A little over a year ago, the only basketball team from Aotearoa to ever make the semi-finals of a FIBA World Cup event at any age grade, men or women, were the Tall Blacks of 2002. Now it’s happened twice in twelve months.

There’s one thing you can never doubt about any Tall Blacks team: no matter who’s got that black singlet on, they’re going to bring the passion, the commitment, the mana that has become a prerequisite for this team

The Tall Blacks always bring a certain level of mana with them no matter who’s reppin’ the jersey. There’s going to be passion and cohesion and defensive grit. Regardless. That’s just how this team operates