WELLINGTON (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Isaac Fotu plies his trade outside of New Zealand, but the recent FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers has certainly ignited his excitement to play at home.

"I like the windows," he said. "Playing in Germany is a long season, so it's a good chance to get a break from that, refresh the mind and be back with my New Zealand brothers, which is always good. I'm liking it."

The 23-year-old, who plays for German side ratiopharm Ulm, spent just several days with the Tall Blacks in the Asian Qualifiers' first window, but that wasn't too much of a difficulty in terms of their chemistry since they've been playing together for a long time already.

Going to work @Ifotu42 at shootaround, watch live stream @maoritv from 1am, #FIBAWCQ v Hong Kong pic.twitter.com/gPIglotAfs

— Tall Blacks (@TallBlacks) November 26, 2017

"The short amount of time together is tough, but luckily for us, we have all played together," he explained. "So we can gel together pretty quickly."

"I WISH THE FEBRUARY WINDOW WAS CLOSER. I'M ENJOYING (PLAYING IN) GERMANY BUT I'M UPSET THAT THIS FIRST WINDOW IS ALREADY OVER" FotuFotu

Their results weren't immaculate, though, especially in their first home game where they were on the wrong end of an 86-80 upset at the hands of Asian powerhouse Korea. Fotu struggled in that game with only 10 points on 5-of-11 field goal shooting along with 3 rebounds. However, he and the rest of the Tall Blacks bounced back strong against Hong Kong, taking a convincing 133-74 victory in their away fixture. In that contest, the 6ft 8in (2.03m) forward-center tallied 14 points, 4 boards and 3 assists.

Fotu vows they will do better in the next windows.

"I wish it [February window] was closer," he said. "I'm enjoying Germany but I'm upset that this first window is already over. There's another chance [to win] in February. We are getting plenty of opportunities to catch up and play together again, which is good."

"HOME GAMES ARE GREAT FOR NEW ZEALAND BASKETBALL" FotuFotu

Playing and winning at home is valuable for Fotu, mainly because seeing the Tall Blacks at home is not commonplace in New Zealand. He believes FIBA's New Competition Sytem is a very good way to help continue the growth of basketball in their country.

"Home games are great for New Zealand basketball," he said. "Since I've been a Tall Black, we’ve had maybe one or two home games [against Asian teams] in eight or nine years. So it’s great for the New Zealand fans and for us to be able to play at home in front of friends and family."

When they return to action in the second window in February, however, Fotu and his pals will travel to East Asia to play the undefeated Chinese in what should be a pivotal road game. They will have their turn to host China in the third window on July 1, 2018, which, according to Fotu, is going to be circled in his calendar.

"Playing China at home is going to be huge," he shared. "There's a big Chinese population in New Zealand, so they will have a lot of fans there. It will almost be like a home game for them as well. It will be a great challenge, and I know all the basketball fans in New Zealand will be looking forward to that."

FIBA