Junior Tall Blacks embark on final week of World Cup preparations in China

The New Zealand Junior Tall Blacks (JTBs) are about to embark on the final stage of their preparation ahead of the FIBA U19 World Championships in Egypt next month, with a final series of three games in China against quality international opposition.

With six games already under their belts, the team is making good progress under Head Coach Daryl Cartwright. The JTBs play United States tonight (1:30am Sunday NZT) and have final hit outs against China (Monday) and Lithuania (Tuesday), before heading to Cairo to prepare for their first World Cup pool game against Korea on July 1st.

Assistant Coach Leyton Haddleton is pleased with where the team is at as they look to peak in early July at the FIBA World Cup in Cairo.

"This tour has been great preparation for the World Cup, the USA, Chinese and Lithuanian teams play different styles of basketball and when we look at our pool games in Egypt, they are all different challenges too, so our ability to change the way we defend different teams on an overnight basis is going to be crucial."

The team has (Leyton was touching wood as he responded) been in reasonably good health throughout the trip so far, something that can at times be a challenge in a different environment to home.

"We have had a small amount of sickness on the trip, with three players out for one of the games against Lithuania, but it was only minor. There are a few other of the usual issues with (hard) beds and travel creating some wear and tear. Our focus is to spread the minutes evenly at the moment within what we are trying to achieve and avoid unnecessary tiredness."

Their opponents on tour have been older, bigger and more experienced, something that is again setting the young Kiwis up well for the rigours of Egypt.

"The Americans are mainly in their mid-twenties and average height is around 67". Most of them play professionally in Europe and are over here trying to get contracts with Chinese teams so they are on show and trying to prove themselves with a lot of one on one action. That is testing our ability to defend in those one on one and pick and roll situations - which again is good preparation for Egypt.

"Lithuania are an under 23 team and most have played some professional basketball. Their structured style is typical of what we will be up against in France with a lot of off ball movement and screens and they pass the ball really well. China are not dissimilar to the Koreans in their style of game - so each of the teams we are playing over here is setting us up well for pool play in Egypt."

Such a tour can be challenging for any team, let alone a group of teenagers, many of whom have not been away from home for this length of time before (with some notable exceptions of those already in the American College system).

Haddleton however says the team is growing stronger every day with each new challenge.

"The boys have started to gel on and off court. We have reminded them a couple of times about what it is to tour as a unit, we know this is something new to them at their age. They responded to some early criticism with a player only meeting and have since been superb about their off-court discipline - simple things like being on time, eating together. There is a really good vibe in the team - everyone is being included and is looking out for each other and doing the right thing."

Haddleton says results are important, but this final week is more about being ready for game one in Egypt in under a weeks time.

"We have talked about tapering off towards the World Cup, this week will still be about playing hard and working hard, but everything is planned towards being at our peak in Egypt.

"With Sam (Waardenburg) only coming in tonight, we will do some 5 on 5 work in training and use the games to make sure everyone is up to speed on our offense and defensive structures. But we also have to make sure we are fresh for Cairo and are ready to hit the floor at 100%. We have 12 quarters of basketball and some scrimmages left to get ourselves into that right mindset. The boys are excited, this is our final city, our final batch of games and then it is the World Cup."

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