Papua New Guinea men ready for challenge

PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea) – The Papua New Guinea U17 Men’s Team will be looking to play fast-paced hoops this week when they host the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) will host Australia, Guam, Samoa, and New Zealand, with things expected to heat up on the courts with the men in green and gold to defend their regional title.

"We've been training hard for months now from fitness to mental resilience, to running our sets and we’ve finally made a lot of difference in our game structure," said PNG U17 Men’s Head Coach, Gavin Dela Cruz.  "We are getting ready for the FIBA Oceania tournament, and it is very exciting, the boys will be giving 100 percent effort on game day."

Head Coach Dela Cruz said the team consists of players from all over the country and will be led by experienced youngster Adam Maikai from Kikori, who entered the international scenes last year at the FIBA U15 Oceania Championship in Guam following a talent identification program.

"We've got a few U15s from last tournament in Guam coming up, their progression of skills is within ranks, these reps will now take the lead among new faces."

"Adam brings a lot of leadership skills on the courts, we're sure he’ll lead the team well."

The home-side has also recruited Australian based Ryan Beerwald, who has a vast experience playing for his school back in Townsville.

"Ryan brings a different aspect as well and adds a good value to what we have in the team,” Head Coach Dela Cruz said.  “Our inclusion of other players from outside Centres is helping us to set the structure that we built."

"The Aussies and the Tall Blacks (New Zealand) will be tough teams to compete against but there's no difference in skills and that is something we’ll definitely look at during our matches this week," he added.

The PNG U17 men tip off their first match against Samoa this evening at 7 p.m. (local time) at the Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor Complex in Port Moresby.

The FIBA U17 Oceania Championships 2023 will be hosted by the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby at Sir John Guise Stadium from October 2 to 6.  The Championships serve as the first step in the qualification process to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025.  The top two placed teams at the FIBA U17 Oceania Championships 2023 will qualify to the FIBA U18 Asian Championships 2024.

FIBA