The national men’s Under-18 coaching crew are working on a way to determine the final 15 players for the 2016 FIBA U18 Oceania Basketball Championship, which starts on December 4.

Team manager Kenneth Taliu said yesterday that they have been working with the players since June.

Now, he says, they have an idea on who will make the cut but they still need to prove themselves in the coming weeks.

“We are preparing well as we have a good calibre of boys but we still have an extended squad so we are preparing fitness wise and skills level as well, so we will be cutting the team down soon and work with the core team,” Taliu said. “But for the final 15 who will be in the tournament, we’ve got our eye on them already.”

With eight teams vying for a spot in the U19 World Championship in Egypt and Italy next year, New Zealand and Australia will be their toughest opponents.

“A friendly match against the senior men’s basketball team would be an ideal platform to play against bigger opponents to see who has what it takes. “We will be playing the national men’s team who are preparing for their build-up match against Papua New Guinea in December,” he said. “So our hit out with them will be a good opportunity for us to get a sense of where our boys are and who has improved and determine where we stand.

“The bigger teams we will be going up against would be Australia and New Zealand and they will be fitter and bigger than us so it will be a good hit out if we play against a bigger men’s team. “We are also trying to get our opponents on video footage from their past games so that we can see analyse and see what their strengths and weaknesses are.

“So at least we have an idea of what we are up against and then plan towards that when we get closer to the tournament.”

In 2014, the Fijians finished 7th in the championship and Taliu says, they are hoping to improve that in December.

The eight teams vying for a spot for the U19 World Championships in Egypt and Italy next year are Australia, Guam, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

Source: The Fiji Sun Newspaper

15 September 2016