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April 2018
New Zealand hope past tour will help grab U17 World Cup spot
21/03/2018
News
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New Zealand hope past tour will help grab U17 World Cup spot

WELLINGTON (FIBA U16 Asian Championship) - New Zealand head coach Dave Bublitz believes a past tour of the region will help his team advance through the FIBA U16 Asian Championship and secure a spot at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018.

Bublitz has named the 12 player team for next month's U16 continental tournament where New Zealand have been drawn into Group A with China and Hong Kong. And most of the players expected to appear atย the April 2-8 event participated last July in a tour of Philippines.

Click here to check out the Final roster of Basketball New Zealand

"We held our first camp back in December 2016 so we have had a long time preparing for this event," the coach said. "The majority of the team we have selected came on a tour of the Philippines in July last year. We used that tour to gain experience playing against Asian style basketball, which is very guard orientated and quite different to the style we are accustomed to in New Zealand."

New Zealand will be competing in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship for the first time. The last camp for the event was held last December in Rotorua, and Bublitz is confident the team will be ready to build on that when they meet again on March 26.

"That camp was very beneficial and I know when the team comes together again later this month they will bond very quickly," the coach said.

"We want to make the Quarter-Finals then from there we are one win away from a place at the FIBA U17 World Cup."Dave BublitzDave Bublitz

The main goal for the team is to qualify for this summer's U17 World Cup in Argentina, which would be the first time New Zealand compete in the biennial global tournament.

"We want to make the Quarter-Finals then from there we are one win away from a place at the FIBA U17 World Cup," Bublitz said.

As far as main competition for those four spots from Asia, the coach said: "I imagine Australia will start favourites and Asian powerhouse China are always formidable. I've also heard that Japan and Korea operate with full-time coaches so we can expect those two teams to be strong."

FIBA