Previewing The Tall Blacks at the 2025 Asia Cup
The Tall Ferns recently got back from an Asia Cup jaunt in which they were pretty impressive on the way to a fifth-placed finish. Now it’s the turn of the Tall Blacks to do the same thing. For the fellas, though, fifth-place would be a disappointing outcome – we finished fourth in 2017 and third in 2022 in the two previous instances that Aotearoa has competed in this tournament (Australia won both) so it stands to reason that the semi-finals are the minimum. In fact, this edition poses our best chance yet to go even further and make the final... but more on that later.
There are several similarities between that Tall Ferns squad and this Tall Blacks one. The timing of these tournaments has made it tricky with many key players being unavailable – although in the case of the Tall Blacks, with no World Cup qualifying ramifications on the line, they might not have picked everyone anyway. That makes this is a good chance to stretch out the depth and bring a few new players into the mix. Even at World Cups we’ve seen the Tall Blacks struggle to get everyone on board so it’s a necessity to have a deep player pool. The Ferns did a great job of expanding things out not only with selections but then with how some of those players performed at the tournament as the likes of Emme Shearer, Rebecca Pizzey, and Charlotte Whittaker all showed that they can be counted on whenever required. This TBs group has several candidates primed for similar breakthroughs.
But these two national team campaigns diverge in other ways, with those WCQ ramifications being an obvious one. The Tall Ferns needed to finish top six in order to progress in World Cup qualifying... but there are separate qualifiers for the blokes so there’s no ulterior motive here. It’s just an Asia Cup. Plus, while the squad might have some fresh faces in it, coach Judd Flavell has been around long enough – and has been such a presence in kiwi basketball for so long – that we already know what to expect from his Tall Blacks team. We’ve seen it several times already... most notably the win against Australia in Hamilton a few months back. The identity is already set. These dudes know their roles.
The Squad
A large number of players were presumably unavailable, given the limited stakes and the long tour. It’s not only the Asia Cup tournament itself. The squad travelled to China for some preparation games so when you account for the first of those warm-ups taking place on July 26 and the Asia Cup lasting until 17 August... chuck in the travel days and that’s going to be close to a month of mahi for those partaking. Anyone with an Aussie NBL contract nearing preseason will have had to think deeply about that commitment. The three guys who did Summer League were busy. The NZ NBL did conveniently wrap up shortly beforehand but no doubt a few of those fellas will promptly be heading overseas for their next gigs. With a couple hombres also out injured, that means lots of familiar faces are absent.
But, such is the depth these days, that allows space for some exciting alternatives. Like Mojave King, for example. Born of Otago basketballing royalty but raised in Australia and having always said he wanted to represent Oz... the bro has seen the light and donned the black singlet. Happy days. Now we can scratch the asterisks from his various achievements as a kiwi basketballer. Put him alongside Sean Marks and Steven Adams as New Zealand’s only NBA draftees. Put him in a category of his own as an NZ rep in NBA G-League. Add him to the Summer League longlist. Don’t go thinking that this has come out of nowhere either. Mojave King has been increasingly active around kiwi basketball over the past couple of years with stint for the Southland Sharks, his season at the Breakers, and most recently an awesome run with the Tauranga Whai. Mo paid his Aotearoa dues before getting his summons.
And he’s not the only one because Luca Yates of the Hawke’s Bay Hawks was also picked in the wider squad. It was stated when he signed with HB that he was eligible but now the Illawarra Hawks development player (born in Christchurch, raised in Townsville) has officially become a Tall Black. This is the future we were hoping for from Keanu Rasmussen but never quite got (at least not yet). That’s a choice for each individual but it’s very noteworthy that King and Yates both played NZ NBL before they made the Tall Blacks. Extra shout out to Yates because he’s part of that Illawarra to Hawke’s Bay double hawks situation that also includes HBH head coach/IH assistant Sam Gruggen... and now Jackson Ball, after the 17yo kiwi phenom agreed to a development contract with the Hawks for a season before he heads off to Wisconsin University (to join Hayden Jones and assistant coach Kirk Penney – always helps to have good contacts).
