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Nine to broadcast FIBA Oceania Championships

Nine will screen major basketball action Live, from Rod Laver Arena in August.

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Nine will broadcast Live coverage of basketball’s 2015 FIBA Oceania Championships, to be held at Rod Laver Arena, on Saturday August 15 from 6.30pm.

The two-game series will see 2012 London Olympic bronze medallists, the Jayco Australian Opals, face off against the New Zealand Tall Ferns, followed by the Australian Boomers playing New Zealand’s Tall Blacks.

Hosted by basketball commentator John Casey, commentators will include Andrew Gaze, Jenni Screen, Shane Heal and Joe Ingles.

Steve Crawley, Nine Network’s Head of Sport, said: “The Nine Network is thrilled to be working with Basketball Australia and Nine Live in bringing basketball back to prime-time, free-to-air television.

“As we’ve seen in the NBA recently, Aussie players are some of the best in the world, so it will be great to showcase their incredible talent and skills right here on Wide World of Sports.

Basketball Australia CEO, Anthony Moore, added, “Australian basketball fans should be excited to have our sport back where it belongs: live, free and in prime time,” he said. “The Olympic Games remains a great prize, played on the biggest stage there is, and these games in Melbourne are an important first step towards Rio for our Boomers and Opals.

“This night of basketball is set to be an event that will long be remembered. I congratulate our partners in the Nine Network, Nine Live, the Victorian Government and its Victorian Major Events Company on their outstanding commitment to Australian basketball.”

It will be the first time in 15 years that Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena hosts basketball of this calibre, which will feature four of Australia’s current NBA players who have made themselves available for the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championships. The Australian Boomers today announce their roster for the games against New Zealand and the European Tour, which will form an important lead-in.

The imposing Boomers lineup will include current NBA champion Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors), Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers), Dante Exum (Utah Jazz) and Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls), playing alongside Australia’s best from the European leagues and the NBL.

The Jayco Opals are one of Australia’s most successful national teams, and they will field a strong squad to take on the Tall Ferns in the first match of the evening.

The second leg of the FIBA Oceania Championships will be played in New Zealand on August 17-18. The two-match series is decided by games won, or, if tied, by the aggregate of total points – so every basket counts in this battle for the spot on offer at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Please check local guides for details. Broadcast schedule is subject to change.

4 Responses

  1. Still have not heard what is going on with game 2. What a great game saturday nights mens game was but it does not look like Nine is coming game 2. Has anyone else heard if it is getting covered in nine or even fox sports

  2. Oceania Championships? Not one other country in the region nominated to play for an easy Bronze medal? Basically, Australia and NZ, who control the Oceania Basketball Federation, hold a home and away Trans-Tasman series to decide top seeding in Oceania for the @l^mp!c and World Championship draws.

    This will be the last time it happens. In future there will be proper qualifying tournaments and a 4 yearly Trans-Tasman “friendly” series starting from 2017.

  3. It’s the first time Nine broadcasts a basketball tournament since the 2012 London Olympic Games. Interestingly the press release does not mention if Nine will show the return leg in New Zealand, so will Basketball Australia have other arrangements? If the Melbourne leg rates well, we could see Nine screening more international basketball tournaments in the future, even the FIBA World Cup in 2018 (women) and 2019 (men).

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