吃瓜51爆料网APP is proud to announce the 11-man squad that will represent the Tall Blacks at the upcoming听FIBA Asia Cup, held in听Jeddah听from听August 5鈥�17, 2025.
Coach Judd Flavell鈥檚 squad features a blend of experience and exciting new talent, with听three debutants鈥擩ack Andrew,听Mojave King, and听Dontae Russo-Nance鈥攅arning their first opportunities to pull on the heralded black singlet.
How these three young men performed in their respective Sal鈥檚 NBL seasons was pivotal in their inclusions into Coach Flavell鈥檚 FIBA Asia Cup squad.
鈥淭he form that they鈥檝e played with in the Sal鈥檚 NBL and the roles and responsibilities that they鈥檝e had with their teams. All of their teams were successful this past season, and a large part of that was down to how these guys contributed. All three of these guys I鈥檓 super excited for, they have an amazing opportunity in front of them right here.鈥�
For the youngest of the three debutants, Dontae Russo-Nance is someone who Flavell鈥檚 has been keeping an eye on for quite some time.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been on the periphery the last few windows. We just needed to see him on the floor for a large period of time so that we could see him with the responsibilities of leading his team,听 and carrying a workload.
If you look at the Jets success, they probably surprised a lot of people with how well they did. They only just missed out on the playoffs, and Dontae was a big reason for that.鈥�
In the Otago basketball realm, the last name King holds high significance. With Dad, Leonard playing for the Nuggets, later turning to coaching and Mum, Tracey also with a glittering collegiate career 鈥� Mojave King will be an exciting new addition to the Tall Blacks set up.
鈥淲e always knew that Mojave was very talented. When you look at the Tall Blacks in the past, we鈥檝e had to have a guy that can score, shoot the ball and get hot. And we know Mojave can put on 10-12 points in a short period of time.鈥�
With an already well-travelled start to his young professional career, Mojave has shown the ability to score the ball in numerous ways. In first most recent Australian NBL season with the New Zealand Breakers, King averaged 8.5 points. Alongside his recently completed Sal鈥檚 NBL season with the Tauranga Whai, King averaged a massive 22.2 points, shooting a tidy 38% from beyond the arc.
鈥淗is role for us is going to be scoring. Mojave has that unique skillset that I think past Tall Black teams have really leaned on to carry some of that scoring load.鈥�
Jack Andrew鈥檚 debut inclusion into the Tall Blacks squad has come from a lot of grit, hardwork and determination. Especially impressive is are his 13.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.2 blocks per game averages over the course of a breakout season with the Taranaki Airs.
鈥淛ack has had a phenomenal jump this season. He just really seemed to grow in confidence as well. For a big man to actually run and have a high activity rate that鈥檚 something that we really like about them. He鈥檚 been the first man down the floor, he鈥檚 been active on the glass, and he鈥檚 had great success in tandem with Carlin off the pick and roll. I think those two have been one of the most dynamic duos.鈥�
New Zealand topped听Group B听in the qualifiers, finishing with an impressive听5-1 record, including memorable wins over听Chinese Taipei听and a split series against听the Philippines. The home victory at听Spark Arena听against the Philippines was a standout moment, showcasing the growing passion for basketball across Aotearoa.
At the Asia Cup, the Tall Blacks will compete in听Group D, facing听Chinese Taipei,听the Philippines, and听Iraq. Having already faced Chinese Taipei and the Philippines during qualifying, the team is well-prepared for the challenge ahead.
In preparation for the tournament, the squad will travel to听China听for a series of warm-up games. The Tall Blacks will play three games in the FIBA Solidarity Cup against Brazil, Guangdong and Montenegro, before playing in the Four Nations Tournament again against Brazil and a yet to be decided opponent.
Ben Gold is available to suit up for the Tall Blacks in China, but joining the team for this leg of the trip are听Hayden Jones and听Jordan Hunt, both of whom have had standout seasons in the听Sal鈥檚 NBL听and will provide valuable depth and energy.
Another player added to the Solidarity Cup and Four Nations squad is Hawke鈥檚 Bay Hawk, Luca Yates, who will join Andrew, King and Russo-Nance in making his debut in the black singlet.
鈥淚 first saw him playing for the Illawarra Hawks and then got to see him up close and personal playing in the Sal鈥檚 NBL. That gave us a great opportunity to see him perform each week, and playing against a lot of guys that were competing for these positions 鈥� and we just really liked what he had to offer.鈥�
Yates, still just 21 years-old still holds a development player contract with the NBL champion Illawarra Hawks squad.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just really excited to have another quality big man that has good size and good level of skill. He shoots the ball well from outside, it may not be his known quality but that鈥檚 a skill we really like when it comes to playing international basketball.鈥�
One of these three players will join the squad in Jeddah, becoming the twelvth and final player of the FIBA Asia Cup squad. For Coach Flavell, the games leading into the Asia Cup will provide key preparation that should put the team in a good space heading into the tournament.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have 13 guys to rotate through in China, and I guess we鈥檒l see what we like, what we need and where we need cover, whether that be in our wings or in our guards. We want to give guys a chance to actually pull on the black singlet and play up there. Then that鈥檒l give us the flexibility to make that decision as late as we can.鈥�
鈥淭hat focus will be just all preparation. As much as we want to go and attack each win, we will have that mentality, but with a bigger picture in mind. We鈥檝e basically got two or three practices together over that time in China, so we鈥檝e got more games than practices.
Overall, and I think the games in China will do this, we just want to speed up our connection. This group is very new in terms of a lot of new people coming in for the first time, there鈥檒l be new faces in the room. We want to make sure we keep things as simple as we can, so that we can have the highest execution rate leading into the Asia Cup.鈥�
Tall Blacks fans in New Zealand can catch all FIBA Asia Cup action听live and exclusive on TVNZ+, while international viewers can tune in via听Courtside 1891.
New Zealand Tall Blacks Squad 鈥� FIBA Asia Cup 2025
C – Jack Andrew* (Taranaki Airs), debutant
G – Taylor Britt (Canterbury Rams & New Zealand Breakers), 34 games
G – Flynn Cameron (Franklin Bulls & Adelaide 36ers), 28 games
F – Max Darling (Canterbury Rams & New Zealand Breakers), 9 games
F 鈥� Carlin Davison (Taranaki Airs & New Zealand Breakers), 4 games
F 鈥� Ben Gold (Marquette University), 7 games (ONLY FOR FIBA ASIA CUP)
G 鈥� Mojave King* (Tauranga Whai), debutant
G/F 鈥� Taine Murray (Brisbane Bullets), 10 games
G/F 鈥� Jordan Ngatai (Wellington Saints), 84 games
G 鈥� Dontae Russo-Nance* (Manawat奴 Jets), debutant
F/C 鈥� Tohi Smith-Milner (Canterbury Rams & Brisbane Bullets), 69 games
New Zealand Tall Blacks Squad additions 鈥� FIBA Solidarity Cup & Four Nations
F 鈥� Jordan Hunt (Franklin Bulls & Surrey 89ers), 12 games
G 鈥� Hayden Jones (Nelson Giants & University of Wisconsin), 1 game
C 鈥� Luca Yates* (Hawke鈥檚 Bay Hawks & Illawarra Hawks), debutant
FIBA Solidarity Cup (Guangdong, China)
26th July 听听听听听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v Brazil
27th July 听听听听听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v Guangdong
28th July 听听听听听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v Montenegro
Four Nations Tournament (Shenzhen, China)
30th July听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v Brazil
31st July听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v TBC
FIBA Asia Cup 2025 (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
5th August听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v Iraq
8th August听听听听听听听听 Tall Blacks v Philippines
10th August听听听听 Tall Blacks v Chinese Taipei