Only 11 men were named in the initial Asia Cup squad. The lone USA college inclusion here, Ben Gold, was unavailable for the China warm-up stuff as he busied himself with Marquette University preseason action, so what they did was they picked three extra players for that initial phase with one of them to eventually be elevated to the main roster for the tournament. Luca Yates was one of those. The other two were Hayden Jones and Jordan Hunt. Three different positional areas there, hence it was less about who performed best and more about what aspect of the squad Coach Flavell decided needed the extra boost. All three had valid cases. In the end, it was Jordan Hunt who got the nod.
Along with King and Yates, two other debutants were selected: Jack Andrew and Dontae Russo-Nance. Both got their opportunity on the back of massive breakthrough campaigns with their respective NBL teams. Andrew was one of the league’s premier bigs playing for Taranaki. DRN averaged 18.3 points per game for Manawatu as a 20-year-old. Jordan Ngatai is the most experienced player with 84 international caps and he’ll captain the side in the absence of Reuben Te Rangi.
8/12 players have current Aussie NBL contracts: Smith-Milner and Murray (Brisbane Bullets), Flynn Cameron (Adelaide 36ers), Luca Yates (Illawarra Hawks), Dontae Russo-Nance (Perth Wildcats), and Max Darling, Carlin Davison, and Taylor Britt (NZ Breakers). The others have all played at least some Aussie NBL in the past, with the exception of Ben Gold. Murray and Gold were the only two who didn’t play NZ NBL this year. Players in common from the 2022 Asia Cup squad: Max Darling, Taylor Britt, Taine Murray, Flynn Cameron, Jordan Hunt, and Tohi Smith-Milner.
To give you an idea of the depth, both emerging and established, this is the full list of Tall Blacks who’ve been capped since the start of 2024 who aren’t part of this current tour...
Reuben Te Rangi, Izayah Le’Afa, Jackson Ball, Kaia Isaac, Walter Brown, Tamatoa Isaac, Corey Webster, Tai Wynyard, Sam Waardenburg, Tom Vodanovich, Oscar Goodman, Carter Hopoi, Shea Ili, Hyrum Harris, Tyrell Harrison, Finn Delany, Yanni Wetzell, Sam Mennenga, Ethan Rusbatch, Dan Fotu, Tobias Cameron, Julius Halaifonua, Sam Timmins, Dion Prewster
That list doesn’t even include Isaac Fotu or Tai Webster... or Steven Adams. Combine all them with the 14 lads involved on the current tour and that’s 41 capable international players that we can call upon – with any possible retirements easily balanced out by uncapped players who are ready for the rise. Twelve of those players are tasked with trying to win the Asia Cup.
The Preparation
This month-long Odyssey began with the Solidarity Cup in China. There were livestreams for those games on the Courtside 1891 website but no on-demand replays and no box score stats so information is pretty limited unless you stayed up late for them. They’re only warm-up games so no big deal.
The Tall Blacks lost 85-68 against Brazil in the first game last Saturday NZT, getting blown out in the first half with a 9-point second quarter leaving them trailing by 31 at the big break. But the response was sharp and the TBs ended up winning the second half pretty substantially. Flynn Cameron (14p) and Taylor Britt (13p) topped the scoring while Mojave King, Luca Yates, Jack Andrew, and Dontae Russo-Nance all made their international debuts. Jordan Ngatai and Tohi Smith-Milner sat this game out.
The following night served up a meeting with tournament hosts Guangdong. Presumably that means Guangdong Southern Tigers from the Chinese Basketball Association, a team that has won 11 championships in the past 25 years (the most recent in 2021). Either way, this was not a full international fixture. Thanks to Chinese Baller Vision on YouTube there are some highlights of this game which confirm a starting five of: Taylor Britt, Taine Murray, Mojave King, Carlin Davison, and Jack Andrew. Definitely also saw Luca Yates, Flynn Cameron, Jordan Hunt, Dontae Russo-Nance, and Hayden Jones in there, though that’d appear to be everyone. No Ngatai or TSM or Max Darling. This game was tied at 33-all midway through the second quarter until Davison inspired a 10-0 run and then a commanding second half from the kiwis led to a 90-66 victory for Aotearoa. 19 points for Flynn Cameron. Hunt and Davison each scored 11.
