It is truly a dream come true for Mika Vukona to captain the Tall Blacks against South Korea at a sold-out ASB Arena tonight.
The boy from Bethlehem, who grew into a basketball giant, says there is just so much honour coming back here. "Back in the day, you never thought you could play basketball in front of the Tauranga crowd and in a stadium like this, which is amazing," he said. "And to captain is another thing. I am pretty honoured to do that and really looking forward to [tonight]."
The Tall Blacks won the opening match 102-69 in the three-test series against South Korea in Wellington on Tuesday night.
Vukona, 32, is expecting a much tougher clash tonight.
"These guys are known for their shooting. They are a quick team and they had only been in the country a day or two so you have to take that into consideration.