The Tall Blacks have made a change to their Olympic qualifying squad before friendly games against Finland and Poland.
Reserve Dan Fotu will step in for the injured Hyrum Harris, who has been battling a knee injury over the past three months.
Fotu is no stranger to the black singlet, having earned eight caps for New Zealand since 2018, including a pair of Asia Cup qualifier appearances earlier this year.
Tall Blacks coach Pero Cameron said while Harris would be missed, the squad would welcome Fotu on board.
“Really unfortunate with Hyrum and his injury — it’s tough luck for him and also for us", Cameron said.
"I know what he can do and what he brings to our team. But I’m looking forward to having Dan Fotu step in and having an impact.
"I’m happy to see him get this opportunity as he’s always growing and has done well for us in the past."
Cameron sees the friendly games as a key part of the Tall Blacks’ preparation for the Olympic qualifiers in Greece next month.
“Last time we played Finland was some time ago [2014 World Cup] and they were tough. We managed to come out on top and I remember it was a great game for both sides.
"Poland is not a team I’ve faced before, but some of our players have played in their domestic leagues and say the competition is tough.
“So these games aren’t going to be easy but it’s just what we need for our prep — the quality and the toughness of these games will help to get us battle-ready for the Olympic qualifying tournament."
Cameron feels his players are more than capable of earning a spot at the Paris Olympics when they play qualification games against Croatia and Slovenia.
"We’re really looking forward to the challenge of these Olympic qualifiers and playing some tough opponents.
“We’ll get together and plan out our preparations, knowing we have to move through it all pretty quickly as we’ve got less than two weeks until the qualifiers start.
“The boys have accepted the challenge and we all want to get to the Olympics, as obviously we haven’t been there
for a while.
"Our guys are more than capable of earning this spot."
Cameron has named assistant coaches Ross McMains, Trent Adams and Jovan Gorec for this tour.
US-based McMains, who has helped the Tall Blacks since 2016, will join the team in Europe after the NBA finals, where he is working with the Boston Celtics as their player development coach.
Tall Blacks
The squad
Flynn Cameron, Finn Delany, Dan Fotu, Ben Gold, Tyrell Harrison, Shea Ili, Izayah Le’Afa, Jordan Ngatai, Ethan Rusbatch, Reuben Te Rangi, Tom Vodanovich, Sam Waardenburg, Corey Webster, Yanni Wetzell.
