Kiwi hoops legend Pero Cameron has some big calls to make ahead of basketball’s World Cup.
MARC HINTON reports
Pero Cameron was a centrepiece of the golden generation of New Zealand basketball when he ascended the mountaintop with a special group that included Sean Marks, Phill Jones, Kirk Penney, Mark Dickel, Dillon Boucher and Paul Henare. Now, a couple of decades on, he’s Tall Blacks coach preparing for a World Cup with a squad that might just go closest to holding a candle to the history-makers of yesteryear.
Cameron likely won’t have a group with the firepower of Tab Baldwin’s 2002 Tall Blacks who finished fourth at the world championships in Indianapolis. It’s doubtful that New Zealand hoops will ever assemble a collection of talent of that calibre, led by the man mountain Cameron who was named all-tournament in Indy alongside Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili, Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic.
Cameron’s Tall Blacks completed qualification for the 2023 World Cup that will be held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia (August 25-September 10) with victories over Saudi Arabia (110-63) and Lebanon (106-91) in late-February. Now the tough part starts.
Cameron has to narrow down what might be the deepest pool of talent New Zealand basketball has ever had to just 12 for the global event. That won’t be easy as he gauges, first, who’s up for it and, then, who best fits his master plan for success at a tournament where the margin for
error will be minimal.
Partly through necessity (Fiba’s qualifying windows tend to rule out those in far-flung hoops outposts) and partly through the sheer number of Kiwi men strutting their stuff in the pro and college ranks, Cameron has built an admirable depth ahead of the global event.
One thing he knows: he will be taking the best available to battle the giants of the game.
“Who do you want going into a massive tournament like the World Cup? You want to go in with a loaded gun,” says Cameron. “You want the best. You aim for [up high], and if they can’t do it the next guy steps up and plays his butt off. There’s no doubt these guys will all do that. But you want the best to give yourself the best chance.”
In some ways Cameron’s World Cup line-up should pick itself. The Webster brothers, Shea Ili, Izayah Le’afa and Reuben Te Rangi are guard line certainties, if fit and available. Same with Tom Abercrombie at small forward, Isaac Fotu and Finn Delany at power forward and Yanni Wetzell and Rob Loe at centre.
You would throw Memphis Grizzlies NBA star Steven Adams into that category, too, should he end his self-imposed Tall Blacks exile. Cameron is staying tight-lipped on that prospect, but it’s understood he’s not without hope of cajoling his old Saints young ‘un to finally play for his country.
That’s not many spots for rising young talents such as Sam Waardenburg, Sam Mennenga and Kruz Perrot-Hunt, or established performers such as Ethan Rusbatch, Jordan Ngatai and Tohi Smith-Milner.
“We want people at their best, but there’s a lot to navigate,” says Cameron who will gather his squad mid-July. “That’s why you utilise these windows to give everybody an opportunity, and see how they perform. Depth is a great thing, and with the interruptions we’ve had and the new windows not everyone is available, so we’ve had to pick from a group of 40 (including the Asia Cup). It’s great to see guys thrown in the deep end and getting that experience, and it just makes them a lot better for the next time they pull on the black.
“We want our best playing. We want to see a Yanni, a Finn Delany, Isaac Fotu, the Websters. We want to see everyone, and sometimes we can’t. But the next tier is developing. We are building depth.
“There are a lot of players in the mix … players who haven’t worn the black for some time playing really well in the NBL and around the world. But they value wearing it. What they’re part of now is pretty cool … but we have a common goal coming up and we want to do our best.”
Tall Blacks depth chart:
Point guards: Tai Webster, Shea Ili, Izayah Le’afa, Flynn Cameron, Taylor Britt, Taine Murray.
Shooting guards: Corey Webster, Reuben Te Rangi, Ethan Rusbatch, Kruz Perrot-Hunt, Isaac Davidson.
Small Forwards: Tom Abercrombie, Jordan Ngatai, Taki Fahrenson, Dan Fotu, Hyrum Harris.
Power forwards: Isaac Fotu, Finn Delany, Sam Waardenburg, Sam Mennenga, Tom Vodanovich, Ben Gold, Jordan Hunt.
Centres: Steven Adams*, Yanni Wetzell, Rob Loe, Tyrell Harrison, Tohi Smith-Milner, Sam Timmins, Callum McRae.
*Adams has never made himself available for the Tall Blacks throughout his career.