Tall Blacks guard returns after concussion

Tall Black Shea Ili playing against Jordan.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Tall Blacks guard Shea Ili is thankful his daughters didn’t ask questions when he sat out the majority of the last Australian National Basketball League season.

Days after leading New Zealand to a blow-out win over Jordan in Auckland in August, Ili was in pre-season training with Melbourne United when he copped an elbow to the jaw.

He says it was the first time he can remember suffering concussion in his career.

“I’ve definitely had a few knocks back when I was younger but I don’t think I’ve been knocked out like that.”

Weeks after the first hit another knock at the pre-season NBL Blitz tournament in Darwin resulted in a concussion that ruled Ili out for half of the season.

When the 30-year-old eventually made it on court for Melbourne in December his involvement was cut short again when a head knock playing Adelaide 36ers in January saw Ili’s concussion symptoms return.

Since that January 23rd game he hadn’t played basketball until three weeks ago.

Now he is on tour with the Tall Blacks as they prepare for the FIBA World Cup with warm up games in Japan, Germany and China.

The World Cup is in August – around a year after Ili’s world was rocked.

Ili is feeling more like himself now.

He does admit to having another “scare” last week when he picked up a knock but he insists he is “fine”.

While he battled mentally and physically to get back to normal after repeated knocks Ili says everyone had questions – except his children.

“It was definitely a hard time for myself sitting out that long. It wasn’t the greatest for my mental health but I had good people around me, my wife and kids and even the [Melbourne United] support staff that helped me through all of it, they were great.

“My wife didn’t like seeing me down but we just kinda had to go through it and she was there to support me.

“A big part of it is people feeling sorry for you and asking you every single question, having the kids they don’t know what is going on so they’re just there to have fun and kept my mind off it.”

Time away from basketball would not have been a part of Ili’s plan as he looks to secure a spot on the roster for his second world cup.

During his enforced break he started a carpentry apprenticeship, did rehabilitation work to strengthen his neck and kept thoughts of basketball at bay.

Point guard Shea Ili at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Photo: Jayne Russell

Ili is one of eight players in coach Pero Cameron’s initial extended squad for this year’s World Cup that were at the last tournament in 2019.

New Zealand finished 19th four years ago and Ili says one of the first video sessions the current squad had was to assess what went wrong.

“The session was how could we be better and what our standards were and it wasn’t good enough in what they were showing us so if we want to be better and we want to do well we’ve got to be able to execute everything they put forward to us.”

Ili has been around the Tall Blacks since 2015 and now sees his role differently.

“I’m one of the older guys in the group so I’ve got to teach some of the young boys the way that we play and go about ourselves.”

The Tall Blacks have been grouped with five-time world champions USA, world no. 9 Greece and Jordan for their part of the World Cup which will be played in the Philippines.

“You want to come out and showcase what you can do and being basketball players from New Zealand not many people look at us as a competitive nation so we just gotta go out there and compete and show them what we’re made of.”

Cameron has already made some cuts to the initial squad of 21 but he will have to make further omissions before the World Cup which tips off on 25 August.

Twelve players will be selected for the final World Cup roster and Ili believes Cameron and his assistant coaches will have some tough calls to make.

“If the coaches feel like someone can give the team more than you can then you’ve got to live with it and just go home and get better and don’t hold grudges because we’re all in this together.

“You’ve just gotta tip your hat and congratulate all the boys that have made it.”

The Tall Blacks play a pair of friendlies against Japan on August 2 and 4 before leaving Asia for Germany where they will play at the 34th Basketball SuperCup against Canada and then they return to Asia for the FIBA Solidarity Cup in China that includes national teams from China, Serbia, Italy and Brazil and New Zealand – all playing in a series of friendly games from 18-21 August in the build-up to the World Cup.

A 14-man squad of Dan Fotu, Finn Delany, Flynn Cameron, Hyrum Harris, Isaac Fotu, Izayah Le’Afa, Jordan Ngatai, Reuben Te Rangi, Sam Timmins, Shea Ili, Taylor Britt, Tohi Smith-Milner, Walter Brown and Yanni Wetzell are on the pre-World Cup tour.

Cameron will announce the final 12-man World Cup roster days before tip off.