The Tall Blacks have signalled the start of a new era, with the naming of Judd Flavell as head coach.
Flavell is already a familiar part of the Tall Blacks programme as both a player and coach, having worn the black jersey for 38 games from 1999-2002, including the 2002 FIBA World Championship, where he helped New Zealand to a memorable fourth-placed finish.
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After turning to coaching, Flavell spent 13 seasons as an assistant with the NZ Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) – winning four championships during a five-year stretch – before joining the South East Melbourne Phoenix as an assistant for three seasons.
He has also served as head coach for the New Zealand men’s under-18 team (2013), as Junior Tall Blacks assistant coach in 2014 and as Tall Blacks assistant coach in 2020.
The 50-year-old is taking over from Tall Blacks legend Pero Cameron, who stepped down in August after five years in the job following New Zealand's failure to qualify for Paris 2024, their fourth straight missed Olympics.
At the domestic level, Flavell has also enjoyed head coaching success in the National Basketball League (NBL), winning a title with the Auckland Pirates in 2012, the Southland Sharks in 2018 and back-to-back titles with the Canterbury Rams in 2023-24..
His most recent title saw the Rams finish with a league-best 17-3 record – including a 16-game winning streak – with Flavell named NBL Coach of the Year.
Now regarded as one of the New Zealand’s most successful basketball coaches, Flavell joins a Tall Blacks programme ranked 22nd in the world, with the squad finishing third overall at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup and in 22nd place at last year’s FIBA World Cup.
Flavell said it was an honour to take over the reins of the New Zealand men’s basketball national team.
“There’s a lot of emotions that came up for me, because I feel so passionate about the black singlet, about the Tall Blacks, what we’ve done and achieved on the international stage in the past,” said Flavell.
“And also seeing where we are currently at with the programme, you can’t help but get excited looking ahead at the pool of talent that we have coming through with the youngsters.
“For me it’s been a long journey, coming from being part of the Tall Blacks programme as a player – growing up and having that dream of putting on the black singlet – and then being involved in some of our finer moments in 2001/02, then being an assistant coach. I feel really feel privileged and honoured to be given this responsibility.”
Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) CEO, Dillon Boucher said Flavell had the right mix of character and experience to help lead this Tall Blacks side to success in the coming cycle.
“Judd has played at the highest level with the Tall Blacks and now gets to lead them as Head Coach. His passion for the jersey and for New Zealand basketball is as high as you can get,” says Boucher.
“He has enjoyed recent success with back-to-back titles with the Rams in the Sal’s NBL, and knowing what Judd is capable of I’m excited to watch him lead this exciting group of players we have right now.”
Flavell’s first challenge as head coach will come in November, when the Tall Blacks face the Philippines and Chinese Taipei in a home and away FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier window.
The Tall Blacks will next play in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, taking on the Philippines away on 22 November, then returning home to Christchurch to face Chinese Taipei on 25 November.
Although Judd is Auckland-based, he has spent a lot of his working time in Christchurch with the Rams. He said having his first Tall Blacks home game as head coach in the Garden City will be a special moment.
“Honestly, when I saw that it could work out that my first home game as Tall Blacks head coach would be in Christchurch [on 25 November], it felt fitting as it’s a region that just loves basketball.
“The Rams gave me an opportunity when they bought me back to New Zealand from Australia to coach, and we’ve had a fun journey over the past few years; we’re achieved some great things and I’ve gotten to work with some amazing people and players – in front of some amazing fans.
“It’s my home away from home and it’ll be very cool to coach the Tall Blacks there next month.”
Flavell said he was buoyed by the combination of veteran talent and young athletes available to the programme over the next cycle.
“Where we’re at with New Zealand basketball, in the last window we’ve gained so much experience. We have a depth of talent that has played a lot of meaningful games and that’s important – because that experience is something we used to struggle with years ago; but now we have a pool of world-class levels at every position who we can call upon.
“We still have work to do but I like the direction we’ve been going in, and the constant improvement of our players. I feel like the best of the Tall Blacks is yet to come, so my focus is for this team to push its boundaries and reach new heights – I get excited by that.
“As Kiwis we step into every single game thinking we can win – of course we like to hold on to our underdog status, but every one of us believes we can beat anybody, and that’s a cool attitude to have.
“And over the past 20 years we’ve had our moment on the world stage, knocking off some top-level teams when no-one expected us to. Our challenge is to go from putting in one great performance – like we did against Croatia [at the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in July] – and backing that up into wins in the next game and the next. The more experience and self-belief we have, the better.
“And that comes back to the preparation work we do and the way we play together – we have to work harder than everybody else, and we have to play smarter than everybody else.”