Basketball: Olympic squad named

Unbeaten national basketball league side Nelson have the most players in the New Zealand Olympic training squad named yesterday.

They have five players in the squad of 21, which also includes United States-based players Mark Dickel, Sean Marks and Kirk Penney.

The Nelson contingent include the only overseas-born player in the squad, guard Nenad Vucinic.

Basketball New Zealand said no overseas-born players had yet inquired about the impending rule change, which removes the three-year waiting period to represent a player's adopted country.

Coach Keith Mair will hold training camps for the Tall Blacks in Porirua from Sunday to Wednesday and Nelson from June 1 to 7.

The Tall Blacks' lead-up to the Olympics will begin in Sydney where they will play Canada, Australia and Russia from June 13 to 18, followed by the William Jones Cup in Taiwan in late July.

A home international series against England, the Netherlands and Japan is still under negotiation.

Tall Blacks squad: Brendon Cathie-Pongia, Brad Riley (North Harbour) Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Pero Cameron (Auckland), Chris Tupu, Earl Smith (Waikato), Kent Mori (Palmerston North), Peter Pokai, Andrew Gardiner (Wellington), Judd Flavell, Nenad Vucinic, Ralph Lattimore, Tony Rampton, Phill Jones (Nelson), David Langrell (Canterbury), Robert Hickey, Andrew Parke (Otago), Mark Dickel, Kirk Penney, Sean Marks (returning from US).

- NZPA

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