Papua New Guinea men's national basketball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Papua New Guinea women's national basketball team.

Papua New Guinea

FIBA ranking	NR (15 September 2025) [1]
Joined FIBA	1963
FIBA zone	FIBA Oceania
National federation	Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea
Coach	Joel Khalu
Olympic Games
Appearances	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
FIBA Asia Cup
Appearances	None
Home Away

Medal record
Pacific Games
	1969 Port Moresby	Team
	1963 Suva	Team
	1971 Papeete	Team

The Papua New Guinea national basketball team is the team that represents Papua New Guinea in international basketball and is a member of FIBA Oceania. It is administered by the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea. ^[2]

The team is yet to qualify for the Olympic Games, FIBA World Cup, FIBA Asia Cup, and Commonwealth Games.

Tournament history

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Papua New Guinea

Pacific Games

Pacific Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L
1963	Third playoff	3rd	7	4	3
1966	Semi-finals	4th	6	3	3
1969	Final	2nd	8	5	3
1971	Semi-finals	3rd	5	3	2
1975	Playoff	5th	5	3	2
1979	Semi-finals	4th	7	4	3
1983	Playoff	5th	6	4	2
1987	Playoff	6th	6	1	5
1991	Playoff	5th	6	3	3
1995	did not participate
1999	Quarterfinals	7th	8	5	3
2003	Group stage	6th	3	2	1
2007	did not participate
2011	Quarterfinals	7th	6	3	3
2015	Semi-finals	4th	8	4	4
2019	Semi-finals	4th	6	3	3
2023	Playoff	5th	5	3	2
Total	0 Titles	15/17	97	50	47

Melanesia Cup

Melanesia Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L
2017	Champions	1st	4	4	0
2022	Runner-up	2nd	4	2	2
Total	1 Title	2/2	8	6	2

Team

Current roster

At the 2019 Pacific Games: ^[3]

Papua New Guinea men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 1 Anderson Hewe 20 – (1998-08-12)12 August 1998 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) Exodus BC PG 3 Coni Muri 18 – (2001-03-01)1 March 2001 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) KSS Flames SG 4 Lloyd Wright 22 – (1997-04-18)18 April 1997 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Hope International University PG 5 Liam Wright 20 – (1999-03-06)6 March 1999 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Northeast Bushrangers G 7 Moses Apiko 26 – (1993-02-12)12 February 1993 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) KSS Flames SF 9 Aron Farmer 22 – (1997-05-21)21 May 1997 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Cairns Marlins C 10 Junior Banduru 22 – (1997-02-09)9 February 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Moniplus PF 11 Robert Kave 30 – (1989-05-09)9 May 1989 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Moniplus SF 13 Marty Leahy 22 – (1997-03-09)9 March 1997 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Ipswich Force PF 14 Charles Parapa 33 – (1986-04-20)20 April 1986 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) KSS Flames SF 15 Apia Muri 31 – (1988-05-14)14 May 1988 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Moniplus	Head coach Joel Khalu Assistant coaches Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 8 July 2019

At the 2019 Pacific Games, Liam Wright played most minutes for Papua New Guinea and also recorded most steals for his team.

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Charles Parapa	Junior Banduru
PF	Aron Farmer	Robert Kave
SF	Moses Apiko	Apia Muri
SG	Lloyd Wright	Moses Apiko
PG	Liam Wright	Coni Muri	Anderson Hewe

Past rosters

At the 2015 Pacific Games: ^[4]

Papua New Guinea men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. 4 Lloyd James Wright – 5 Liam Allan Wright – PG 6 Purari Muri – 7 Gabriel Frank Elavo – 8 Mika John Loko – 9 Moses Lune Apiko – F 10 Wally Parapa – 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 11 Robert Avosa Kave – 12 Dia Muri  (C) – G/F 13 Matineng-Iakah Leahy – 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Ipswich Force 14 Aron Genai Farmer – F/C 15 Apia Muri – 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	Head coach Joel Khalu Assistant coaches Morris Asiba Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 3 July 2015

Head coach position

• Joel Khalu – 2013-present

Youth national teams

The country features several youth national teams such as the Papua New Guinea men's national under-18 basketball team and the Papua New Guinea men's national under-17 basketball team. ^[5]

Kit

Sponsor

2015: City Pharmacy

2017: Pepsi

See also

• Papua New Guinea women's national basketball team
• Papua New Guinea national under-19 basketball team
• Papua New Guinea national under-17 basketball team
• Papua New Guinea national 3x3 team

External links

• Papua New Guinea Basketball Records at FIBA Archive
• Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea Basketball - facebook presentation
• Papua New Guinea National Team at australiabasket.com

Videos

• New Caledonia v Papua New Guinea - Final - Full Game - FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup 2017 Youtube.com video

References

1. "FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
2. FIBA National Federations – Papua New Guinea, fiba.com, accessed 25 Sept 2016.
3. Papua New Guinea Pacific Games Tournament for Men 2019 FIBA.com, accessed 8 June 2020.
4. 2015 Pacific Games - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Team, Retrieved 19 October 2016.
5. Kevin Teme (9 July 2019). "PNG Names Youth Team Basketball". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier . Retrieved 22 September 2020.