Tama Issac: Junior Tall Black on the Under-19 World Cup, Rams v Sharks

The Junior Tall Blacks made history in the Under-19 Basketball World Cup, leaving the tournament in fourth place. 

Tama Issac was one of the standout players, and he’s back and ready to line up for the Rams in their semifinal against the Southland Sharks. 

He joined Nick Bewley for a chat about his whirlwind couple of weeks. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, with Canterbury Rams and Junior Tooleck's point guard time
Isaac Fishly, welcome back to the country. How about the
experience in Switzerland? Fourth at a World Cut what an achievement?
Is it sort of sunk in what you and the
and the boys managed to do over it?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah, No, I definitely has sunk in. I mean it
was a good experience for us and the boys. I
mean we're all really excited or what we had and
what we achieved, but I mean it is it is
what it is obviously looking for that third place up
runs medal, but I mean we achieved a pretty high standard.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
So as an individual too, like to be recognized and
the second team five, how'd you feel your wins and
contributed because from the outside looking and you had a
hic of a tournament.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah. Yeah, it was a really good tournament for me personally,
But I mean I wouldn't have done it without my teammates.
I mean it was huge for them to have all
the trust in me to do what I can do,
so me be able to find them in different ways
in your offense and them trusted me on defense. It
was just huge for me and my teammates.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
How much. Is it a credit to the work you
do here at club Land with the Rams to give
you that confidence to do that on the international stage.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Oh, heaps the credit for more the older boys. I
mean they will have trust in me to do what
I can do. So it just makes it a lot
easier for me to do my own age group stuff
and makes it a lot easier for me to do
like lead in my own way.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
So yeah, how are you feeling after all that travel?

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, a little bit jetlagged, but I mean it is
what it is. On to the next I mean, we've
got a game this weekend, so looking forward to that.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
The challenge of the Sharks. What is it about the
Southland Sharks that are a tricky assignment? What do you
have to do to contain them to get the job done?

Speaker 2 (01:26):
I mean the biggest thing is is us playing as
a team. I mean obvious Taylor Brick's been up for
a little bit, so just us competing as a team
against the Sharks. I mean they've got two almost MVP
players in the team, so just making sure we're looking
after those two. You mentioned it in terms of Taylor
being absent as well with his head knock and probably
the team being without a recognized point guard over the
last couple of weeks. How Keena, I had the both

(01:48):
of you really to get back in and maybe just
have a little bit more direction to the team and
what they can do. Yeah, I think we're both pretty excited.
I mean the whole team's pretty excited. Just for us
to be back, going to bring a lot more depth
to the team as well, so being able to play
fast and play physical. It's just gonna be great for
us as a group.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
And just last mate being at home and this still
was the potential if things go the way the fire
against the Saints on Saurday, for it to be a
home Grand Final as well. But how much are they
like a six man to you your home crowd in
terms of, you know, maybe when the going gets tough
and you need to get on a bit of a run.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Playing at Cows is definitely advantage for us. I mean,
they bring all the noise, they bring all the excitement
and support. So without them, I feel like Fils can
be difficult to win. But if we have them on
our side, it's gonna be great. They bring everything for us.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
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