Basketball
Team Profile: One last ride for the legendary Boomers tandem?
MIES (Switzerland) – Three years ago, the Boomers finally climbed the podium, claiming bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan, after a run of four fourth-placed finishes from 1988 to 2016.
Now that they’ve tasted this kind of success, they know there’s only one thing better than getting an Olympic medal. It’s repeating that kind of result, or even climbing a spot or two higher.
In 2024, Australia will play in Group A, opening up the schedule against Spain, before meeting up with Canada and Greece. Top two teams will move to the Quarter-Finals, plus two best ranked third-placed teams from all three groups.
Joe Ingles, Patty Mills celebrating bronze in 2021
The Roster
It’s hard to remember any Australian team without Patty Mills and Joe Ingles. The two of them teamed up for the first time during the Beijing 2008 Olympics, meaning this would be their fifth Olympic experience together.
They have joined Andrew Gaze as the only other male Australian player with five Olympic appearances, but with Ingles about to be 37 in October, and Mills celebrating his 36th birthday one day after the tournament in Paris, this could be the last ride for the dynamic duo.
Coach Brian Goorjian surrounded them with a bit of experience and a bit of youth. Guys like Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Nick Kay, Jock Landale and Duop Reath have been around, they are well known names and faces in international basketball.
On the other side of the seesaw, Josh Green, Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels represent the part of the team born in 2000s, slowly but surely taking over the reins of this team.
Will Magnay and Jack McVeigh are stuck in the middle of the scale, bringing championship winning mentality after leading the Tasmania JackJumpers to their maiden NBL title. McVeigh was named the Finals MVP, too.
Overall, it’s a team with eight NBA players, but more importantly, it’s also a team with eight players who were there in 2021 to pick up the first Olympic medal for the Boomers.
The Question
Who will take care of the defensive end of the floor? Expect Australia to be a physical team, but they didn’t exactly have the best luck at the draw, ending up in the same group with three other physical teams.
The problem is that their opponents also have some of the best individuals in modern day basketball. Canada are loaded with ball dominant guards such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jamal Murray, while Greece and Spain turn to their all-rounders Giannis Antetokounmpo and Santi Aldama, both of whom picked up the TISSOT MVP awards at their respective FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
Australia struggled to get stops at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, allowing 84 or more points in four of their five games, settling for 10th spot in the final standings. By comparison, they held their opponents below 84 points in four of the six games at Tokyo 2020, when they finished third.
The Hope
The longevity. Coach Goorjian has been in charge from 2001 to 2008, then returned in 2021. The players know him, he knows the players, they are all a part of the fortified system and the familiarity of it all could come in handy in tough games or clutch minutes.
That’s because it’s next to impossible to create a scenario which Goorjian, Mills, Ingles and others hadn’t already seen in their careers.
The Fear
Last summer, they failed to reach the Quarter-Finals of a major event for the first time since 2014. Was it just bad luck? Maybe. Was it a horrible draw? Sure.
But… What if it was the beginning of the end of the Boomers’ golden generation? Well, that’s the fear.
What if Patty Mills doesn’t turn into FIBA Patty once again, after a season with just 418 minutes of action in the NBA? What if Joe Ingles doesn’t do a bit of everything and Australia face an early exit?
It’s a scary thought, for sure.
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