Who makes the Boomers team?

So the 12 man team is announced tomorrow - So who would you pick?

First things first, here’s the 17-man squad:

PGs: Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers), Dante Exum (Utah Jazz), Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats), Adam Gibson (Adelaide 36ers)

SGs and SFs: Joe Ingles (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Brad Newley (Gran Canaria), Chris Goulding (CAI Zaragoza), Ryan Broekhoff (Besiktas JK Istanbul)

PFs and Cs: Aron Baynes (San Antonio Spurs), Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls), David Andersen (SIG Basket Strasbourg), Nathan Jawai (Galatasaray), Ben Simmons (Montverde Acadamy), Brock Motum (Virtus Bologna), Mark Worthington (Melbourne United), Lucas Walker (Melbourne United), Angus Brandt (Sydney Kings)

Age in 2014 in brackets (Next Olympics 2016 Brazil)
C - Baynes(28)/Andersen(34)/Jawai (28)
PF - Worthington(31)/Bairstow(24)/Simmons(18)
SF - Ingles(27)/Newley(29)
SG - Goulding(26)/Broekhoff(24)
PG - Dellavedova(24)/Gibson(28)/Exum(19)

Dellavedova and Exum are walk ups.
Simmons picked for experience for him
Baynes best big man we have at the moment by far
Gibson over Martin.
Very light at SG. However I think all of the PGs can also play there and also Ingles could run there too.
Given the age of Andersen and Worthington, will they be around in 2016? Hence the selection of Jawai (Plus he is a monster)

Players not playing the world champs - Mills, Bogut, Maric, Barlow - Mills, Bogut walks up but the other 2 questionables.

PG: Dellavedova/Martin
SG: Goulding/Exum
SF: Ingles/Newley
PF: Bairstow/Motum/Simmons
C: Baynes/Andersen/Jawai

Martin over Gibson, as he provides a lock down defender and better leadership.
Exum will get minutes at both guard spots and Ingles and Newley can play SG, so I picked Exum as a SG.
Motum over Worthington with an eye to the future, same deal with Simmons, who can play both forward positions.
Jawai as 12 man for added size.
Tough not to fit Broekhoff in somewhere. Maybe instead of Newley?

Just curious - is Bogut retired from international BBall or just missing the World Champs?

edabomb said:

Just curious - is Bogut retired from international BBall or just missing the World Champs?

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just world champs

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketb...for-basketballs-world-cup-20140413-zqu48.html

Billyhoyle said:

just world champs

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketb...for-basketballs-world-cup-20140413-zqu48.html

Click to expand...

Australia will be strong in '16 with he and Mills, and hopefully Exum coming along well.

I don't think they have enough to deliver the best finish in a World Champs by an Oceania team this year though. Currently that is NZ's 4th in 2002.

haha, I made this thread a week or two ago

Gibson, Martin, Walker, Brandt I think are the ones to get cut. I can't pin by 5th one. soon see!

nichj99 said:

haha, I made this thread a week or two ago

Gibson, Martin, Walker, Brandt I think are the ones to get cut. I can't pin by 5th one. soon see!

Click to expand...

sorry must have missed it

ouch

Billyhoyle said:

ouch

Click to expand...

Just seen this too...

yeah not sure why they wouldn't take him to get some experience ready for 2016 Olympics

team has been announced

David Andersen – Strasbourg (France)
Cameron Bairstow – Chicago Bulls (NBA)
Aron Baynes – San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
Ryan Broekhoff – Besiktas (Turkey)...
Matthew Dellavedova – Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Dante Exum – Utah Jazz (NBA)
Chris Goulding – Zaragoza (Spain)
Joe Ingles – Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)
Nathan Jawai – Galatasaray (Turkey)
Adam Gibson – Adelaide 36ers (NBL)
Brock Motum – Bologna (Italy)
Brad Newley – Gran Canaria (Spain)


Martin, Brandt, Simmons, Worthington and Walker cut from Squad

official photo

So looks like the team is:

Dellavedova/Gibson
Goulding/Exum
Ingles/Newley/Broekhoff
Bairstow/Motum
Baynes/Andersen/Jawai

Can't say I agree with Gibson over Martin, but who knows how they both played at the camp.

Glad Worthington is out though!

Gouldings team selfie

Worthington just posted this to facebook:

Mark Worthington
42 minutes ago
The last 10 years with the national team have been an honour and a privilege that I never took for granted. I hope the young men representing our country appreciate every moment that lies ahead of them. It has been a awesome ride. One I'll never forget. Thanks to my parents Treena Worthington and Greg. My siblings Kate Walmsley and Trent. My wife Andrea Worthington and my beautiful boys Taz N Axel Worthington for the support throughout the journey and to the many friends and teammates who I have shared the experiences with. I've been extremely lucky.

