Tohi Smith-Milner from the Tall Blacks and Boomer Angus Glover will clash again in the world cup qualifiers. Photo: Jeremy Ward/Photosport
Boomers v Tall Blacks
Friday, 28 November
Tip-off 9.30pm
MyState Bank Arena, Hobart, Tasmania
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
There will be no secrets between the Tall Blacks and Boomers when the Asia FIBA World Cup qualifiers tip off.
It is hard to have an air of mystery when the opposing coaches worked together for nearly a decade or when most of the players from both sides play in the same competition for 22 weeks at a time.
Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell and Boomers coach Dean Vickerman have both predominately called on players based in the Australian NBL for two games that start the lengthy qualification process for the 2027 Basketball World Cup in Qatar.
Flavell works as an assistant for the Breakers when he is not with the national team, likewise Vickerman is head coach at Melbourne United when he is not stepping in to the Boomers top job to cover for head coach Adam Caporn who has not come back for this qualification window.
The links between the Tall Blacks and Boomers are numerous.
Flavell has coached some of the Boomers and Vickerman has the Tall Blacks captain Finn Delany in his NBL squad. Boomers big man Keanu Pinder matches up with Tall Blacks forward Yanni Wetzell every day in practice for their Akita Northern Happinets side in Japan's B-League.
Alex Ducas who will represent the green and gold for the first time since 2023 is well aware of what Tall Blacks weapon Tyrell Harrison, who will pull on the black singlet for the first time this year, is capable of as they play together for the Brisbane Bullets.
Friday's game in Hobart will be the fourth time the Tall Blacks and Boomers have played each other in 2025.
The Australians are leading this year's tally 2-1 but the Tall Blacks were the winners of the last game played in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown in May in Hamilton.
There are some roster changes from that inaugural series with the New Zealanders injecting some height that Flavell has not had his disposal before now.
Brisbane Bullets centre Tyrell Harrison celebrates during their win over the New Zealand Breakers. Photo: photosport
"Sometimes we have the genuine bigs and sometimes we don't but what a luxury it is to have [Harrison], Yanni Wetzell as well coming back and we have Sam Mennenga and we have Tohi Smith-Milner so genuine size all with a different skillset and our challenge is can we complement that all together and be a cohesive unit in this short window.
"Sometimes they are going to be asked to be interchangeable or be versatile and that is something I think Tall Blacks always have to do. Guys for their club team play a specific role and when they come into Tall Blacks they have to grow and they have to be able to step into these multi positional roles and that's a strength of the Tall Blacks but that's the way we have look at it and attack it."
While the opposition in this qualification window is familiar, Flavell wants the Tall Blacks to also take a closer look at themselves while he looks at the big picture after 13 months in the head coach role.
"It's given me a great opportunity to gather information over the last 12 months and have a good understanding of who we are again. Our focus for this window is to remember who we are and bring guys together.
"It's a little bit of a start over again.
"We're really laying a foundation for what lies ahead...that journey extends for a lot of these guys, for [17-year-old] Jackson [Ball] in particular, hopefully another 10 to 15 years for him so huge for us as Tall Blacks to keep developing our youth."
The process to qualify for the Basketball World Cup starts in this window, continues in February and July next year. The Tall Blacks will plan to move into the second round of qualifying in August and November 2026 and March 2027. Before the global event in August 2027.
"I don't think people can plan their lives over the next 16 months but while we can we want to continue to get as many people as we can back into the mix.
"This window is great, timing has worked out people are playing here or close to New Zealand, there are still a number of people who are not here as well but you can never really bank on what life is going to look like in six months time or whenever the next window is but while we have people we try to re-centre back to the Tall Blacks core and back to our kaupapa and remind themselves what it's like to be a Tall Black and playing together."
Re-establishing a long-time connection on the international stage
Tall Black Yanni Wetzell. Photo: Supplied
Wetzell has not played for the Tall Blacks so far this year and said it was "refreshing" to be back playing under Flavell who first brought him to basketball.
"I played for him as a junior, played for him in my first year as a professional when he was an assistant at South East [Melbourne Phoenix], now he got this job and it was an exciting call up and we have a great relationship so it was a no brainer for me to come back and join this team.
"I know what he likes out of players and we have that player-coach connection where there doesn't need to be a ton of communication and we know how we see things so we will continue to grow that bond."
Wetzell is also working on the connection and on-court chemistry with an eye on the world cup and the Olympics.
"There is nothing like playing with Kiwis it's exciting to see a lot of the talent coming through I feel like we're leaps and bounds from where we were 10 to 15 years ago.
"There is so much talent, not just within this group but you can see a bunch of these guys signing with big universities over in the States and there is going to be a massive influx of players coming through in the next few years to come."
Harrison was first involved with the Tall Blacks in 2018 and he also played in Flavell's first game in charge but the games against the Boomers mark a return to the side for the towering centre.
"I'd say we're the underdogs but basketball is changing in New Zealand, it's developing it's improving and hopefully we can show that these two games as well."
Harrison wants to be a regular for the national side as he too looks to the big events on the horizon.
"I try be available as much as I can and keep getting around this environment the culture and trying to get used to the coaching staff and the team."
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