Mystro, have you seen Loe play in NZ? Paul (who posts here and on OzHo) suggested that he had the potential to become NZ's best ever big?

he was on show @ under 19 world champs and played awesome in first two games and then rolled his ankle and then was rested for the games we wanted to win (and didn't). I would say Paul isn't far off the money.

I dig Benny Hill as a player, has awesome pedigree (his old man Stan is one of the greatest ever to put on the black singlet) and has that Pero Cameron build and soft touch. I think with guys like him and Loe and Abercrombie coming through we should at least push Australia

How old is Hill?

You can't exactly say that Hill is 'coming through'. In fact, its fair to say he is at the twighlight of his career. He is 30 years old, and talking to him the other day, it sounds as though he isn't pushing towards playing International Basketball again..His knees are playing up.

The future of New Zealand basketball is quite bright:

PG: Webster/Tait
SG: Abecrombie/Ruscoe
SF: Trueman/Chris Daniel
PF: Loe
C: Pledger

Personally, I think Loe will move into that Power Forward spot for the Tall Blacks in years to come. He has a good 3-point shot, and likes to bring defenders out to the perimeter to use his speed and footwork to beat his defender. He is actually quite fast..Did you see the first play vs. Argentina mystro? The one where he blew past that guy and slammed it home with 2 hands?!

Penney is only 28 - he is still part of the future, as is Vukona. And trueman is more of a 4-man, is he not?

Webster needs to really work hard in developing a point guard game. If he cant do it learning of Bruton there is no hope for him!

no i didn't make the argentina game and Hills 30? I thought he was a fair bit younger than that. Penney and Vukona are going to be our backbone for along time.
The best thing about this thread is no mention of Henare (i just blew it lol)
Abercrombie now has his chance to shine at the Breakers this season with jones going so hopefully he can fufill his potential and is Loe going overseas?

Yeah, thank god Henare is out of the picture lol. He is one of the worst players..Can pass alright,but his shot is nowhere near NBL standard let alone international standard. I suspect Loe is going to College, hopefully Division 1(He has the height, and of course the skill-set). Not sure whether he will be going for the up and coming college season or not. I haven't heard that he has any scholarship offers, just alot of interest.
Yeah, I agree with you mystro, Abercrombie needs to play a biger role with the Breakers next season..Im quite concerned about Webster.Also agree with paul regarding Webster. I waso impressed with him in the NZNBL; I believe he was leading scorer and had a 40 point game. Something, however, tells me he will never be more than that. His lack of PG skills as well as height..I can't see him becoming a reckoning force in the ANBL anytime soon..Prewster needs to be put into the TB program..He has more potential than Webster, has a bit more height, athleticism is absolutely ridicolous. Boy was dunking on my whole team..1st dunked when he was like 13/14

Webster is very young still, and quite immature for his age too. He is a super talent, it may just take a little longer for it to come through at ANBL level. Don't forget, the ANBL is one of the best guard leagues on the planet.

Prewster is a good player, very solid, but he will never be the scorer Webster is. Dion was at the Tall Blacks camp, so he is in the picture, and I have no doubt will combine with Abercrombie, Webster, Ruscoe, Loe, Pledger and maybe Edwards as the chief support crew for Penney for years to come.

I think there are some good times ahead for NZ basketball (not 4th at WCs, but still good!), and the fact that 250,000 people are playing the sport in NZ (well more than rugby) is another very good sign.

Loe is off to college this year, I was told at the U19 WCs.

Loe def put up the performances to get a scholarship in the states. Yeah Henare does my head in with his lack of offense and he uses most the shot clock before anyone with half a chance of scoring touches the ball. I agree on the Webster comments and I like the look of Prewster. Vukona has matured alot after that stint with Gorj at the Dragons, his offensive skills look alot more polished than they were with the Breakers.
Yeah I think with the guys coming through we'll be able to hold our own against some of the top teams

Paul, Prewster was named to the Tall Blacks squad but was unable to attend the trainings because he was ill. Basketball doesn't even make the top 5 for most played sports, referring to the Wikipedia page under the title Sport in NZ:

The top five sports played in clubs by boys aged 5 to 17 are:

17% Soccer
16% Rugby union
14% Swimming
8% Cricket
8% Hockey

and...

The top five sports played by men are:

26% Golf
15% Cricket
14% Tennis
14% Touch football*
11% Rugby union

Those figures clearly show that your figures of 250,000 basketball players in NZ is wrong. Basketball is still a growing sport in New Zealand. As a player of most of the junior national teams, i play for my high school team and representative basketball..There is obvious holes in Basketball in NZ..The main one being funding, and the second one been the idea that Rugby , Rugby League, Soccer, Hockey etc. dominate the participation levels and thus alot of basketballers who could excel are lost to these sports.

Im not just referring to wikipedia. 250,000 ball players in New Zealand is a ridicolous amount, very unlikely.
Furthermore, those statistics taken of Wikipedia were stats that were from SPARC New Zealand...

Right on about Corey. he is a scorer not a point guard (ala Lyndsay Tait with a pull up J). Won't have that freedom as he goes up in the grades.
Our best PG hope I think is Jeremy Kench. Unfortunately he was injured and didn't make the European trip. He seems to have the best head on him and he can shoot the 3.
At the moment though it looks like Lyndsay will get the call against Aussie, who read him like a book and double team him when they can. Lyndsay seems to put our whole offense under pressure by looking to over penetrate. Mika will do his best but it seems in vain. Pero is unavailable so if we can get within 10 it'll be a major achievement. Tab's left the cupboard a little bare.
Rob Loe nice passer, put it on the floor. Didn't see him do much in the post???

quero beats