NZL - Confident Ruscoe aiming high

AUCKLAND (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Brook Ruscoe has thought a lot about the life he wants to lead in basketball, but those plans took a back seat while he tried to lead the Junior Tall Blacks to a berth in the second round at the FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand.

Pre-tournament, the fear in the host country was that the New Zealand team would not be competitive, resulting in a lack of interest in the championship from the local public.

While the Junior Tall Blacks will now play off for 13th position, their three stirring performances have allayed all fears. Listening to 18 year old Ruscoe, it is not hard to see why they have been so competitive. "This has been pretty much everything for me for, I'd say, about the last 18 months.

"I have just been at the gym day in, day out, shooting jumpshots, running the lanes, handling the ball, so it has been a lot of effort just to get here, but I'm glad it is finally happening."

Of course, the tenacious point guard has really been getting ready to represent New Zealand for much longer than 18 months. Hailing from a prominent basketball family, it was always a good chance Brook would one day wear the black and white of his national team.

"I didn't really have any choice but to play with the background I had! I grew up with a ball in my hands. My uncle was my coach in my schoolboys, Peter Ruscoe, my auntie was my reps coach, Deslea Wrathall."

Brook's extended family includes former New Zealand national team star Jane McMeeken, her daughter Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe who currently plays for New Zealand, and son Luke Ruscoe who plays in the New Zealand national league (NZNBL).

His uncles could also play the game, Peter played in the NZNBL and his brother Matt is a former New Zealand senior Tall Black.

With that background, confidence is not an issue for Brook, and his team's strong performances against Croatia and Argentina were not a surprise.

"We have a whole lot of self belief in our team. We've had a huge pre-world champs as a team now, we trust each other, we trust our offence, we trust our defence, and then the crowd is huge for us too."

What else has been huge is Ruscoe's willingness to take the big shots at important times, and in this way the FIBA U19 World Championship is a coming out party for him. "I like to take those big shots," he said.

"But it's a whole lot different being in New Zealand, you don't often get a lot of opportunities, you usually win your (junior) games by a lot. So when you come up against a team like Argentina or any of these international sides you have to make the best of your chances, and if it comes it comes.

"I just want to help my team anyway I can, so it is easy (taking the big shot)."

New Zealand's new professional basketball team, the Breakers, who play in the elite Australian NBL, are also making a career in basketball easier for talented young players in this country, and that is something that hasn't been lost on Ruscoe.

"With the Breakers, it keeps you aiming for that higher level. The (young New Zealand) players they are recruiting, the placing they come every year, it pushes you to try and extend yourself and try and get to a level like that someday.

"It would be great to one day get to play for them."


And the chance to learn from the Breakers' FIBA international veterans, such as CJ Bruton and Tony Ronaldson from Australia, Dave Thomas from Canada, and Kirk Penney and Dillon Boucher from the senior Tall Blacks is an invaluable tool for young Kiwis.

First though, Ruscoe and many of his teammates hope to develop their fundamentals in the American college system. "Hopefully I will head off to America in August, but nothing's been settled yet, so I am just focussing on this tournament at the moment and we'll see what happens after that."

Given Ruscoe's passion when talking about the Junior Tall Blacks, you suspect a college career is well and truly at the back of his mind for these two weeks at least.

But his performances on this big stage will surely generate interest from scouts and help him secure a much sought after college scholarship. And they will just as surely, they were crucial in capturing the New Zealand public's imagination at the FIBA U19 World Championship.

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA