Derone Raukawa

Derone Raukawa
No. 8 – New Zealand Breakers
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League ANBL
Personal information
Born (1994-07-24) 24 July 1994
Levin, New Zealand
Nationality New Zealand
Listed height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Listed weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Career information
High school Rangitoto College
(Auckland, New Zealand)
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–2015 Manawatu Jets
2016–present Southland Sharks
2016–present New Zealand Breakers

Derone Raukawa (born 24 July 1994) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL).

Early life

Raukawa was born in Levin, New Zealand. He left Levin as a 5-year-old and spent time as a youth living in Tauranga, Australia and Auckland.[1] In 2011, Raukawa played for Otumoetai College and the Tauranga rep team before moving to Auckland at the start of 2012,[2] where he enrolled at Rosmini College.[3] That same year, he joined the New Zealand Breakers Academy and often trained with the senior team.[1] He also had two weeks in China, where he captained the Junior Tall Blacks against Slovenia, the United States and China. He then played for Waitakere West at the national under-21 tournament in Porirua before leading Waitakere West to the under-19 title in Dunedin, downing North Harbour 90–89 in the final. He was subsequently named to the all-tournament team.[3]

Raukawa moved schools once again in 2013, this time to Rangitoto College.[1] He guided Rangitoto to the 2013 National Secondary Schools Basketball Final, where they lost to Westlake Boys High School. He scored 35 points in the final and was named to the all-tournament team.[4][5]

Professional career

New Zealand NBL

After spending the 2013 New Zealand NBL season as an extended squad member of the Waikato Pistons, Raukawa moved to Manawatu in 2014 and joined the Jets on an amateur contract, so as to keep his eligibility to play college basketball in the United States.[1] He was impressive in his first season, earning co-Rookie of the Week honours for Round 4 after scoring a season-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting against the Nelson Giants.[6] In 12 games for the Jets in 2014, Raukawa averaged 4.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.[7] During the off-season, Raukawa played for Save Youthtown and helped the team win the 2014–15 Mexicali Fresh Summer Jam championship.[8]

Raukawa returned to the Jets for the 2015 season[9][10] and found his niche as a livewire off the bench. His high-tempo play gave the Jets a boost and despite more experienced guards in front of him, he made the most of his minutes on court.[11] In 17 games for the Jets in 2015, he averaged 10.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.[7] Following the New Zealand NBL season, Raukawa joined the New Zealand Breakers training squad for the 2015–16 season.[12]

On 6 November 2015, Raukawa signed with the Southland Sharks for the 2016 New Zealand NBL season.[13] He made his debut for the Sharks in the team's season opener on 12 March 2016, scoring a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting off the bench in a 106–80 loss to the Nelson Giants.[14][15] On 3 April, he started for the Sharks in place of the injured Jordair Jett and scored a career-high 24 points in 30½ minutes of action in a 101–87 win over the Hawke's Bay Hawks.[16][17] Raukawa was a surprise package for the Sharks in 2016. He brought plenty of energy to the team and ended up playing big minutes.[18] He helped the Sharks finish the regular season in third place with an 11–7 record. In their semi-final game against the Wellington Saints, the Sharks were defeated 79–75.[19] Raukawa appeared in 18 of the team's 19 games in 2016, averaging 10.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.[7]

On 6 September 2016, Raukawa re-signed with the Sharks for the 2017 season.[20]

New Zealand Breakers

On 24 August 2016, Raukawa signed with the New Zealand Breakers as a development player for the 2016–17 NBL season.[21][22] On 17 September 2016, Raukawa made his debut in a Breakers uniform in the team's final pre-season clash with the Brisbane Bullets. Playing in front of his home crowd in Southland, Raukawa finished with a team-high 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 28 minutes of action, as the Breakers were defeated 86–77.[23][24]

National team career

On 5 June 2016, Raukawa was named a replacement for Jarrod Kenny on the New Zealand Tall Blacks roster for their Asia tour and their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament campaign.[25] He made the final 12-man squad two weeks later after impressing head coach Paul Henare.[26]

Personal

Raukawa's father, Andrew McKay, also played in the New Zealand NBL for the Waikato Pistons.[3][27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Heagney, George (3 May 2014). "Ace Raukawa enjoying school – of hard knocks". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Exelby, Kelly (18 January 2012). "Clinic fires up BoP coach". NZHerald.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Exelby, Kelly (13 June 2012). "Basketball: Young star goes on trip of a lifetime". NZHerald.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Westlake Basketball NZ Champions 2013". AllTeams.co.nz. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Savory, Logan (17 March 2016). "Lesser known signing Derone Raukawa could spark the Southland Sharks in 2016 NBL". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Lacey, Mike (1 May 2014). "Rookie of the Week – Round Four". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Player statistics for Derone Raukawa". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Lacey, Mike (11 February 2015). "MEXICALI FRESH GRAND FINAL". LaceyLowDown.com. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Anderson, Niall (25 February 2015). "Horvath's Status In Doubt For Jets". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Derone Raukawa has officially signed with...". Twitter. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Heagney, George (19 June 2015). "Derone Raukawa finds role as Manawatu Jets' bench livewire". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Niall (6 November 2015). "Sharks Pick Up Raukawa". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Donaldson, Scott (6 November 2015). "Southland Sharks sign Derone Raukawa for 2016 basketball season". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Twort, Matt (12 March 2016). "Giants Record First Victory Of Season". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Sharks vs Giants". FIBALiveStats.com. 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Savory, Logan; Hinton, Marc (3 April 2016). "Southland Sharks win without star player Jordair Jett". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  17. ↑ "Hawks vs Sharks". FIBALiveStats.com. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Savory, Logan (7 June 2016). "Only Duane Bailey locked in for Southland Sharks' 2017 National Basketball League season". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "Saints vs Sharks". FIBALiveStats.com. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Southland Sharks coach Judd Flavell and guard Derone Raukawa return for 2017 National Basketball League season". Stuff.co.nz. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "DEVELOPMENT SQUAD CONFIRMED". NZBreakers.co.nz. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Ethan Rusbatch, Derone Raukawa handed Breakers 'D-Unit' chance". Stuff.co.nz. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  23. ↑ Hinton, Marc (18 September 2016). "Mounting injury toll main concern for Breakers after series sweep by Bullets". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  24. ↑ Donaldson, Scott (18 September 2016). "Southland Sharks guard Derone Raukawa top scores for NZ Breakers in debut defeat to Brisbane Bullets". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "KENNY A RELUCTANT WITHDRAWL FROM TALL BLACKS TOUR". Basketball.org.nz. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  26. ↑ "Derone Raukawa continues rapid rise as Tall Blacks name squad for Olympic qualifiers". Stuff.co.nz. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  27. ↑ Exelby, Kelly (2 June 2011). "National champs tall order for team". NZHerald.co.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
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