Basketball: Far-flung players make Tall Blacks tough to pick

Casey Frank is a possibility for the Tall Blacks' import spot. Herald picture / Greg Bowker

The advantages of having your coach and most of the players at hand, as opposed to scattered around the world, were underlined this week when Australia named its Commonwealth Games squads.

New Zealand's Tall Ferns will have two training camps before assembling for a programme ahead of the Games in Melbourne in March next year, but the Tall Blacks will go in with no pre-preparation.

Coach Tab Baldwin will have to rely on past performance and the guidance of others when picking his squad because he will be familiar only with the play of captain Pero Cameron at their Banvitspor team in Turkey.

The likes of Paul Henare, Lindsay Tait and Aaron Olson are sure things out of the local league but Baldwin will have to make a blind call on the one allowed import - incumbent Ed Book or Auckland's Casey Frank, who is expected to gain residency soon.

The Australians will be without Andrew Bogut, David Andersen, Matt Nielsen, Wade Helliwell and Luke Schenscher, who are committed to NBA and European teams. Recalled are Chris Anstey, Tony Ronaldson and Sam Mackinnon.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian said he would be watching the ANBL with interest over coming rounds; there were still holes to fill.

Back are Athens Olympians CJ Bruton, Glen Saville and Jason Smith, while Mark Worthington, Brad Newley, James Harvey, Jacob Holmes and David Barlow return after playing the Oceania series against New Zealand mid-year.

The Boomers train on the Central Coast from December 4-6 and their final team is announced in mid-February.

The Tall Ferns will name a squad next week for a camp at the end of this month, with a second camp planned in January. They and the Tall Blacks assemble in February for pre-Games competition, teams yet to be arranged.

The start of the domestic NBL will be delayed to take account of the Games commitments. The usual pre-season tournament is not going ahead because of the already congested schedule.

One player definitely unavailable for the Games is former Ferns captain Gina Farmer. She has apparently had an ordinary time in Israel and is said to have reached a mutual agreement to part company with her team.

Farmer had retired from international representation this year but there were hopes she would make one last appearance at the Games. However, the 30-year-old married in August and is expected to return to Christchurch and quit.

* AUSTRALIAN SQUADS

Boomers -
CJ Bruton (Sydney Kings), Jacob Holmes (Adelaide 36ers), Glen Saville (Wollongong Hawks), Jason Smith (Sydney Kings), Mark Worthington (Sydney Kings), Peter Crawford (Perth Wildcats), Brad Davidson (Hunter Pirates), Brad Newley (Townsville Crocs), Russell Hinder (Hunter Pirates), Oscar Forman (Adelaide 36ers), David Barlow (Sydney Kings), Greg Vanderjagt (Townsville Crocs), Luke Kendall (Sydney Kings), Pero Vasiljevic (West Sydney Razorbacks), Sam Mackinnon (Brisbane Bullets), Neil Mottram (Melbourne Tigers), Tony Ronaldson (Perth Wildcats), James Harvey (West Sydney Razorbacks), Stephen Black (Brisbane Bullets), Chris Anstey (Melbourne Tigers).

Coach: Brian Goorjian (Kings), assistant coach Brendan Joyce (Hawks).

Opals -
Tully Bevilaqua (Canberra Capitals), Erin Phillips (Adelaide Fellas), Kathleen Macleod (Dandenong Rangers), Sam Richards (Dandenong Rangers), Belinda Snell (Sydney Uni Flames), Jenni Screen (Adelaide Fellas), Carly Wilson (Dandenong Rangers), Alison Tranquilli (Bulleen Melbourne Boomers), Michelle Musselwhite (Sydney Uni Flames), Trish Fallon (Sydney Uni Flames), Katrina Hibbert (Bulleen Melbourne Boomers), Laura Summerton (Adelaide Fellas), Emily McInerny (Dandenong Rangers), Shelley Hammonds (Dandenong Rangers), Rohanee Cox (Townsville Fire), Desiree Glaubitz (Bulleen Melbourne Boomers), Deanna Smith (Perth Lynx), Hollie Grima (Bulleen Melbourne Boomers), Jacinta Hamilton (Dandenong Rangers), Natalie Porter (Sydney Uni Flames), Jenny Whittle (Canberra Capitals), Emma Randall (Dandenong Rangers), Jae Kingi (overseas), Lauren Jackson (injured), Alicia Poto (injured).