Georgetown University, 1 game
Shea Ili, Wellington Saints & Melbourne United, 71 games
Kaia Isaac, Canterbury Rams & NZ Breakers, 3 games
Tamatoa Isaac, Canterbury Rams, 2 games
Tohiraukura Smith-Milner, Canterbury Rams & Brisbane Bullets, 66 games
Reuben Te Rangi, Franklin Bulls & NZ Breakers, 71 games
Corey Webster, Manawatū Jets, 100 games
Australia Boomers for Trans-Tasman Throwdown
Todd Blanchfield, Keli Leaupepe, Kyle Bowen, Mitchell Norton, Xavier Cooks, Elijah Pepper, Owen Foxwell, Austin Rapp, Jacob Furphy, Dejan Vasiljevic, Angus Glover, Harry Wessels
