Hoops

Boomers Squad announcement soon?

You have a point there Vart, re Gibson's form. He has been stellar in the 2 spot at NBL level.
Maybe Gibson for Martin then.. ? Man, I wouldn't like to be a Boomers selector at the moment. Some tough decisions to be made.
Still, we have a hell of a lot to look forward to. Such intense competition for positions will push everyone to perform.
I would love to check out a scrimmage at the Boomers training camp right now!

Exactly why Peter Crawford should be in the team, and should be used as a spot up shooter. He is good defensively too.

Vart's squad of 15 is right on the money, but IMO the three outs will be Maric, Jawai and one of Gibson/Martin/Delly as we don't need 4 point guards.

Having Mills, Delly, Gibbo and Martin on the same team is like Andrew Gaze becoming a good commentator......It just aint gonna happen.

Personally, I would leave out Gibson and use Martin as a shut-down defender who can also score.

I've said this before, whilst our guard play and 3-point shooting was once a strength, it has since shifted to the play of our big men...

Vart, I like your squad of 15. Who gets cut could be interesting.
I saw the NZ game recently. Much as I loved David Barlow in years gone by, I thought he looked a bit past it in that game. Wortho always manages to surprise on the big occasions by doing more than you expect from him, so I'd keep him regardless. Baynes looked slow, whereas Maric was impressive and Jawai wasn't even in the picture. So, drop Barlow (sniff), Jawai and Baynes.

That still doesn't persuade me that we'll bomb them in consistently from range, though.

What are we selecting for, though, guys? A bunch of body-bangers to beat Europeans and lose to the US, or a bunch of athletes to beat the US and get frustrated against the Europeans?
We don't want to have a bunch of slow players who get us past the Europeans in the early rounds and then get into foul trouble against the might and speed of the US in the finals.
For that reason, I'd go less for the slower guys who excel in Europe (like Maric & Jawai) and go more for the guys who play or recently played college, or are doing well in the NBL.

Brock Motum is a forward, not a centre anon...

I would have Delly over Gibson, but it is a line ball call on Delly vs Martin IMO.

Baynes and Maric are fighting for the backup C spot...

Most have Maric as a certain for the 12 with Baynes as an outside chance. Maric is really struggling for form/minutes and would be a huge liability on the court as a back-up to Bogut.

With Brown's penchant for young smokeys, my vote is for Brock Motum to slot in ahead of Maric and Baynes.

Also, Delly over Gibson or Martin any day of the week

oh no someone who hides behind an anon called me all shit lol. If Jawai was so awesome why didn't you win that series?

In game 1 a young developing Alex Pledger got 16 points 6 rebounds in under 20mins compared to Jawai 17 points 11 rebounds in 22mins, Pledger was a development player, Jawai made the NBA. Benny Anthony also had a few points on Jawai in the limited minutes he played in that game as he did in game 2 also.
In game 2 in 23 1/2 minutes Jawai had 17/9 and Pledger had 15/13 playing pretty much the same amount.

Looking back Jawai's numbers weren't that bad but from memory it was the amount of points that were scored against him that lead to my opinion of him and how they were scored.

I'm with Vart in that Andersen and Mills have at times been burdened with being our "go-to" players when Bogut has been missing from the team. I think that Andersen would thrive playing alongside Bogut and complement each other. Bogut draws attention in the Post leading to an open spot up jumper from Andersen and if Andersen's man pays respect, then Bogut can go one on one in the Post.

With Bogut, Mills would not be expected to be the "go-to" man either. And with Bogut being the man, his game and play would be allowed to focus on penetration and distribution, whilst still being able to hit the open jumper on a kick-out as required.

Bogut will make these guys better full stop.

Yep - a 23 point and 7 rebound performance by Jawai in 20 minutes off the bench...

Delly is averaging career best (or near) stats this season in most categories, but importanmtly assists, points and FG %, and they look like this:

Matthew Dellavedova
15.2ppg / 3.2rpg / 6.5apg / 44.9% FG / 39.0% 3PT / 88.1% FT

I would still pick Steven Markovic's 9.5ppg, 2.9rpg, 8.2apg and 1.8spg in the Adriatic League over Delly...

dud, I had heard a similar thing about Lisch and his marriage, can anyone else confirm this?

