Hoops

Boomers tour of South America

I suspect CJ will be gone by then too, but apart from his ankles he is still playing as well as ever. If he is still dominating the NBL it would be hard to overlook him.

But, like I said, I think the ankles may not be up to international play by the stage.

In sense some sarcasm perhaps?

Let's be honest though, different coach may make a difference. Goorj didn't know what to do with the bigs he had in his team.

Mills will only gett better as he matures, and the lieks of Barlow, Ingles, Jawai and even Newley will continue to get better. Bogut was also showing signs of continued development before his injury.

And if the big names do get a fair amount of court time together before Turkey 2010, then they have every chance of doing well. A top 8 finish should be the minimum pass mark IMO.

At least to Brown's credit, he has listed London 2012 as his goal to get a medal. By then CJ will be gone, and guys like AJ Ogilvy, Baynes, Nevill, Maric, and a host of others will hopefully be ready to make an impact on the international scene as well.

Nielsen and Andersen were both at camp. But neither are spring chickens anymore and are probably resting their bodies.

Both would have played 60-odd games of basketball in the last year.

Bogut is still recovering from his injury.

Newley passed up this international season to push for an NBA roster spot. Given that he has played the past 6 international seasons I think he is allowed a rest.

I think the most important thing is that all these guys are avaialble from June all the way through to the WCs which start in late August.

We will have mostly the same team from Beijing, and if they can spend the best part of 2-3 months preparing together for Turkey, we will be a great chance.

Anstey has apparently retired from International basketball so we are not likely to see him wear the Boomers singlet in competition again.

Also, I note that Cleveland Cavalier Anderson Varejao is a near certainty to suit up for Brazil against the Boomers development team after publicy stating his full support for Brazil in the lead up to the FIBA America tournament.

Varejao Link: http://linky.com.au/wdiww

Also, another article on fibaamericas.com confirms that Varejao and Leandro Barbosa will both be playing.

Link: http://linky.com.au/ptkjf

"Leandrinho Barbosa (Phoenix Suns) and Anderson Varejao (Cleveland Cavaliers) already reported to the practices led by head coach Moncho Monsalve."

Isaac, I don't think throwing weight at Scola is going to help! From watching him at both the Olympics and in the NBA, he is crafty and pretty quick for a PF - too quick for any of the big guys we have!

LC, thanks for the clarification. Getting the top seed from Oceania is still important, but at least we can't fail to qualify!

Paul, thanks for the news on CJ. I think we can just assume Bogut is being extra cautious in not playing, but that still leaves Andersen, Newley, Nielsen and Anstey. Would be interested if anyone knows why those guys aren't stepping forward.

CJ recently had clean up ankle surgery

Beantown: "We wouldn't want to go down to the Kiwis and miss out on the next Worlds like we did under Smyth nearly 10 years ago!"

I'd like to clarify that we can't miss out on the world's this time around. With the expansion from 16 teams to 24 at each Woprld Champs, two Oceania teams qualify. Australia and New Zealand are essentially playing off for the top seed from Oceania and a potentially better draw.

I think Argentina and Brazil will go in with their best possible line-ups against us as they prepare for their World Championship qualification tournaments. Both teams have yet to qualify for the 2010 World Championships and will be out to do their best in preparation for the FIBA Americas Tourney. Only USA and Turkey have direct qualification.

Agree with the fact that Jawai, Ingles and Barlow in particular need to step up and take ownership of this Boomers development team. For all three it would arguably be the first time they have ever been the focal points of a team at this high level.

Brett Brown has said his focus is for 2012 in London however surely we should be putting our best feet forward for 2010 in Turkey as well?

I'm a bit miffed that Andersen and Neilson are not playing, and what is CJ up to at the moment? I can appreciate Bopgut is not playing to ensure he is fully rehabbed, but the others???

If the Argentines include guys like Manu and Scola we are going to get schooled! Very much looks like a development squad to me.

Although development is good, I note that we only have this tour plus a four day camp to get ready for the Kiwis at the end of August. Why have so few of our first choice players made themselves unavailable?

Obviously Mills can't. Would have thought Andersen could play as he has been signed by Houston and has security. Bogut must be pretty close to 100% by now. Is he just too unfit still, or being cautious given his injury probs the last two years? Any reason why Newley isn't available? How about CJ Bruton and Anstey?

Anyone else a bit concerned that so few first choice players are going to be able to prepare as a team for the Oceania series? We wouldn't want to go down to the Kiwis and miss out on the next Worlds like we did under Smyth nearly 10 years ago!

Also, what do people think our lineup in Sth America will look like? Not sure myself but guessing something like:

Nevill Burston
Jawai Forman Baynes
Barlow Crawford Weigh
Ingles Dellavedova
Gibson Cadee

We'll need a big step forward from Ingles, Barlow and Jawai to compete IMO.

Scrub that - their first game is not until the 1st August...just realised (I got excited)!
But at least we know we should be able to follow the game live in Spanish!

Just saw a Boomers update on Twitter basically saying the same thing Isaac. Freezing cold in unheated stadium (less than 5 degrees), and Manu Ginobili has been hanging around the stadium.

Boomers will get roughed up for sure.

I looked ip the Argentine Basketball website and found this after using Yahoo Babelfish to decipher the Spanish:

"Through www.cabb.com.ar from the 19,30 hours the radial trasmisión of the encounter between the selections of Argentina and Australia will be able to be followed live."

For those that can try, you may be able to ctahc the game live online from now (it is 7:30pm in Buenos Aires right now). I'm still working on finding the actual link...Isaac - can you help?

Here is the Boomer's upcoming schedule, both in South America and right up to and including the Stankovic Cup:

July 30–Aug 4 - Tournament in Argentina
(AUS v Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina: 3 games)

Aug 6-10 - Tournament in Brazil
(AUS v Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina: 3 games)

Aug 18-22 - Camp 3 – Sydney, NSW

Aug 23 - FIBA Oceania Championship
Game 1, AUS v NZ, Sydney

Aug 25 - FIBA Oceania Championship
Game 2, AUS v NZ, Wellington

Aug 28-31 - Stankovic Cup, Kunshan, China
(AUS v Turkey, Angola, China: 4 games)

I would personally replace Andersen with Ballinger, but the rest of that team looks good.

I dont agree with having AJ Ogilvy, Luke Nevill,
Aron Baynes or Steven Weigh as fringe players though. More potential future players.

Schenscher, Burston, Crawford, Andersen, Black (if he can ever be healthy enough), Redhage, Saville, Martin and Kendall (but only in 2008 Kings form) as my immediate fringe players.

But certainly in terms of planning for the future, the above guys plus Wagstaff, Goulding, Petrie, Bruce, Markovic, Hill etc would be my next tier.

Damien Ryan is not an international level player.

Just Wondering when everybody starts/or when they started training. Sturt start tomorrow but i know south have been training for the past 2 weeks along with woodville.