Basketball: Tall Blacks to prepare in Europe, Asia

Paul Henare.
Paul Henare.
The Tall Blacks have confirmed a solid schedule before another crack at Olympic qualifying.

Games in Europe and Asia will help the Tall Blacks prepare for the Oceania championship series in August.

The Paul Henare-coached team will assemble for trials in Auckland in early July before settling into a week-long camp.

The Tall Blacks will play Great Britain in London on July 25, travel to Croatia for a game on July 29 and head to Slovenia for a game on July 30.

The Stankovic Cup is played in China from August 3 to August 8. Mexico, Venezuela and China have been confirmed opposition at venues yet to be determined.

The Tall Blacks will then head home for a brief break before reassembling to take on Australia in a home-and-away series in Melbourne on August 15 and Wellington on August 18.

The London game will be played in the 2012 Olympic Venue, the Copperbox. A a large and vocal crowd is expected in support of the home side while ex-pat Kiwis will be keen to take in a rare chance to see the Tall Blacks play in London.

Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare is delighted with the schedule, one that will enable him to fully test his roster against world-class opposition ahead of the games against Australia.

''This will be an intense six-week time in which we will prepare ourselves to be at our best to face Australia,'' Henare said.

''We know what a task that will be against an NBA-laden Boomer roster, so to get games against quality opposition in hostile environments was vital.

''There is so much work to do and so much that will play out before we even hit the road. Competition to get into this team will be incredibly strong, with depth in most if not all positions.''

Fourteen players will be named for the New Zealand camp and trips to Europe and China. Henare will then trim the roster to 12 for the Oceania series, which doubles as the Rio Olympics qualifier.

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