Completing the first leg of the tour was a game against Montenegro... which the Tall Blacks also won. Sweet as. Ngatai and Smith-Milner made their first involvements of the tour in an impressive 89-82 victory against a higher-ranked opponent. Flynn Cameron scored 22 points and Mojave King and Tohi Smith-Milner each added 11. Once again, it was Cameron who had the heaviest influence in crunch time as New Zealand iced a close game.
From there, it was off to Shenzhen for what was billed as a “Four Nations Tournament”... although details were scarce as to what that would comprise of. The first game was a rematch against Brazil, that much was known ahead of time. No footage escaped from this one but thankfully it seems things went much more like the second half of the previous meeting than the first. New Zealand won 90-89 with victory sealed by a Mojave King bucket at the end. King scored 22 points while Flynn Cameron had 14p/7r/7a. Fine revenge for the earlier defeat... and only the second time in history that NZ has beaten Brazil (who are ranked even higher than Montenegro).
The Four Nations Tournament then wrapped up with the Tall Blacks facing... Guangdong. Because somehow a Chinese province made its way into this “Four Nations Tournament”. With Brazil and Montenegro playing out an overtime game immediately preceding, the Four Nations in Shenzhen turned out to just be the same four teams that played the Solidarity Cup in Guangdong. Nevertheless, it was more good preparation for the fellas, who started slowly but eventually pulled through for an 82-77 win, outscoring Guangdong by 14 points in the final frame. Mojave King topped with 19 points. Tohi Smith-Milner got 13 while Carlin Davison added 11p/4r. Seems like they may have mixed up the rotations to get everyone some action – Max Darling had missed a game or two earlier on tour but he definitely played this time.
And there you go. The Tall Blacks went 4-1 across these tour games, with one bad half against Brazil followed by four and a half good halves against everyone else. The Tall Ferns had to overcome very limited prep for their Asia Cup but the Tall Blacks could hardly ask for better than what they got. Five competitive games with almost everyone available and some awesome results to reinforce the hype. Let’s go.
The Asia Cup
From here it’s the main event in Saudi Arabia. The Tall Blacks were drawn in a group with Iraq, Philippines, and Chinese Taipei – the latter two we faced during qualifying and won 3/4 of those matches. There was an upset 93-89 defeat against the Philippines in Manila but that’s the only time we’ve ever lost to the Philippines and, including a couple of games against Hong Kong, the Tall Blacks won all five of their other games by at least 17 points. It was a cruise through qualifying and the standards should be even higher at the actual tournament... which the Tall Blacks will tip-off against Iraq on Tuesday night.
NZ vs Iraq on Tuesday 5 August at 8pm NZT
NZ vs Philippines on Friday 8 August at 3am NZT
NZ vs Chinese Taipei on Sunday 10 August at 6am NZT
Realistically, the kiwi team should be winning this group pretty comfortably. The Philippines will obviously be the toughest opponent but three wins from three is the expectation. That outcome would sent the Tall Blacks directly into the quarter-finals. Finish second or third in the group and they’d have to play an extra qualifying round, while fourth place is eliminated from championship contention. In the quarters, the TBs will meet the winner of a playoff between the second-placed team in Group B (Japan, Iran, Syria, Guam) and the third-placed team in Group A (Australia, South Korea, Lebanon, Qatar) and that should be very winnable as well.
The 2017 Asia Cup was the first one after Oceania was absorbed into the Asian scheme – leading to Australia immediately winning back-to-back titles. The Tall Blacks have made the semis on both occasions but lost 106-79 to Australia in 2017 (before losing 80-71 to South Korea in the third-place playoff) and lost 85-76 to the Aussies in 2022 (before beating Jordan 83-75 to claim the bronze medals). Luckily, the way the draw worked out this time, New Zealand and Australia can’t meet until the final supposing that we both top our respective groups... and every game in which we’re not playing the Boomers is a winnable game.
Australia have gone with a relatively young squad for their title defence but they’ve still got fellas like Xavier Cooks, Davo Hickey, Jack McVeight, and Will Magnay on board. No doubting who the favourites are... though remember we turned them over last time the two nations met. Only a handful of players remain from that Trans-Tasman Showdown back in May: Xavier Cooks, Owen Foxwell, and Harry Wessels for Australia; Taylor Britt, Tohi Smith-Milner, Carlin Davison, and Max Darling for Aotearoa. It was Taylor Britt who stole the show with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists in that win.
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