Basketball: Mair decides to go with battle-hardened troops

New Zealand men's basketball coach Keith Mair sided with his battle-tested veterans yesterday when he named his squad for next week's test series against Canada.

Just three new players broke into the 12-man squad for matches in North Harbour on Monday and Nelson next Tuesday.

They are Toronto Raptors forward Sean Marks, Iowa State University and Taranaki Oilers forward Tony Rampton and Nelson Giants point-guard Judd Flavell.

The team were chosen after a four-day camp and trials in Stoke, near Nelson, at the weekend.

The bulk of the team have been together for the past three seasons, a period in which New Zealand have had their greatest success on the international stage.

Nelson's Ralph Lattimore retains the captaincy after leading the Tall Blacks through a drawn series with Canada last year.

"This is definitely the strongest squad I've been involved with and it came from the strongest trial. The presence of the young guys back from college [in the United States] added an extra dimension," Lattimore said.

He expects New Zealand to give the higher-ranked Canadians a severe workout.

"We have plenty of size at the power positions and a fair bit of athletic ability with it.

"Our big guys are all capable of playing 15 feet from the basket and that is going to drag their big men away from the middle."

Mair said the selection process was doubly difficult.

"While young players have pushed themselves forward, we didn't want to discard players with experience," he said.

"When we enter the Olympic qualifying series later this year, there will be at least half-a-dozen top players unavailable through their college or professional commitments overseas. That clouds the selection issue a bit.

"But it was pleasing to have such a strong turnout. Everyone here acquitted themselves with credit."

The players named yesterday are for the Canada tests only, with Mair planning to review his squad before an international tournament in Taiwan in August.

New Zealand: Ralph Lattimore (captain), Judd Flavell, Peter Pokai, Brad Riley (Nelson), Chris Tupu (Adelaide), Kent Mori, Tony Rampton (Taranaki), Phill Jones (Otago), Sean Marks (Toronto), Pero Cameron (Auckland), Robert Hickey (Canterbury), Andrew Parke (North Harbour).

Two players, Paul Henare (Auckland) and Michael Tompson (Nelson) are on standby to cover the guards and forwards respectively. - NZPA