Basketball: Tall Blacks to squeeze in eight games on tour

The New Zealand men's basketball team will play eight games in 12 days during their upcoming European tour.

The Tall Blacks will meet Estonia, Italy, Canada, Portugal, Belgium and Finland from July 22 to August 2, as part of their preparations for the Oceania championship in August.

Under third-year head coach Nenad Vucinic, New Zealand will play the Australian Boomers in Sydney on August 23 and in Wellington on August 25 in the two-game Oceania series.

"This Tall Blacks campaign is organised with the 2010 world championship in mind," said Vucinic, who has guided his Estonian club BC Kalev/Cramo club to that country's finals series.

"We will be looking for a comprehensive preparation next year, so this year's programme is a bit shorter than usual.

"We envisage that the team will again be a mixture of experienced campaigners and some younger players that are labelled as the future for the programme."

The Tall Blacks will start their European trip with games against Estonia on July 22-23, in Tartu.

They will face 2004 Olympic silver medallists Italy, ranked eighth in the world, Canada and Portugal in a four-team tournament in Treviso, northern Italy, on July 25-27.

The Tall Blacks complete the trip with two games against Belgium, on July 29 in Kortrijk and July 30 in Antwerp, and one against Finland on August 2 in Helsinki.

"Preparation is limited as we need to have a longer programme next year and resources in this economic situation are hard to get," Vucinic said.

Vucinic will assemble an extended Tall Blacks squad on July 14, for a five-day camp in Auckland, with the travelling group cut to 12 players before departing on July 19.

TALL BLACKS IN 2009

July 22: v Estonia, Tartu
July 23: v Estonia, Tartu
Four-nation tournament at Treviso, Italy on July 25-27: v Italy, Canada and Portugal
July 29: v Belgium, Kortrijk
July 30: v Belgium, Antwerp
August 2: v Finland, Helsinki

Oceania championship series

August 23: v Australia, Sydney
August 25: v Australia, Wellington.

- NZPA