WELLINGTON (New Zealand) - New Zealand Tall Blacks great Pero Cameron has been handed the reins to the national team.

The FIBA Hall of Famer, who was named to the All-Star Five after leading his country to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2002 in Indianapolis, USA, succeeds Paul Henare.

He will lead the national team in the upcoming Asia Cup Qualifiers at Australia and Guam, and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia.

Cameron was an assistant coach for the national team the past eight years under former boss Nenad Vucinic and, most recently, Henare.  Ross McMains will continue with the Tall Blacks as an assistant coach.

"Continuity is important to this group right now, the past few years has seen us bring in so many new and young players," Cameron said.

"From the Asia Cup to the qualifying windows, we have brought in many new players and exposed them to what Tall Blacks basketball is all about. It is important that we don't lose that investment and go back to square one with a new system or new staff.

"Over that time we have also seen a number of players mature into their twenties and emerge as leaders of this team, players like Reuben Te Rangi, Shea Ili, Finn Delany, Isaac Fotu and Tai Webster just to name a few.

"IF WE CAN GET BACK TO THE OLYMPICS, IT TRULY PUTS US ON THE MAP, TO BE COMPETING WITH THE BEST IN THE WORLD IN FRONT OF FAMILY, FRIENDS AND THE BASKETBALL COMMUNITY BACK HOME."- Cameron

"We are also seeing the next generation emerge and put pressure on the current group. We have a whole batch of players ready to come out of the college system in the US and below them a group of 10 or 12 players ready to make the move from high school into the US college system. Some of them have already had a taste of the Tall Blacks environment."

New Zealand played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China this summer and finished 19th. Losses to Brazil and Greece condemned the team to a third-place finish in Group F and prevented it from advancing to the Second Round. Henare's team ended the tournament with Classification Round victories over Japan and Turkey.

New Zealand have not made it to an Olympic Games since 2004 in Athens, when Cameron was a key man in the team. He also represented the country four years earlier when the Olympics were staged in Sydney.

The 2.00m (6ft 7in) Cameron guarded China center Yao Ming at the 2004 Olympics

New Zealand have competed at the last three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and played well but not well enough. They will face some tough opposition  in June, with their tournament involving the hosts and favorites Serbia, as well as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Italy and Senegal.

"The Olympics is huge, not just for me, but for the players, the whole group and support staff and for the future of the game in New Zealand," Cameron said. "If we can get back to the Olympics, it truly puts us on the map, to be competing with the best in the world in front of family, friends and the basketball community back home."

Cameron was a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2017. Now 45, his sons, Tobias and Flynn, have been in the Junior Tall Blacks program. Both are playing college basketball in the United States.

It's a huge source of pride for Cameron that he has been installed as coach.

"I think back to when I first made the Junior Tall Blacks, I was about 16 or 17 at the time, so it is coming up 30 years representing the black singlet in one way or another. When I received the news, I thought about all the coaches I have worked with in that time, all the teammates and all the players that have represented our country. To be able to add to that Tall Black history and bring some more positive moments to that history is exciting, as we chase our goals.

"I am really happy. It has been a long time and a good time in this team and in this environment. I can’t wait to get into work with this current group, the players and support staff, and get into the challenges that face us in 2020."

His status as coach will be reviewed after the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

"Of course, I want this job longer term, that is something out of my control, though," he said. "I am just focused on the job at hand, the qualifying window in February and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June. I think all coaches want that long term security, but for now that is the hand I am given, and we will go and take care of business."

Cameron led Wellington to NBL Championships in 2010, when he was named Coach of the Year, and 2011. In his national team playing career which began in 1992 and finished in 2010, Cameron appeared in  154 games. Only Kirk Penny (175) and Mika Vukona (160) have played in more. Overall, Cameron represented New Zealand at four World Cups.

FIBA