Meet Tui HOWE

Tui is pronounced 2-e.
And Howe is like now (or kapow as my mum loves to joke)

A Tui is a native bird in New Zealand.

The meals at our prep school are pretty good, but for the really hungry days I go to Chipotle or Subway to get extra nutrition.

Back in New Zealand (NZ) my favourite home cooked meal is: Salmon, Rice and Broccoli.

And in NZ my favourite takeout foods were Japanese Katsu’s, Sushi, or Turkish.

My favourite snacks are:
Carrots with Hummus
Or corn chips
Or hot chips

(I’m not that into sweets)

Don’t rush the process. Show up every day, and be consistent.

For example: when I first started working with the New Zealand Tall Blacks S&C trainer, other teens in the gym used to think my workouts were weird - because they often only involved just the bar (with no weights) or plyo’s. But by the end of the year my peers were amazed at the results.

This taught me the value of listening to your coaches, learning good technique and valuing that consistency adds up when you stack days.

So, show up! Give it 100%! Trust the process! The results will follow!

First, I’m gonna say my teammates. Without them there is no game! I like being part of teams where we play for each other and play for something bigger than ourselves.

Pro wise: I’ve always admired Zac LaVine, and more recently VJ Edgecomb. Plus now that I live in Orlando, I’m in awe of all the Magics players! I’ve also been flattered to have people say my game reminds them of Jalen Brunson.

Player wise: I’ve been lucky to have players like Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones be slightly ahead of me. He followed a path from prep school, to Div 2, to Div 1, to playing pro. For me, just knowing someone has achieved their dreams by following this pathway makes me think I can too. Niwa also had the same childhood coach as me back when I was a kid - Kenny Mac - so that inspires me too; especially knowing we both became more resilient when Kenny passed (as did some of my other teammates like Troy Plumtree, who also wear #5 in rememberance whenever he can).

On the daily, I’m also surrounded by up coming nba prospects and ranked athletes. They are the nicest, most humble dudes! And what’s amazing is that they just never miss! Take Beckham Black for example, he is just so reliable and always ‘on’ - which makes me feel inspired to keep working on my consistency.

In a cultural setting, I’m still picking my heros. I’ve benefited from reading about history, and found George Ravelings life interesting to read about from a civil rights and diversity, equity and inclusion perspective. I also think Jackie Robinson was an inspiring athlete who was a trailblazer for social equality. I’m interested in the trust people put in athletes, from a social cohesion perspective.

At home: my mum, dad and brother inspire me. They are all really gritty and good at setting goals and working towards them! And my mum is one of those people who believes you should lift others up no matter what! They’ve always been really positive and supportive, and I like to do the same for them and my teammates and communities I am a part of!

I’m ngl, I didn’t used to be that great of shooter. Because I was tallish, I’d get put under the hoop to rebound. But then one day I missed out on a New Zealand team at a NZBB Player Development Camp, so I messaged the coach and asked him what I could do to be considerd in the future.

He told me either: “work on guard skills, or become an amazing shooter!”

And that was it. Becoming intentional about being a great shooter was a big shift for me.

Of course it took years of working with great coaches like Troy McLean, and being that guy at the hoop with my mom rebounding, and getting on the shooting machines, and having people like Buzz and the Wellington Basketball Association team encourage me to just keep at it.

And like all things, the more you do it the better you get.

The hardest part of being a shooting guard is that every time you grow, you have to recalibrate. If you get taller, your physical ratio to the hoop shifts. If you get stronger your power ratio to the hoop shifts. The other thing that is always changing is the light, and how that plays on your perception to the hoop (as you move from court to court or even around the hoop). But once you know that, and if you have parents like mine, you just learn that recalibrating is going to be part of being a shooter until you have stopped growing. So you have to keep postive thoughts, and make sure you follow through, and do what you can to feel your shot come up through the floor all the way to your fingers. Finding that flow state is key, and knowing the muscle memory is there. And if you get sick or hit a blip in the road, know you just need to put up shots until you ‘get the rust out’ as I like to say.

Most great shooters have amazing work ethics, and often have rules around ‘makes’ that they insist they do before they leave trainings. For Steph Curry it’s 5 swishes from 3 before he leaves the court. I find it inspiring that even the best in the world are always getting the basics down. Be at the net. Get the shots up. Make the swishes. And come back tomorrow to do it all again!