Hoops

Boomers v Serbia

Haven't seen the games, but by checking the stats it looks like a few decisions are starting to be made by Brown.

Delly looks like he has moved up the pecking order based on his minutes and performance. Apears to be now ahead of Martin in the rotation.

Gibson as a result is on the outer and could very well miss out. I am happy with that as I just don't see Gibson as an international player and don't think there is much improvement in him. Delly has more size, has already put up some decent performances and I would expect still has a fair upside to his game.

Newley, Ingles and Barlow are locks. Personaly I am not a Barlow fan and apart from his size and athleticism he mostly just dissapoints me performance wise. I pretty much think he survives because of a lack of other options as the back up 3 man. Maybe the reason I dislike him is that I cringe every time I watch his short arm jab of a shot release.

As for the bigs Maric, Ogilvy, Neilsen and Wortho are also certainties. The last spot is going to go to a player who wont add much as it is down to Kickert or Baynes. Would prefer if neither was anywhere around the team and dont think bringing back Nevill or Schenscher would add anything to what we have. Brown has shown that he is not prepared to explore other options and we really lack a perimiter oriented 4/5 man. Have mentioned a few times that Larry Davidson would add a completely different type of big and needed to be looked at. But I guess we might as well take Baynes and use him to clobber someone if needed.

All in all pretty happy with the performances so far.

AB4EVA, I was thinking the same. Teodosic is a very good player who we completely failed to control at the Worlds. Looks like he was still having an impact, but his shooting was woeful last night. Wish I could have seen the game to know how much of it could be put down to our defence!

Yeah Beantown, looks like Brown went away from last years WC's and figured out a way to get more ball movement and player movement (cutting, screening) in the offence.

I like Brown as a defensive coach--Last years WC's Boomers were 4th best in terms of Defensive PPG. However, at last years WC's the offense was extremely stagnant and the Boomers only averaged 73ppg.

As a TB fan, im worried because it looks as though the Boomers have resolved some of their offensive issues .They have always been a tremendous defensive outfit.

Another nice stat - the Boomers as a team are leading the tournament with 17 assists per game. That's good to see IMO, because for years we have had a pretty ugly offence and this suggests we are moving the ball pretty well. Dellavedova has had a good impact here, leading the team with 15 assists for the tournament.

Wish I'd been able to watch these games. Its good to see Newley return to form for the Boomers.

Dellavedova has really stepped up and you would think has not only secured his spot on the team to play NZ, but has earned a spot in the rotation.

Mills turnovers are a bit of a concern. It may be lack of familiarity with his team mates and Brown's system, but I'd like to see him bring the turnovers down over the next couple of games.

Martin didn't get as many minutes in London as I would have liked either. I think he could be a very handy alternative to Mills when we need more defence and a steadier hand at the point, but its hard to tell when he didn't seem to get a lot minutes against quality Euro opposition.

Good to see Ogilvy put up 10 rebounds in this game aqgainst a very good player in Krstic. Perhaps he might now have edged Maric out of the starting spot?

You'd have to think Gibson will be one of the two that will miss out now, after the emergence of Dellavedova. Surely Kickert will be the other one to miss out, given his lack of minutes and Brown's preference for Nielsen and Wortho at PF?

Another encouraging sign for the Boomers ahead of the Oceania series against NZ.

Some great results against top Euro opponents.