Kiwis out for redemption

New Zealand is still winless after two games in the FIBA World Cup Asia qualifiers and the Tall Blacks are out to snap out of the funk against Gilas at the MOA Arena tomorrow night. The Philippines is unbeaten with two wins over Guam and faces an opponent coming off close losses to Australia, one by five and the other, by two.

The Kiwis will never forget bowing to Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the MOA Arena in November 2024. That remains New Zealand’s only defeat to the Philippines in five outings since 2016. Gilas won, 93-89, in a monumental upset. Three players on that Gilas squad won’t be in uniform tomorrow. Japeth Aguilar has retired from Gilas duty. Mason Amos is focused on his last UAAP playing year. Kai Sotto is still recovering from his ACL surgery and won’t be available until the third qualifying window in July.

Coach Tim Cone is due to announce his 12-man lineup any day now with nine players from the 2024 cast still in the pool. They’re June Mar Fajardo, Justin Brownlee, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Kevin Quiambao, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, CJ Perez and Scottie Thompson. Others in the pool are AJ Edu, Juan Gomez de Liaño, RJ Abarrientos, Quentin Millora-Brown, Justine Baltazar and Troy Rosario.

The three Tall Blacks who gave Gilas fits in their previous MOA engagement are not in coach Judd Flavell’s roster this time. Flavell made his New Zealand coaching debut in the loss to Gilas so that thought must eat him up, making tomorrow’s clash even more of a priority. In 2024, Corey Webster fired 25, former PBA import Tom Vodanovich 19 and Sam Waardenburg 19 for New Zealand. They’re out of the lineup now. Holdovers include 6-2 guard Taylor Britt and 7-foot Tyrell Harrison.

Others in Flavell’s squad are 6-5 Max Darling, 6-6 Carlin Davison, 6-1 Alex McNaught, 6-9 Sam Mennenga, 6-5 Taine Murray, 6-6 Jordan Ngatai, 6-2 Keanu Rasmussen, 6-9 Tohi Smith Milner, 6-6 Reuben Te Rangi and 6-9 Yannick Wetzell. Only Ngatai, 32, Tangi, 31 and Milner, 30 are 30 and over so it’s a young lineup.

Mennenga, 24, will be a handful. He played three years at Steph Curry’s alma mater Davidson College, averaging 15.2 points in 2022-23 and played two NBA Summer Leagues with the LA Lakers last year. Milner is a two-time World Cupper who played at Polk State College in Florida. Wetzell suited up at St. Mary’s University in Texas, Vanderbilt and San Diego State before barnstorming Spain, Germany and Japan. Ngatai played at Sierra College and Brigham Young University in Hawaii then saw action in Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Austria and Japan. A two-time FIBA Asia Cupper, Murray was born in Hong Kong and played four years at the University of Virginia. Harrison played for Denver in the NBA Summer League last year while Darling was an import in Croatia and Romania.

In losing two games to Australia before this window, New Zealand averaged only 78 points, 10 turnover points, 3.5 fastbreak points and 17.5 assists. In winning twice over Guam, Gilas normed 91 points, 23.5 turnover points, 19.5 fastbreak points and 24.5 assists. It’ll be a battle between unbeaten Gilas and winless Tall Blacks.