On queue as well, Jawai had a 20 point effort overnight in the VTB League, also in another win... I would be very surprised if Irving wanted to and was cleared to play for Australia...and would also doubt Lisch would be cleared to play and hence I have left them off the invite list I have put together below... This would be my initial Boomers squad invite list: <Centres> Andrew BOGUT Aleks MARIC Aron BAYNES Luke SCHENSCHER Luke NEVILL <Centre / Forward> Julian KHAZZOUH AJ OGILVY Nathan JAWAI David ANDERSEN Daniel KICKERT <Forward> Matthew NIELSEN Ater MAJOK Mark WORTHINGTON Brock MOTUM <Forward / Guard> Joe INGLES David BARLOW Brad NEWLEY Ryan BROEKHOFF Peter CRAWFORD Anatoly BOSE Daniel DILLON Clint STEINDL <Guards> Patrick MILLS Steven MARKOVIC Damien MARTIN Adam GIBSON Matthew DELLAVEDOVA Hugh GREENWOOD Anthony DRMIC That's 29 players on my list - all of which may or may not be invited. For mine, the only ones who select themselves right now would be: Andrew BOGUT David ANDERSEN Matthew NIELSEN Patrick MILLS Joe INGLES Aron BAYNES Bogut because he is clearly our best player, Andersen because he is in blistering form right now on a very strong European team, Nielsen because he is the glue that will do what is required and not demand his own shot, Mills because he is the best guard we currently have, Ingles as he is playing on one of the best 5 or so teams in Europe and is still able to make an impact despite limited opportunities off the bench, and Baynes because he is simply dominating and is arguably the best centre in the Greek league right now. Guys that will probably get a gig despite limited opportunities and form concerns are Newley but also Maric as the 2nd/3rd centre option. My only concern with Maric getting selected behind Bogut is that is that he does not offer something different like a Khazzouh or Ogilvy who have mid-range capability on their jump shots...or David Andersen who could also fill in at that position and extend the defence with his shooting. You don't really need Bogut, Baynes and Maric on the same team... So therefore my team looks like this so far: BOGUT / BAYNES ANDERSEN NIELSEN INGLES / NEWLEY MILLS That's 7 with 5 more to go... As for the PG debate, based on form and what he has done for the second season in a row Steven Markovic for mine is arguably our best true point guard available. He simply does what his team requires, whether that is lighting up the scoreboard or distributing the rock. I guess is comes down to what system (if any) that Coach Brown wants to run and whether Markovic suits that style. For mine, he makes the team if selected today on what we know today. We lack shooters badly. Where it used to be a strength, today it is our weakness. For that reason alone, I think we need to look at a couple of shooters for the team, hence why I think Bose and Steindl gets a gig in the initial squad, and why Drmic is also invited (Cody Ellis would also be worth considering). However I am not convinced any of these young guys are anywhere near ready just yet. Therefore you look at the best shooter going around, and right that is Peter Crawford who otherwise would not get a look in. I honestly think Worthington would get a gig (because Brown loves him) and if fit and against the right team, could play a great niggling role to relieve Neilsen. However for now I'm sticking with my 7 selected plus Markovic (that's 8 if you can't count). I would hope that in any case, Brown runs with the guys on court that are playing well and getting the job done. The last thing I want to see is the "share the court time around" thing this time around. Look what is has donfor Clarke... Plenty of water to go under the bridge between now and selection time...

Lisch is currently engaged to a current WNBL player (her name I cannot remember). I remember reading that marrying her will help him acquire his Australian Citizenship much quicker. Didn't include him directly in my team as he certainly isn't guaranteed to be available but no harm in discussing it.

My 12 would look as follows:
5 Bigs - Bogut, Maric, Andersen, Neilsen, Baynes.
4 Wings - Ingles, Newley, Worthington, Barlow*.
3 Guards - Mills, Dellavedova, Gibson*.

*depends on the availability of Irving and Lisch.
I'd include Lisch over Barlow because he brings a deadly 3 point shot and superior playmaking skills. Irving goes in over Gibson or Barlow because he's Kyrie Irving.

My depth charts would look as such:

C Bogut (35+)/Maric (5)
PF Neilsen (20)/Andersen (15)/ Maric (5)
SF Ingles (30)/Neilsen (5)/ Worthington (5)
SG Newley (30)/Gibson (5)/ Mills (5)
PG Mills (25)/ Dellavedova (10)/ Gibson (5)

Bogut dominates the minutes in the middle and plays the whole game if he can. Maric spells him for a minute or two or plays if Bogey gets in foul trouble.

Neilsen and Andersen split minutes at the 4, the amount should be based purely on form and their performance in that game. Maric can also spell these two.

Ingles starts and plays majority of the minutes at the 3. Neilsen can chip in here and Worthington provides some grunt minutes.

Newley starts and plays similar minutes to Ingles. Gibson and Mills share minimal minutes to spell Brad.

Mills starts at the 1 and will play the majority of his minutes there. Delly gets a run to spell Patty and Gibbo chips in to provide a steady hand.

Barlow and Baynes get DNP's.

Obviously the inclusion of Irving or Lisch would mess with this chart but I think it's pretty solid. We get our best players on the court as much as possible barring injury or foul trouble. Current game form will also be crucial. For example Mills has some erratic play and poor shot selection, Delly and Gibson can split his minutes and steady the ship.

Our offence should come specifically through Bogut and Neilsen/Andersen's high low play, Ingles and Newley's slashing and Mill's open court/fast break scoring.

agreed Isaac, that was the series that NZ won and Jawai was very very average

Baynes can't be ignored - 5th in scoring and 1st in rebounding in the Greek A1 League this year.

As Paul has alluded to, it's risky to have to many guys in the squad who play limited minutes for their teams. We need guys who can hit the ground running in this campaign with a mix of those limited minutes type guys...

that last post was from me.....looks like you have to enter your details everytime you post now??

Whoops just realised they're submitting the names to the US Olympic Committee so probably doesn't apply!

Ah well...

Whoops just realised they're submitting the names to the US Olympic Committee so probably doesn't apply!

Ah well...

Just got a press release from Basketball Australia talking about a 'major structural review of basketball in Australia'. Eddy Groves is representing the NBL in the statement. Looks like BA, the NBL and so on will all merge into a single entity in a "drive for unity". Heard about this the other week, so it's no surprise.<blockquote>This a tremendous opportunity for the entire basketball family to embrace an exciting new era for our sport and the NBL owners have voted unanimously to participate in the reform process, Mr Groves said.</blockquote>