Suva (Fiji) - Basketball Fiji showcased their Men's and Women's training squads in the Fiji Games 2019 over the weekend to gauge the talent level of their national team pools that will compete in the 2019 Pacific Games.

Basketball Fiji Chief Operating Officer Laisiasa Puamau was in attendance during the Fiji Games and commended the current event as a huge part of their preparation to the Pacific Games.

"Our goal was to identify and make a decision on the final team for both men and women to the Pacific Games in Samoa with the added inclusion of players abroad," said Puamau.

"The teams are still in the training squad phase of preparation and final selection will be publically announced on the 4th of May. The teams focus is to improve our shooting ability and to commit to our high-pressure team defense philosophy," he added.

Puamau a former national team player of Fiji praised the talent level of the pool and believes that Fiji will be contending again in the Pacific Games.

"The talent level is very high in this year's pool. We even have a couple of competitive high school students in the current training squad. Two are 15 years of age and are both playing above their ages," he shared.

"Teams are currently training five days in a week, rotating between on-court ball work, weights and running on the tracks. We will be ready for the Pacific Games," he added.

Fiji had one of their most successful Pacific Games campaigns in 2015 outside of their 2007 double Gold Medal finish, with the Women's team bagging the Gold Medal while the Men's squad taking home the Silver Medal.

Photo: Joshua Fox during the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers held in Thailand on November 2018

Both the Men's and Women's team made history as the first teams from the Pacific region alongside Guam's Mens team in FIBA Asia competitions.

"We are extremely proud and honored to represent the Pacific Islands in the 2018 FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers and 2017 FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division B because of our strong finish in the 2015 Pacific Games. We intend to repeat and qualify again to that environment and prove ourselves at the Asian level," said Puamau.

The 2019 Pacific Games will serve as the official qualifier to the Men's and Women's FIBA Asia Cup tournaments.

Fiji announced their pool in February and has been preparing extensively for the quadrennial event which will be held in Apia, Samoa on 8-20 July 2019.

"Next steps for the team is to raise the competitive level within and to continue to build and get better in our offensive and defensive systems," said Puamau.

"We are setting up a few more tune-up games in the lead-up to the Pacific Games and are excited to compete and hopefully win Gold Medals," he ended.

FIBA