Basketball: Tall Blacks relish home court advantage

Home court advantage will be crucial to firing up the Tall Blacks in this week's Oceania basketball series as they look to reclaim trans-Tasman bragging rights for the world championships next year.

Tall Blacks skipper Pero Cameron confirmed the three-match series against Australia in Auckland and Dunedin was the ideal tonic to stoke some emotion into the New Zealand squad who have spent the last four weeks abroad.

"We've got players who love the atmosphere of playing at home. Phill Jones, Mark Dickel, Dillon Boucher -- they are all very emotional players who thrive on it," Cameron said.

The Tall Blacks open the series at Trust Stadium in Waitakere tonight before facing the Boomers in Manukau on Saturday, with the final clash in Dunedin on Sunday.

While both sides have already qualified for next year's world championships in Japan, the Oceania series will determine the all important seedings for the 24-team event.

Dickel, who plays professionally in Turkey, has been one of New Zealand's star guards, but fellow key guard Kirk Penney remains in limbo for the opening match after suffering a mild back disc sprain while warming up for the Black Caps four nations match against Lithuania in Sydney on Sydney.

Penney's involvement in the opening encounter will be decided by coach Tab Baldwin before tonight's tipoff.

The Tall Blacks carry some impressive form into the series following six wins from their last seven matches in recent four-nations tournaments in China and Australia.

New Zealand took second in the inaugurual Gaze Cup, which Australia won, but Boomers coach Brian Goorjian admitted their winning streak has drained their reserves.

Goorjian said his players looked tired before the Tall Blacks clash.

In the past four four weeks the team have travelled to China , Perth and Sydney.

"I thought at the shootaround on Friday (when they beat the Tall Blacks 84-74), for the first time, we looked fatigued, and I was a little worried going into that game.

"It's an issue we're addressing, and I have no doubt in my mind that we'll be fresh and full of energy come the series in New Zealand."

Australia will field one of their most inexperienced line-ups, while the Tall Blacks have the nucleus of their 2002 world championships and the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The most glaring absence from the Boomers was that of the National basketball Association's number one draft pick Andrew Bogut who was commanding in the Oceania series Australia won 2-1 last year.

Rebuilding or not Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin said Australia were still a side to be reckoned with.

"I don't believe they rebuild. I belive they reload, and if you look at their performance in reaching the semifinals at the under-21 world champs, I think that back's that up.

New Zealand won the 2001 Oceania series which saw them take the 2002 world championships by surprise as they catapulted into fourth place, but Australia have reigned supreme since then winning 41 from 45 encounters.

New Zealand squad: Pero Cameron (captain), Dillon Boucher (vice-captain), Ed Book, Craig Bradshaw, Mark Dickel, Mike Homik, Phill Jones, Aaron Olson, Kirk Penney, Tony Rampton, Lindsay Tait, Mika Vukona.

Australian squad: David Anderson, CJ Bruton, Brad Davidson, Wade Helliwell, Jacob Holmes, Alex Loughton, Brad Newley, Matthew Nielsen, Glen Saville, Jason Smith, Pero Vasiljevic, Mark Worthington.

* Oceania series schedule:

Wednesday, August 17 - Trust Stadium, Waitakere, 7.30pm
Saturday, August 20 - Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre, Manukau 3pm
Sunday, August 21 - Edgar Centre, Dunedin, 3pm

- NZPA