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Sport | Basketball

Tall Blacks name squad for World Champ qualifyers

Paul Henare has named his Tall Blacks squad that will take on Syria and Lebanon in the coming weeks.

Veteran forward Mika Vukona will lead the side. Young Māori players Reuben Te Rangi, Tohi Milner-Smith, Jordan Ngātai and Shea Ili have also been included in the squad. Henare says "it seems like the same old story for us, we seem to have a good mix of experience mixed in with youth there as well."

Returning Breaker Corey Webster and Tom Abercrombie have not been considered due to personal reasons and injury respectively. "Whilst we wold love to have them, we carry on and it's business as usual," Henare said today.

Bay Hawks players Ethan Rusbatch and Dion Prewster will be given opportunities to impress Henare in their place. While neither are new to the Tall Blacks squad, having played in various matches this year including the Commonwealth Games, Henare expects them to benefit from the absence of his star players. Henare was impressed especially with Rusbatch on the recent New Zealand Select team's tour of China. "He was outstanding with his leadership, with his contribution. He shot the ball extremely well," Henare says, and added that is what he and his coaching staff were looking for in terms of replacements for Webster and Abercrombie.

The Tall Blacks have had an impressive qualifying campaign so far, losing only once in the first round to Korea in November last year. They have since gone on to win their next 5 qualifying matches.

The vast Asian zone will again provide the Tall Blacks with logistics issues. They play Syria in Lebanon on the 14th of September (NZT) before a 36 hour trip back home to play Lebanon in Rotorua on the 17th.

The squad leaves on Monday for a training camp in Qatar ahead of their opening round 2 clash.

Māori Television will have livestream coverage of the Syria game on the 14th of September beginning at 1am. The Lebanon game from Rotorua will be simulcast on Māori Television, and māoritelevision.com on the 17th of September.

The Squad is:

Guards: Shea Ili, (SKYCITY Breakers) Jarrod Kenny, (Cairns Taipans) Ethan Rusbatch, (Bay Hawks) Tai Webster, (Galatasaray (Turkey))

Forwards: Reuben Te Rangi, (Brisbane Bullets), Dion Prewster, (Bay Hawks), Jordan Ngatai, (SKYCITY Breakers), Isaac Fotu, (Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)) Finn Delany, (SKYCITY Breakers), Mika Vukona, (Brisbane Bullets)

Centres: Rob Loe, (Cairns Taipans) Tohi Smith-Milner, (Melbourne United)