By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
LAUSANNE (Switzerland) – In the U17 FIBA Basketball World Cup played last summer, Team USA absolutely dismantled everyone, destroying every opponent in front of them in Turkiye.
Among those teams, there was New Zealand, which lost by 80 points (145-65) to the then gold medalists. Hayden Jones remembers that game well, and heading to the Tall Black’s first-ever Semi-Finals at the U19 FIBA Basketball World Cup, they don’t want to commit the same mistake.
“They gave us a proper spanking last year, and we went into the mindset of let’s give it a go, whatever happens. But this year, I think that we’re going in and leaving everything out on the floor; the coaches really implemented that in our group this year,” he told Eurohoops after the win in the Quarter-Finals.
“I think it’s more of a change of mindset and the will to get it done,” Jones added. “We came to the tournament not trying to get to Top-8, Top-4. We want to get gold. Our ambition is to go get gold.”
“We’re always seen as the underdog. But I think that we’re a great team and we’ve got a bunch of great guys. I don’t know why we can’t go all the way,” the 2007-born commented, wanting his country to get the deserved recognition they are trying to achieve.
Basketball in New Zealand, like in the rest of the world, is growing – the results show it. 4th in last year’s U17 World Cup, they will contend for medals with the same core, this time in Switzerland.
“Programs around the world are getting better and learning from the bigger countries like the US and France, and whatnot. We got a pretty good program over in New Zealand with the New Zealand NBL. So we’ve been playing all year with pros, older guys, better muscle, who are experienced,” he commented.
In order to come back into the best four countries competing at the highest level for youth national teams, they had to get over the hosts, who were coming off an outstanding night against France.
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Pushed by their crowd in Lausanne, the Swiss national team pulled off the comeback of their history, completing the upset with a crazy 18-0 run for the ages. Against New Zealand, the red-and-white fanbase emerged loud once again, but the Tall Blacks escaped with the win.
“It was getting to us at the start, I could tell. The crowd was amazing. They were cheering their lungs off. But back home, we have played in a pro league for the whole year,” he said.
“We’re used to the noise and I guess the hate. So we just needed to drown that out and play the way we wanted to play. That underdog versus underdog, it’s always going to be a good match-up, and it was a great game from both sides,” Hayden Jones said after getting 23 points in the win.
It was once again the occasion to see the famous Haka being performed on the highest stage. “It’s an honor to perform the Haka on the world stage, like many people have done before us,” Jones said.
“It’s just a privilege to perform it. It gives us the extra motivation to get the job done because it’s not for the other team, it’s for us. To be able to do it is a huge privilege, representing New Zealand,” the team’s leader ultimately commented.
On Saturday at 20:00 CET, the Tall Blacks will have to bring out the loudest Haka, expressing a sense of revenge never felt before. It’s the game of their life, and they want to compete until the end.
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PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA