July 5, 2024 • 10 mins
New Zealand have gone further than ever at the Under 17 World Cup after beating Lithuania in the quarterfinals.
They're also the second NZ basketball team to make the semifinals of a World Cup.
Phill Jones was part of the first team to make a semi at the 2002 World Cup, and his son, Hayden is part of this Under 17 team.
He joined Piney to discuss how big this achievement is for basketball in New Zealand.
Jones told him that it’s a pretty big achievement, what with basketball being one of the biggest sports in the world, for a younger group to make it to the World Championship.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
New Zealand have made history at the Feber Under seventeen
Basketball World Cup in Turkey.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Excellent work here from New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Honday are coming through to the semifinals for the first
time in their history. Here bang on. They've reached the semifinals,
beating Lithuania seventy three sixty five in this morning's quarter final.
They become the first New Zealand team to make it
to the semifinals off a Feber age group World Cup.
They will play the United States for a place in
(00:41):
the final. A true team effort. Oscar Goodman led the
way nineteen points and ten rebounds, Hayden Jones equally influential
thirteen points and twelve rebounds, Jackson Kiss seventeen points and
eight rebounds, Troy Plumtree twelve points, eight rebounds, and Hunter
Tatana chipping in with seven points, including a pair of
(01:01):
triples in the final quarter. The highest New Zealand has
achieved in its previous two Under seventeen World Cups fourteenth
and twelfth, and this is also the furthest any New
Zealand basketball team has gone since the Tour Blacks dream
run at the two thousand and two World Champs where
they finished fourth in Indianapolis, and that squad has ties
(01:22):
to this one. One of the leaders in two thousand
and two was Phil Jones. His son, Hayden Jones plays
a key role on this New Zealand under seventeen men's
national team. Phil Jones is with us. You must be
a proud dad first and foremost, are you Phil?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah, biney, you're pretty proud proud parents. Myself and cat
boys are doing extremely well and Hayden obviously is playing
a big part of that.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
How significant an achievement is this put it into context for.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Us, Well, I guess you know. Basketball is one of
the world sports and probably only second to football around
the world, and it's a pretty big achievement for a
younger group going to a World championship and doing what
they're doing right now. Obviously coming up okay, it's a
(02:12):
pretty tough team and their next opponent, but for what
they've done so far, it's very good.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
What were your expectations when they headed off?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Well, I always thought that they could be pretty competitive.
I look at this age group and the guys that
are in the team and sort of watching them grow
up through the years, having coached a number of a
number of them or coached against them a number of
them throughout the last few years. Very talented, good size,
(02:42):
good athletes. They can all shoot, and they play super hard,
super competitors. So I think as far as maybe an
age group team that's been put together one of the
better ones that we've seen for a long time in
New Zealand and the Black Singler, is that.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Just by chance pill Or has the way that our
young men and women are being coached now changed, What
has led to this particular group of players, you know,
turning out the way they have.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, I don't know, it's a good question, you know.
I know, for Hayden, for example, you know, he's been
around basketball since he was a little kid, and obviously
with myself and Cat and had the opportunity to have
a born and hand really really early on, as well
as the sisters, and you know, they all three of
them have turned out to be pretty good basketballers, and
(03:34):
I think that's definitely helped him on his journey. But
there's still a few guys that are also quite new
to basketball that are in the team as well. And
you know, I think it comes down to the influences
of the parents and the families and getting them into
sport and involved in basketball. But also I think Layton Haddleton,
the ended coach, the coach of the team. He alluded
(03:55):
to the fact that there's a number of good coaches
around New Zealand. I've had some involvement with these guys
for quite a long time, so you know, they've had
some good grounding. They love basketball, the competitors pretty good
mix for a pretty talented group.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Absolutely, it is have they had a lot of time
playing together, so you know they're all from different parts
of the country. Obviously different franchises, different secondary schools. Have
they had much time playing together this group.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Not really apart from the previous tournaments that they've been to,
because they have a three year cycle where it starts
at under fifteens. Now have Oceania Championship with it, which
they go to, so they get together for that and
then the qualifiers from that then go to the Asian
champs the next year in the under sixteens and then
(04:46):
they get together for that. So that really, when you
think about it, they've only been together for these three
tournaments that they've had, They've been lucky enough to get
a reasonable build up into this tournament, having gone a
little bit earlier over into Turkey and playing in the
Stanbul Cup and winning that tournament. So, you know, I
guess from a preparation perspective, they don't have a lot
(05:08):
of time together, but they all know each other. They've
all played against each other for quite a long time now,
so that will help them when they get together. But
it would be it'll be awesome if we could get
them together for a month before they go and see
what they could do.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
How tough will the United States be in the semi final?
What a stupid question. But how big, how big a
jump up is this going to be for them?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Well, you've heard of David and Goliath, right, Well, yeah,
this is a this is a exactly that I think.
You know, the US team has been super dominant throughout
the whole tournament. All of the games that have been
winning comfortably by a margin of somewhere between forty and
fifty points. You know, the Canadian game, the quarter final
(05:52):
they played last night, they won that I think it
was one hundred and eleven to sixty odds so, you know,
and Canada would be pretty tough. I would say, so
big for the NZ team, but I would say late
and we'll have them firing. They'll go out and be prepared,
and yeah, they've got nothing to lose. Just get out there,
(06:13):
play the game. The hoop's still the same height, and
the room's still the same with the basketball courts are
still the same size. You just got to get after
it aslutely.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And I would imagine, I don't know this to be true,
but I would imagine that this group of David's would
be absolutely fizzing to take on Goliath, wouldn't they.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Oh yeah. We'd talked to Hayden after the game, and
you know, they were super pumped to be in the Semis,
but I think he was probably more excited about actually
playing the US, because you know, all of these guys
look up to those guys and sort of idolize them
and what they do in their colleges and high schools
and the athletes that they are, and they see them
(06:50):
on social media all the time, so I think they
are all of them are super pumped about playing USA.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Are we looking at a group of players here who
could emulate what you did in two thousand and two.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Well they already have, right, but there the top four,
So now it's down to them to see whether they
could go one step further. It'll be awesome if they could,
you know, somehow get a win against USA and then
get themselves into a gold medal silver medal match. But
(07:24):
if it doesn't go that way, then they've still got
an opportunity to go one further than the two thousand
and two team did, and you know, I would love
to see that happen.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, I guess what I was asking was as Toll
Blacks in the years ahead, could this group of under
seventeen players do what you guys did in a tall
black singlet?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Well, I don't see why not. You know, we've got
we've got a very good TOOLBAX team now, and we
get all of our players together. It's probably the key
I think moving forward is how we try and keep
this group together or add pieces to it to make
sure that we're competing at the highest level in the
black singlet. You know, sometimes it's very hard because these
(08:05):
players are for different leagues and competitions and it's tough
to get them out of those leagues to get them
back and wearing the black single, And you know that's
going to be a struggle for basketball New Zealand moving forward.
How do they keep this group together so that we
can be competitive at a wheal stage.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That two thousand and two team, had you played much
with them at under seventeen level for example, Philer, you know,
I think of the players in that two thousand and
two team, had you played much with them previously?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Personally? No, yeah, but I didn't play any New Zealand
representative basketball until I moved from the coast to Nelson
and made the other twenties. So the Jay Junior Tall Blacks,
that was the first time that I'd played worth the
lights of Pera Cameron and Mark Pickle and Sean Marks,
those guys. But we were a group that sort of
(09:00):
came through the New Zealand NBL together played in the
national team a decent period of time. Once we sort
of got together, probably around that late nineties early two
thousands where Table came along with Dennibushnich and kind of
changed things for us a bit. But we knew each
(09:22):
other very well, not too dissimilar to what this group
is like at the moment. So I think there's you know,
there's a really good opportunity for these guys to do well,
and they've done well so far in this tournament, but
in the future they could really take the tour base
to the next level.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Have you had any sleep?
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Very patchy sleep. It was nice to have a nine
to thirty game last night versus a two am and
a five am and a four to thirty am. You know,
but back to the grind on Sunday morning where the
boys played two am against USA. So yeah, but it's
all worth it, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It's worth it, Yeah, worth getting up for. Great to
chat Phil, Look, I know everyone around New Zealand has
just delighted that this latest group of young athletes are
doing so well. Really good to chat mate. Thanks and
the expo all the best mate, Cheers Phil Jones, dad
of Hayden, who plays a massive part in this New
Zealand under seventeen men's team, himself obviously an icon of
(10:18):
our game. But yeah, watching these young boys, I've seen
a lot of clips this morning on social media and
you know, just the way they play and the way
they carry themselves. And as Phil said, it's going to
be David against Goliath. When New Zealand played the United
States and basketball. It doesn't matter what level, but these
(10:39):
players will fist for it. What an opportunity for them.
And imagine the eyes that will be on the US
under seventeen basketball team, who by default will get the
opportunity to watch the New Zealand team in action. Huge
opportunity for these boys. Great stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk said B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
New Zealand have made history at the Feber Under seventeen
Basketball World Cup in Turkey.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Excellent work here from New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Honday are coming through to the semifinals for the first
time in their history. Here bang on. They've reached the semifinals,
beating Lithuania seventy three sixty five in this morning's quarter final.
They become the first New Zealand team to make it
to the semifinals off a Feber age group World Cup.
They will play the United States for a place in
(00:41):
the final. A true team effort. Oscar Goodman led the
way nineteen points and ten rebounds, Hayden Jones equally influential
thirteen points and twelve rebounds, Jackson Kiss seventeen points and
eight rebounds, Troy Plumtree twelve points, eight rebounds, and Hunter
Tatana chipping in with seven points, including a pair of
(01:01):
triples in the final quarter. The highest New Zealand has
achieved in its previous two Under seventeen World Cups fourteenth
and twelfth, and this is also the furthest any New
Zealand basketball team has gone since the Tour Blacks dream
run at the two thousand and two World Champs where
they finished fourth in Indianapolis, and that squad has ties
(01:22):
to this one. One of the leaders in two thousand
and two was Phil Jones. His son, Hayden Jones plays
a key role on this New Zealand under seventeen men's
national team. Phil Jones is with us. You must be
a proud dad first and foremost, are you Phil?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah, biney, you're pretty proud proud parents. Myself and cat
boys are doing extremely well and Hayden obviously is playing
a big part of that.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
How significant an achievement is this put it into context for.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Us, Well, I guess you know. Basketball is one of
the world sports and probably only second to football around
the world, and it's a pretty big achievement for a
younger group going to a World championship and doing what
they're doing right now. Obviously coming up okay, it's a
(02:12):
pretty tough team and their next opponent, but for what
they've done so far, it's very good.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
What were your expectations when they headed off?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Well, I always thought that they could be pretty competitive.
I look at this age group and the guys that
are in the team and sort of watching them grow
up through the years, having coached a number of a
number of them or coached against them a number of
them throughout the last few years. Very talented, good size,
(02:42):
good athletes. They can all shoot, and they play super hard,
super competitors. So I think as far as maybe an
age group team that's been put together one of the
better ones that we've seen for a long time in
New Zealand and the Black Singler, is that.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Just by chance pill Or has the way that our
young men and women are being coached now changed, What
has led to this particular group of players, you know,
turning out the way they have.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, I don't know, it's a good question, you know.
I know, for Hayden, for example, you know, he's been
around basketball since he was a little kid, and obviously
with myself and Cat and had the opportunity to have
a born and hand really really early on, as well
as the sisters, and you know, they all three of
them have turned out to be pretty good basketballers, and
(03:34):
I think that's definitely helped him on his journey. But
there's still a few guys that are also quite new
to basketball that are in the team as well. And
you know, I think it comes down to the influences
of the parents and the families and getting them into
sport and involved in basketball. But also I think Layton Haddleton,
the ended coach, the coach of the team. He alluded
(03:55):
to the fact that there's a number of good coaches
around New Zealand. I've had some involvement with these guys
for quite a long time, so you know, they've had
some good grounding. They love basketball, the competitors pretty good
mix for a pretty talented group.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Absolutely, it is have they had a lot of time
playing together, so you know they're all from different parts
of the country. Obviously different franchises, different secondary schools. Have
they had much time playing together this group.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Not really apart from the previous tournaments that they've been to,
because they have a three year cycle where it starts
at under fifteens. Now have Oceania Championship with it, which
they go to, so they get together for that and
then the qualifiers from that then go to the Asian
champs the next year in the under sixteens and then
(04:46):
they get together for that. So that really, when you
think about it, they've only been together for these three
tournaments that they've had, They've been lucky enough to get
a reasonable build up into this tournament, having gone a
little bit earlier over into Turkey and playing in the
Stanbul Cup and winning that tournament. So, you know, I
guess from a preparation perspective, they don't have a lot
(05:08):
of time together, but they all know each other. They've
all played against each other for quite a long time now,
so that will help them when they get together. But
it would be it'll be awesome if we could get
them together for a month before they go and see
what they could do.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
How tough will the United States be in the semi final?
What a stupid question. But how big, how big a
jump up is this going to be for them?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Well, you've heard of David and Goliath, right, Well, yeah,
this is a this is a exactly that I think.
You know, the US team has been super dominant throughout
the whole tournament. All of the games that have been
winning comfortably by a margin of somewhere between forty and
fifty points. You know, the Canadian game, the quarter final
(05:52):
they played last night, they won that I think it
was one hundred and eleven to sixty odds so, you know,
and Canada would be pretty tough. I would say, so
big for the NZ team, but I would say late
and we'll have them firing. They'll go out and be prepared,
and yeah, they've got nothing to lose. Just get out there,
(06:13):
play the game. The hoop's still the same height, and
the room's still the same with the basketball courts are
still the same size. You just got to get after
it aslutely.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And I would imagine, I don't know this to be true,
but I would imagine that this group of David's would
be absolutely fizzing to take on Goliath, wouldn't they.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Oh yeah. We'd talked to Hayden after the game, and
you know, they were super pumped to be in the Semis,
but I think he was probably more excited about actually
playing the US, because you know, all of these guys
look up to those guys and sort of idolize them
and what they do in their colleges and high schools
and the athletes that they are, and they see them
(06:50):
on social media all the time, so I think they
are all of them are super pumped about playing USA.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Are we looking at a group of players here who
could emulate what you did in two thousand and two.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Well they already have, right, but there the top four,
So now it's down to them to see whether they
could go one step further. It'll be awesome if they could,
you know, somehow get a win against USA and then
get themselves into a gold medal silver medal match. But
(07:24):
if it doesn't go that way, then they've still got
an opportunity to go one further than the two thousand
and two team did, and you know, I would love
to see that happen.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, I guess what I was asking was as Toll
Blacks in the years ahead, could this group of under
seventeen players do what you guys did in a tall
black singlet?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Well, I don't see why not. You know, we've got
we've got a very good TOOLBAX team now, and we
get all of our players together. It's probably the key
I think moving forward is how we try and keep
this group together or add pieces to it to make
sure that we're competing at the highest level in the
black singlet. You know, sometimes it's very hard because these
(08:05):
players are for different leagues and competitions and it's tough
to get them out of those leagues to get them
back and wearing the black single, And you know that's
going to be a struggle for basketball New Zealand moving forward.
How do they keep this group together so that we
can be competitive at a wheal stage.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That two thousand and two team, had you played much
with them at under seventeen level for example, Philer, you know,
I think of the players in that two thousand and
two team, had you played much with them previously?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Personally? No, yeah, but I didn't play any New Zealand
representative basketball until I moved from the coast to Nelson
and made the other twenties. So the Jay Junior Tall Blacks,
that was the first time that I'd played worth the
lights of Pera Cameron and Mark Pickle and Sean Marks,
those guys. But we were a group that sort of
(09:00):
came through the New Zealand NBL together played in the
national team a decent period of time. Once we sort
of got together, probably around that late nineties early two
thousands where Table came along with Dennibushnich and kind of
changed things for us a bit. But we knew each
(09:22):
other very well, not too dissimilar to what this group
is like at the moment. So I think there's you know,
there's a really good opportunity for these guys to do well,
and they've done well so far in this tournament, but
in the future they could really take the tour base
to the next level.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Have you had any sleep?
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Very patchy sleep. It was nice to have a nine
to thirty game last night versus a two am and
a five am and a four to thirty am. You know,
but back to the grind on Sunday morning where the
boys played two am against USA. So yeah, but it's
all worth it, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It's worth it, Yeah, worth getting up for. Great to
chat Phil, Look, I know everyone around New Zealand has
just delighted that this latest group of young athletes are
doing so well. Really good to chat mate. Thanks and
the expo all the best mate, Cheers Phil Jones, dad
of Hayden, who plays a massive part in this New
Zealand under seventeen men's team, himself obviously an icon of
(10:18):
our game. But yeah, watching these young boys, I've seen
a lot of clips this morning on social media and
you know, just the way they play and the way
they carry themselves. And as Phil said, it's going to
be David against Goliath. When New Zealand played the United
States and basketball. It doesn't matter what level, but these
(10:39):
players will fist for it. What an opportunity for them.
And imagine the eyes that will be on the US
under seventeen basketball team, who by default will get the
opportunity to watch the New Zealand team in action. Huge
opportunity for these boys. Great stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk said B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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