Great article from Boti Nagy
http://www.botinagy.com/blog/our-world-cup-runneth-over/

Our (World) Cup runneth over

YOU would think it might be hard to get excited about Australia’s shot at a World Cup medal without starters Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills being available ... but you’d be wrong.
The Boomers team for the championship in Spain has a positive mix of old and new – without going overboard in either direction – and is laced with podium potential.
Olympians such as Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Brad Newley, Aron Baynes, David Andersen and Adam Gibson are back, supported by new faces Dante Exum, Cameron Bairstow, Brock Motum, Nathan Jawai, Ryan Broekhoff and Chris Goulding.
That’s a team Andrej Lemanis can take to Spain confident in its ability to do some damage beyond the group stage where it runs into Slovenia, Lithuania, Mexico, Korea and Angola.
Remember too, that stage of the World Cup will be in Gran Canaria – the Canary Islands – where Newley is a cult hero and whose presence in the team is sure to bring great hometown support to the Boomers.
Breaking down the team, it has the guard area covered with Delly and Exum at the point and Gibbo a combo guard capable of providing relief there too if necessary.
Goulding adds a “lights out” shooter to go with Newley, who also can pinch-hit at small forward.
Ingles will hold down the main minutes there with Broekhoff an understudy.
The lack of a genuine 7-footer will trouble some but Andersen, Bairstow and Motum as versatile power forwards, plus Baynes and Jawai as centres with menace give Lemanis enough with which to operate.
Just quietly, I am happy to see big Nate Jawai finally work his way into a Boomers team, making it all the way back from injury and the pressure of high expectations.
THE BUILD-UP
Discarding the mostly inconsequential Sino-Australian Challenge, the Boomers’ relevant preparation for the World Cup will all be played overseas.
They will take on Finland, Lithuania and Ukraine in a tournament in Lithuania from August 8-11.
Then another quickie against the Fins in Helsinki on August 12.
Down to the gorgeous French Riviera and Nice where the Boomers run into Ukraine, Philippines and France from August 16-18.
In Strasbourg, Australia will have its final hit-outs against Finland and France on August 23 and 25 respectively.
Hats off to Lemanis and Basketball Australia for organising such a comprehensive World Cup-specific series of matches.
It again gives the Boomers every chance of heading into the Cup fully in sync and well-prepared.
THE CUP
The Boomers open the World Cup against Slovenia on August 31.
Slovenia and Lithuania loom as Australia’s biggest challenges toward the possibility of actually winning the group stage.
That’s not to say Korea, Mexico – over which Australia had a memorable 120-117 overtime game at the 1976 Olympics (just a little Bill Simmons-style irrelevant fact for you) – and Angola will be a stroll in the park.
Not at all.
They’re all national teams and all pursuing the same goal, after all.
And it was Angola which upset Australia’s plans at the 1986 Worlds.
But if the planets align – and without Bogut and Mills they can’t be fully aligned – but if it is close and this group clicks as predicted, then a high-ranking finish to this stage is more than a remote chance.
The top four teams progress to the next round. But there are obvious benefits in finishing higher in that 1-to-4 scenario.
THE NBA
Dellavedova and Baynes, that great "pick-and-roll-for-the-dunk" combination at the 2012 London Olympics, bring their NBA experience as members of the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs respectively.
Baynes is a free agent now but has just concluded the “Lazza” tour – his nickname for the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy tour he undertook with Mills two weeks ago – and is unlikely to remain uncontracted for long.
Andersen is a Euroleague superstar who logged NBA time at Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Hornets from 2009-11.
Exum was selected as the #5 pick at the 2014 NBA Draft by Utah Jazz and that was with no college experience.
Motum, who is contracted to Bologna in Italy, has been invited to also attend Jazz camp after impressing at the Summer League in Las Vegas.
Bairstow has been signed by Chicago Bulls.
Management for free agent and Euroleague champion Ingles is in discussions with Memphis Grizzlies.
Newley was drafted by Houston before pursuing a highly successful European career.
Goulding competed last year at the NBA Summer League for Cleveland and this year did well enough with Dallas Mavericks to win a contract in Spain.
There won't be any players in this team intimidated by rival NBA experience.
THE NBL
The only players coming out of the 2013-14 NBL season selected were 2012 London Olympian Adam Gibson (Adelaide 36ers) and the league’s leading scorer Chris Goulding.
Both previously last were teammates at Gold Coast Blaze after also being together at Brisbane Bullets.
With Goulding heading to CAI Zaragoza in Spain next season, Gibson remains the NBL’s only active player on the Boomers’ roster.
However, Andersen, Ingles, Jawai and Newley all started their pro basketball careers in the NBL.
With half the team having NBL experience on their resumes, that is still a high success rate on which the league can hang its hat.
THE UNLUCKY 5
Melbourne United’s Mark Worthington has been a great servant for Australia and worn the green and gold with great pride through two Olympic and two World Championship campaigns.
His toughness may yet be missed in Spain.
Perth Wildcats Championship captain Damian Martin again is unlucky to miss after playing for the Boomers at the 2010 World Championship.
While he brings everything conceivable to the defensive end and has a heart Phar Lap would envy, the ability to consistently and confidently knock down an open look remains his international Achilles heel.
Athletic Melbourne United forward Lucas Walker must have been close and will again challenge for a Rio Olympics berth, as will Sydney Kings’ big Angus Brandt who did extremely well to make it to the final squad.
The biggest talking point though will be Ben Simmons missing the cut.
The 18-year-old prodigy last night tweeted: “''(I'm) really disappointed (I) didn't make the world's team, good luck to all the guys who did #grindtime”
Simmons, son of Melbourne Tigers NBL import Dave, has committed to attend Louisianna State University where Eddie Palubinskas, Australia’s first player to top score an Olympics, cut his college teeth.
Unquestionably Simmons will be a marquee superstar for Australia down the line, as might Thon Maker as well.
But there is a danger in rushing too many kids in too soon, Simmons admittedly doing well among the men at last year’s Oceania Series.
Simmons will return to Montverde Academy in Orlando.
Had he been selected – and I’m testing my memory here – but I believe he would have been the first high schooler since 2001 to play for the Boomers.
In 2001, Luke Schenscher cracked the Boomers as a high school student.
Maybe Simmons could have made it into the 12th spot on this roster but he hasn’t.
Unless the critics were watching training camp, you can only conclude Lemanis and his coaching staff of Luc Longley and Trevor Gleeson just didn’t believe he was ready yet.
Don’t worry. Michael Jordan didn’t make his high school team at his first attempt. How’d that work out in the long run?
“The team would like to thank the five players who missed selection for their contribution – all are wonderful people and tremendous basketball players,” Lemanis said in a BA statement.
“I have always said that difficult decisions would need to be made and it was very tough as a staff to settle on the final squad, which is tremendous credit to all who competed at the camp.”

