The Otago under-23 side tips off its bid for a national title against Counties-Manukau in Tauranga this morning.
Counties finished runner-up to North Harbour last year and will be a tough proposition for the Mark Dickel-coached Otago team.
Otago plays the other side in its pool, Te Tai Tokerau, this afternoon.
The top two sides in each pool will advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals.
Should Otago qualify for the next round, it will face Canterbury Country, Waikato, Porirua or the Junior Tall Blacks.
Dickel said he knew little about the other teams and was focusing on his own.
''We have a good team. I think we can do well. We have 11 players who can play.
"I am excited to see the level of play at the tournament,'' he said.
Otago's squad boasts six players from this year's Nuggets squad and a seventh, Richie Rodger, will play for the Junior Tall Blacks.
Otago Boys' High School centre Sam Timmins (eight points) top-scored for the New Zealand three-on-three basketball team as it edged Venezuela 16-15 at the Youth Olympic Games in China on Monday night.
The 17-year-old also scored three points in his side's 18-13 win over Guatemala earlier in the evening.
- Robert van Royen
Otago under-23
The squad
Jack Stirling, AJ Auld Beverley, Tom Ingham, Ollie Smith, Sheldon McGuire, Fergus Bevin-McCrimmon, Damon Cleverley, Darcy Knox, Ethan Horner, Mitchell Newton, Tyler Lapham.
