Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

The Tall Blacks point guard Kirk Penney is relaxed about having the defending champions Spain, and two other top European teams, France and Lithuania, in their group for next year's mens world basketball championship in Turkey.

Penney says he knows a lot of the players from Spain and Lithuania,after playing both sides in recent years.

He says there's no easy way to get to the last 16 but they'll be targetting the lower-ranked Canada and Lebanon.

And Penney says the Tall Blacks' Oceania championship win over the 11th ranked Australians will make them a stronger team.