ATHENS (Greece) - Memories will be the theme for coach Pero Cameron when his New Zealand team arrives in Greece. He was a player back in Athens in 2004, when the Tall Blacks played their last Olympics, and is now back to the country to try and end the drought.
New Zealand are in Group A with Slovenia and Croatia, with legit hopes of reaching the elimination phase, especially after a solid showing at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, where they had been on the brink of reaching the sweet 16 phase.
The Roster
Modern day basketball requires strong and athletic players who can pressure the ball and shoot it from anywhere on the court. This generation of the Tall Blacks is built exactly like that, with Reuben Te Rangi, Shea Ili and Izayah Le'Afa providing constant ball pressure on the outside, while Finn Delany, Jordan Ngatai and Yanni Wetzell provide the muscles inside.
The core is coming back, a total of seven players who were in Manila last summer are now in the plans for Greece, with a big name comeback waiting to come back. That's because Corey Webster is on the provisional roster, one of the biggest names in New Zealand's basketball history.
Webster is now a 35-year-old, he was the team captain at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2019, and this will be a kind of a full circle for him personally. He made his national team debut in Greece, at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2008. It was a different kind of format then, New Zealand finished second below the line, missing out on a trip to Beijing.
The Question
Have they learned their lesson last summer? Because New Zealand looked really tough at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Mall of Asia arena, owned a 10-point lead over the United States, had a 15-point lead against Greece, but all they had in the end was just a 22nd place.
If they found out how to close out games after those double digit leads, they could be right up there in contention for that boarding pass to France. If not, it could be another early exit.
The Hope
New Zealand have a lot of size, a lot of shooting, a lot of ball pressure, and seem to be enjoying being out of the focus. It feels a lot like Germany, Italy or Czechia prior to the last Olympics, as each of those teams stunned their hosts and the rest of the world to reach the Olympics out of nowhere.
New Zealand could be the surprise package
With all the attention on Greece, Slovenia, Croatia or even the Dominican Republic, New Zealand could be the surprise package of the tournament in the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus.
The Fear
Despite their fine performances recently, they have been on a way down since the early 2000s. They stunned the world with a Semi-Finals appearance at the World Cup in 2002, but since then, they've been 9th, 12th, 15th, 19th and 22nd in the following tournaments.
When you add the fact that they haven't seen the Olympics since 2004, it turns into a downhill ride and it's a tough task to stop the bleeding.
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