another good article

Why Ben Simmons Missed Boomers World Cup Selection
by Admin | Jul 28, 2014 | Latest News | 0 comments

Ben Simmons. Image credit to NBPA.
There’s no question about it. Ben Simmons and Dante Exum are the rising stars of Australian basketball and the future faces of the Boomers program.
So, why then did only one of them get selected for the upcoming World Cup in Spain?
There are plenty of factors at work, but here are a few that definitely influenced the decision.
Firstly, Simmons had a couple things working against him from the start. He went into camp in less than ideal circumstances, coming off the back of a big weekend in Atlanta at the EYBL Peach Jam, where he again impressed scouts in America.
After Peach Jam concluded, Simmons left Atlanta and flew to LA. On Tuesday night (Australian time), Simmons was still on a flight from LA to Melbourne, only arriving on Wednesday morning. Keep in mind that the Boomers camp actually started on Tuesday.
With Simmons fighting jet lag and tired legs, he now had to beat out one of Australia’s best forwards to earn his place in the Boomers World Cup team. Simmons was up against Joe Ingles (veteran Boomer now playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv), Brock Motum (just committed to the Utah Jazz training camp), Ryan Broekoff (All American at Valparaiso and now playing for Besiktas in Turkey), and Brad Newley (veteran Boomer now playing for Gran Canaria in Spain).
While Simmons is a high school stud and projects as a future #1 draft pick in the NBA, he was competing against some of the best players in international basketball to earn that spot on the Boomers roster.
There were plenty of rumours floating around that Simmons would be selected into the team regardless of how he performed in camp. With such a big name, he brings countless numbers of eyes to Australian basketball, which had to have tempted the Basketball Australia administrators to select him.
Already, ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla has tweeted about Simmons not being selected in the team.

In the end, the Boomers coaches are hired to win games and not to create exposure for Australian basketball, and the veterans were chosen over Simmons.
The future Aussie NBA star, who now stands at a legitimate 6’9¾, is sure to be in the Boomers Olympic and World Cup team very soon, but for now, it was a stretch to expect him to make the final roster.

I just read that ABC have secured the rights to broadcast every boomers / opals game during the mens and womens world cup(s)! The Opals will only have the finals rounds live, the men to be live the whole tournament.

In a bonus, they'll also be showcasing every game by Team USA in the mens competition.

This is the best thing Basketball Australia could have done for promotion of the game (short of getting an exhibition match out here).

Annual Leave + time parked on the couch here I come!