New Zealand men's national basketball team

History

There is a long and storied history of basketball in New Zealand dating back to when Wilt Chamberlain vacationed at the island paradise back in the 60s and introduced the game to the Kiwis. The Tall Blacks competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and finished with a 1–5 record, their only win coming against Angola, in the playoff for eleventh place.

In 2001, they defeated Australia, in a three-game series to qualify for the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, United States. At the tournament, they finished fourth, after beating Puerto Rico in the quarter-finals, before losses to Serbia and Montenegro and Germany. Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron was the only non-NBA player named to the All-Tournament team in Indianapolis.

The Tall Blacks also qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but again finished with a 1–5 record, and lost to Australia in the playoff for ninth place. Their most noted moment was on the 7th day of the games, when they defeated reigning the World Champions Serbia and Montenegro, by a score of 90–87.

2006 FIBA World Championship

At the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the Tall Blacks were not to repeat their fourth-place finish from 2002. After an 0–3 start, the Tall Blacks rallied into the second round, with two straight wins to close out the group stage. However, they would fall in the round of 16 to defending Olympic gold medalists Argentina, 79–62. After that disappointment, Tab Baldwin resigned as the coach of the Tall Blacks, and was replaced by Nenad Vučinić, his longtime assistant coach.

2011 Stanković Cup

The squad competed at the 2011 Boris Stanković Cup in China. They played 3 games against difficult opposition, China, Russia, and Angola. After going down to Russia in the first game by just 3 points, the Tall Blacks quickly put that behind them, to smash China in their second game, which led to a good win against a strong Angolan team. The Tall Blacks came up against a strong Russian team in the final, but the Russians were no match for Tall Blacks star shooting guard Kirk Penney, as he scored 30 points, to give the Tall Blacks the win and the gold medal for 2011.

Haka

The Tall Blacks perform a traditional Haka (Māori challenge) before every game, but due to the influence of Paora Winitana and Paul Henare, it is very different to the ones performed by All Blacks.

Olympic Games

FIBA Basketball World Cup

Commonwealth Games

Stanković Cup

William Jones Cup

Notable players

Probably the most well-known former New Zealand Tall Black player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is former San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Marks. Another New Zealand player, former University of Wisconsin star Kirk Penney, briefly played in the NBA, and later played with top European teams Maccabi Tel Aviv and Žalgiris, but now plays with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in Spain, after being released by the New Zealand Breakers. In past generations, players such as Stan Hill and Glen Denham, were well revered and respected players, who were the face of New Zealand basketball.

Past rosters

Manufacturer

2015: Peak