The Tall Blacks open their cup qualification campaign against South Korea in Wellington, their first as part of the Asia zone.
Indeed, that in itself is evidence of why this new system should boost the game nationally.
Meaningful home games against a team other than Australia have been hard to come by in recent times. Even those came only once every two years.
Now they are set to play home-and-away games against Korea, China and Hong Kong between now and July, with more to come should they qualify for the next round.
With six World Cup spots up for the grabs in the region, there is plenty to play for, and a variety of teams.
That makes it more difficult than in recent years — when Oceania got two spots — but it has potential to act as a massive boost in getting New Zealanders to identify with the team.
While basketball has boomed in popularity — there are 157 secondary school teams in Dunedin alone and the Breakers and NBA have popular followings — it is hard to say the same of the Tall Blacks. The team just does not play at home enough.
Consider that Steven Adams is yet to play for the Tall Blacks, while Isaac Fotu is arguably the team’s best player.
Most Kiwi sports fans know of Adams’ success in the NBA, yet Fotu is barely a household name.
The 2.03m-forward has been impressing in Europe — this season in Germany’s Bundesliga and the Euro Cup.
While not quite the NBA, it remains a high level of basketball and has helped Fotu develop into arguably the Tall Blacks’ key player.
Another to consider is Tai Webster — younger brother of Corey — a young point guard who has impressed in his first season out of college, also in the Bundesliga.
Of course, there are also the Kiwi-based greats. The likes of Tom Abercrombie, Mika Vukona and Alex Pledger are well-known identities who feature in the team.
However, you have to wonder if they were not playing for the Breakers, would they be so well-known based on their feats as Tall Blacks?
Long-term, home exposure could spur more youngsters into playing competitively.
While the competitive game has grown in recent times, it pales in comparison to the explosion in social players taking up the sport.
There is nothing wrong with that, although attracting more players who want to play at a high level is the sport’s next step. Giving those players a pathway a big part of that and tonight could act as the first step.
Tall Blacks v South Korea
Wellington, tonight, 7pm
Tall Blacks: Tai Webster, Shea Ili, Jarrod Kenny, Corey Webster, Reuben Te Rangi, Tom Abercrombie, Jordan Ngatai, Tohi Smith-Milner, Mika Vukona, Isaac Fotu, Alex Pledger, Rob Loe.
South Korea: (from) Chan Hee Park, Junyong Choi, Junghyun Lee, Sirae Kim, Hoon Heo, Ung Heo, Heejong Yang, Jongkyu Kim, Junbeam Jean, Jonghyun Lee, Seounghyun Lee, Sekeun Oh.
