When the Tall Blacks line up to play Jordan in Auckland on Monday night in their World Cup qualifying campaign, they'll do so exactly 20 years on since New Zealand's historic campaign at the 2002 World Championships.
The Tall Blacks finished fourth that year; their highest-ever placing on one of basketball's biggest stages with a squad many didn't expect to get out of pool play.
But there were a few who did - the players themselves.
"We rated ourselves; we didn't talk very loud, we kind of bubbled quietly and just left our work on the table," 2002 All Tournament team member Pero Cameron said.
"The planets aligned to a group that was committed and and we had some very good shooting guards, some very good point guards with great leadership and some excellent centres.
"No one knew who we were. We were a scrappy team. Very - I hate to use this world today - mongrel-like and we wouldn't mind a bit of a scrap or a bit of a fight and we backed ourselves."
Cameron, a key figure in that campaign and now the current head coach of the Tall Blacks, told 1News the squad that went to the US in 2002 were different from the usual international outfit and that played a role in their successes.
"We were a very unorthodox team with the way we approached things against other teams so we were a little bit under the radar in terms of playing on a world stage," he said.
"But we had a great mix. Most of our group grew up in the New Zealand NBL - that's where we got our experience from and then we had a mix of guys who came out of college [and] who were playing in Europe and at a high level who were able to gel together for a common goal and just relentlessly go after it.
"We just had a great want to be good and achieve on the highest stage."
Giant Slayers
The Tall Blacks were placed in Group D in 2002 alongside Russia, Venezuela and Argentina.
After finishing the pool stage with two wins and a loss they managed to make their way into the second round of the event where they got to meet some of the game's heavy hitters - USA, Germany and China.
Eventually, their campaign boiled down to a do-or-die clash with China who featured NBA superstar Yao Ming with the stunning 94-88 win enough to seal a place in the quarter-finals.
"Our point guards did a great job, especially in the second half, of putting them under pressure," Cameron recalled.
"Momentum shifted to our side and then we were able to capitalise on some pretty good scoring from [Phill] Jones and [Kirk] Penney and came through with the win."
The unknown team from New Zealand shocked the world with their fourth-place finish in the US. (Source: 1News)
That set up a quarter-final with Puerto Rico which turned into a defensive slugfest, resulting in another upset result as the Tall Blacks prevailed 65-63.
Cameron said he felt that match set up many of his teammates for the careers they've had since.
"We had some players that meant we could win in different ways," he said.
"It was just a lot of things that were pretty good and we were on song, on track and blended with our coaches."
That led to a semi-final with eventual champions Yugoslavia and although Cameron said there was "disappointment" in losing the semi and ensuing third-place match against Germany, there was still plenty to celebrate.
One in particular, although the humble big man doesn't like to address it much, was his selection to the All Tournament team as a forward alongside some of NBA superstars; Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobili and Peja Stojakovic.
"It was a proud moment for my mum," Cameron said.
"It was good for my mum, good for me and good for my family... but I just can't shake that feeling that we could have gone to the gold medal game."
Cameron said there were "a couple of things that didn't eventuate" that came out of his impressive campaign but none of it bothered him.
"I'm pretty happy where I'm at now and it's been a long time with the Tall Blacks," Cameron said.
"But I wouldn't change one thing."
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