Big men are vital controlling the paint in any basketball equation but it seems NBA homeboy Steven Adams isn't likely to slip on the Tall Blacks singlet anytime soon.
"I have no news on Steven Adams," Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare said yesterday in Napier. "There's big deals going at the moment in his camp ... so from OKC's [Oklahoma City Thunders] point of view we're way down the pecking order in terms of priorities.
"We'll just have to let that stuff play out while we keep plugging away," Henare said before adding the tour this month against European, Asian and South American teams will cover all their bases.
"A lot went into planning this campaign so it' s all geared towards playing Australia and you can never replicate playing against Australia until you play them but we can try a different number of styles and be comfortable within our own style so it's as good as it's going to get."
Taking an "it-is-what-it-is" stance, Henare said players unavailable include Tai Webster (Nebraska University), Jack Salt (University of Virginia Cavaliers) and Kirk Penney (Baloncesto Sevilla).