Basketball: Tall Blacks' European tour warm-up for worlds

Kirk Penny will be the most experienced member of the squad, with 94 caps. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The Tall Blacks will have one eye on next year's world basketball championship when they head off this weekend on an eight-match European tour.

The 12-man squad named yesterday features four debutants in centre Rob Loe, point guard Jarrod Kenny, forward Leon Henry and swingman Tom Abercrombie.

Loe, 17, will become one of the youngest Tall Blacks in history when he steps out on court.

Last week, the Auckland schoolboy averaged 18.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in four appearances at the under-19 world tournament in Auckland.

The tour, which begins with the first of two matches against Estonia on July 22, is a build-up to the home-and-away Oceania championship series against Australia in August.

With both nations having qualified for the world championship in Turkey, New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic said the time was right to blood some youngsters. He had an open mind about how much game time the newcomers would get.

"Obviously, there are some veterans there who will play a leading role at the start," he said. "But at the end, whoever plays well will play."

The most experienced member of the squad is shooting guard Kirk Penney, who has 94 caps.

Along with Penney, point guard Lindsay Tait and forwards Mika Vukona and Casey Frank form the core of experience.

Two other senior players, Pero Cameron and Craig Bradshaw, were not considered for selection.

Cameron, the national captain since 2000, has an ankle injury, while Bradshaw has been released to go to the United States to try out for aprofessional contract. Vucinic said he expected both to be available for the Oceania series.

He said that a replacement captain for Cameron had not yet been confirmed. Back in the Tall Blacks from last year are guards Corey Webster and Michael Fitchett, and centre Alex Pledger.

Meanwhile, power forward Jeremiah Trueman makes his comeback after three years away studying in the United States.

The Tall Blacks' other opponents on tour will be world No 8 Italy, Canada, Portugal, Belgium and Finland.

"Every opposition we face is going to be strong, so it's going to be difficult and challenging, especially with little preparation and a tough schedule of eight games in 12 days," Vicinic said.

"But we are not going to use those as excuses. We'll try to compete and, if we play well, we're going to have a chance of winning in every game."

Vicinic said the camp in Auckland had gone well, and he was seeing what he expected.

"A lot of guys are raw and have a lot of energy and effort, but sometimes they're not using the head as much," he said.

"Inexperience is always a big thing. There's no other way of gaining that experience but actually going out and playing."

- NZPA