Hoops

Kyrie Irving Chooses Australia

Big Ads, the following Olympics would actually be 2016...and I would reckon that if Irving had already repped foe Australia at either London 2012 or at the WC's in 2014, then BA would not authorise his transfer back to USA, in a similar fasion to what they did with Maric.

However between now and then, who is to say the rules will not change?

Lets run this line of thought

So Irving is granted approval by BUSA and FIBA to play for Australia and is a member of the Boomers at the London Olympics and just maybe even the next world championships.

Over this time he gradually develops into a bonafide starter on an NBA team and possibly the star (Cleveland....not out of the question at this point in time).

Its now 2015 Williams and Paul are past representing their country, Rondo and Wall are injured, Rose needs a rest after taking the Bulls to another championship and Irving and Westbrook are the two best PG left running around in the NBA that season.

Over the same period Australia has also improved its international standing on the back of Bogut, Mills, Ingles, Irving, Creek, Weigh, Johnson (humour me) and is a strong possibility to medal at the 2015 Olympics. The problem is that Irving wants to play for the USA because that's where his heart belongs.

Does BA consent to Irving playing for the USA?

BA just released a statement on Kyrie Irving...they are essentiaaly stating that they are keen to explore all options once the NBA Draft is finalised.

Just on Andrew Bogut I have read an article where Brett Brown is hopeing he can play for the World Championchip qualifiers. My take on Bogut is they should leave him alone for now, he has his own problems with trying to stay healthy and I think risking him at the olympic qualifiers is unfair to him. Zarunus Illagukas did'nt play many international games for Lithuania because of health concerns and most likely prolonged his NBA carrer, and right now I would put Bogut as a similar case in the too delicate basket. He has another long-term injury like he had with his arm and it could really jeopardise his NBA carrer.

Anon it was 1992 & Brett recruited Dad 'Dredrick'! They have stayed in touch - this could rock!!

By the way, 'Russian' Holden has just retuired from basketball.

Jawai has been in great consistent form in Europe for Partizan and has just signed for one of Russia's best teams in Unics Kazan and will once again be playing Euroleague basketball next season. He will definitely be in the mix as Beantown points out.

Irving would be great for the Boomers IF it ever eventuates. FIBA and USA Basketball would both have to approve of the move in the first instance.

You just never know...

Taibu, Jawai is still definitely in the mix for the Boomers. If Bogut plays at centre though, then Jawai might not be a good fit alongside him against a lot of opponents for two reasons:
- the Bogut/ Jawai combo would be pretty slow defensively and could be exploited
- They'd get in each other's way on offence, because both do their scoring in the paint.

That's why, for example, I was wondering about Khazzouh, who is a bit quicker around the court than Jawai and can hit the outside shot as well. Other possibilities include Worthington (who Brown was intending to play there against NZ, but couldn't due to injury) Andersen (who fits the outside shooting equation but is also slow defensively) and Nielsen.

So IF Bogut plays, then perhaps Jawai might only find backup minutes. On the other hand, if Bogut can't then Jawai could play a much bigger role, perhaps sharing the centre spot with Maric.

Could play in nbl if there's lockout ?

Carries an impression of the FIBA rule.

Must play for USA, since he played in FIBA junior tournaments for them.
However, if not selected, FIBA allows him to play for the country of his birth, if positive for the sport in that country.

Dontaye Draper is going to play for Croatia.

Remember him, the old Sydney Kings import..

He has no links with Croatia whatsoever except that he played there for one season.

Brett Brown knows his Dad well & this could be the reason why BA gave him the job!

Yeah, Martin and Gibbo played together in the backcourt a lot and it was pretty bad really. We just had zero scoring power from our guards. Patty is good, but I don't think I'd run two point guards as my first option.

In an ideal world, Newley would get back to where he was before he hurt his knee and he would start at SG. Starting five would be Irving, Newley, Ingles, mobile PF TBD and Bogut. Bring Patty off the bench as a spark plug.

With that PF slot probably the most up for grabs, I actually wonder if Khazzouh could be an option there? He seems reasonably mobile but he still has the height and enough rebounding to not be a liability. He also has a nice touch around the basket and has shown he can step out and shoot the three as well. Maybe a younger, more athletic Andersen?

Yeah thats true.
But correct me if im wrong, but didn't the Boomers run an equally small backcourt at 2010 WC.

Didn't they play Gibbo at the 2 alot, and Patty at the 1 during the WC.

At the WC last year, they had 4 PG's--Patty, Markovic, Gibson and D.Martin.
Im sure there was some overlap i.e. One or two of those players were ran at the 2 spot.

No, Im pretty sure he has to get Clearance from USA Basketball before he can represent Australia.

Similar to Maric, he had to get clearance from BA to play for Serbia--Which was denied (rightfully IMO)

He would have to get clearance from the Cavs

Remember Bogut struggles to get clearance from Milwaukee to represent Australia on occasions.

If he did play for Australia, I reckon he should play the 2 spot, and start Patty at the 1. Small backcourt I know, but super quick and enough to cause opposing teams nightmares.

Patty is too good to be Kyrie's backup. Both deserve a starting spot.
With Patty, David Anderson, Kyrie and Bogut the Boomers could potentially start 4 NBA players at the 2012 Olympics.

Wow - is this just a media beat up? Is this all a ruse to help him get the #1 spot in the draft?

That's a welcome quote! I really hope he does play for the Boomers. We could have TWO #1 NBA draft picks leading our team in years to come! How many teams outside the US could ever have said that? I'm guessing none!