Paul Henare, head coach of New Zealand's men's national basketball team focused on "balance" and "experience" when he was selecting members for his FIBA Basketball World Cup squad.

The list goes as follows:

Tom Abercrombie (guard), Jarrod Kenny (guard), Ethan Rusbatch (guard), Finn Delany (forward), Rob Loe (center), Tohi Smith-Milner (forward), Isaac Fotu (forward), Jordan Ngatai (guard), Corey Webster (guard), Shea Ili (guard), Alex Pledger (center), Tai Webster (guard)

The team has seven players  – Abercrombie, Kenny, Pledger, Loe, Fotu, Corey and Tai Webster – who have played in at least one World Cup.

"Being in the Tall Blacks environment is always energizing, and I love being a part of this team. I am excited to be a part of a team that can't wait to roll up our sleeves and in typical Tall Blacks fashion take on the world and look to upset the odds along the way," said Abercrombie, who played for New Zealand in both the 2010 and the 2014 editions.

The other five, Delany, Ili, Ngatai, Smith-Milner and Rusbatch, who will make their World Cup debut in China, also carry a lot on their shoulder. They have been seen as future core players of the national team and the tournament is a testament of their abilities to do so.

Since New Zealand cannot send any NBA-level player with the team, coach Henare had to consider more from the angle of team play when he made the decisions. "We have chosen a combination of players that complement each other and that understand what we stand for and what we are looking to achieve in China. A number of our decisions were very tough, with our final selection meeting going long into the last night. That is a testament to that depth we are developing," said the Tall Blacks boss.

New Zealand is in Group F with Greece, Brazil and Montenegro, a very tough group. All the other three teams have NBA players, not to mention that Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece is the 2019 NBA MVP and Nikola Vucevic of Montenegro was just selected into the All-Star Game last season.

However, coach Henare still has confidence in his players: "We believe we have a balanced group of players, a group that is young in age but long in experience and understands the pressure we will face and the opportunity that is in front of them. Our focus is now solely on being ready to face Brazil on September 1. We have a lot of work to do but can't wait."