Hoops

Game 4 CHina Australia

I agree Vart, I think Australia are actually weak on mobile bigs. Bogut, Anderson, Jawai and Baynes are pure Centres who dont have the mobility to mark more mobile PF's.

wonder who's paying for the Tall Blacks to go to China?
Maybe the Breakers Owners since they pretty much cover everything else.

Including Bogut in hypothetical Boomer teams is the same as people including Steve Adams in hypothetical Tall Blacks squads.

He may make himself available further down the track if he establishes himself in the NBA as he is very passionite about being a Kiwi but at the momment the Tall Blacks are way down his list of priorities.

Bogut with his injuries and insurance issues will prob never play for Australia again. Real shame but at least he made himself available when he could.

NZ's team with it's zero funding is going to be a bit sad for this Oceania series but as both teams have qualified it's somewhat of a dead duck any way.

The Tall Blacks funding issues need to be sorted asap with the team being on the verge of having some of the most talented players ever coming through and we finally have some size with Pledger, Adams and Loe all legit 7ft.

Tai Webster will prob not be available nor will Rob Loe.
Abercrombie may not be available either with NBA aspirations.
Steven Adams will def not be available
Marcel Jones will not make the team.

Tait/?
C.Webster/?
Henry/TeRangi or vice versa
Vukona/Anthony
Pledger/Truman

Australia C Team Vs NZ B team

not sure if Abercrombie is playing either

Men or Rugby Players?

I still haven't seen Motum, so I'm sticking with Petrie until I see what he can do. You could well be right though.

I agree Petrie might be too small against some international PF's, but unless Motum is ready, there just isn't any other option yet. The big one we're waiting on here is Simmons I think. If he continues to develop and hopefully add an inch or two as well, he'd probably be the ideal mobile big.

I think 3 true bigs is plenty for this team, because Bogut and Baynes would play big minutes and you only really need one guy to rotate them with.

Also, if we have Bogut, I think his defense and rebounding ability would allow us to go small around him to try to create mismatches. Ie, you could play Ingles at the four in some situations, Newley or Broekhoff @ the three and someone like Gliddon/ Goulding or Drmic at the two. Ingles and Newley would need to crash the boards hard, but there is a lot of length and speed there that could hurt some teams.

Yeah I agree there is a good chance Mills starts. I just think it would be a better balanced starting lineup without him. It defines clearer roles for everyone and ensures Ingles doesn't drop out of the game because Mills is dominating the ball.

I'd like to see this kind of setup:
- Delly brings ball up, gets us into our offence (esp pick and roll), knocks down the open shot and plays D
- Gliddon/ Goulding/ Drmic are there to defend and knock down perimeter shots
- Ingles as the primary playmaker - he needs to be forced to take the game on by attacking the basket, instead of floating around out there, missing long jumpshots!
- Bogut should be a post-up/ pick and roll option to mix things up, but his primary role should be defence and rebounding
- Baynes rebounds, defence, attack offensive glass while Bogut gets back on D

Mick, I agree with you about getting Exum and Simmons tournament exposure.

I reckon the team you list above is a bit top-heavy though, with Maric and Jawai at PF. I think Bogut and Baynes will ideally play big minutes and there'd be room for one more true big out of Andersen, Jawai, Maric and perhaps Nevill.

The fourth big I would go for a more mobile type, who can defend out on the perimeter but still rebound reasonable well. Most probably Petrie at this stage, with Simmons or perhaps even Bairstow taking over from him in the next couple of years.

I agree that the team lacks shooters, so we do need to get a couple of guys like Gliddon, Broekhoff and Drmic in there. I think we can find room for them in a team like this:

Bogut Andersen
Baynes Petrie
Ingles Newley Broekhoff
Gliddon Exum Goulding/ Drmic
Dellavedova Mills

Mills could start, but I'd prefer a shooting guard with a bit more size for defensive purposes. A guy like Gliddon would also have a clear role on offence as a spot up shooter beyond the arc.

Would like to see Lemanis push Ingles to be the main instigator on offence as well. Get him the ball in a position where he can attack the rim and either score or create shots for Bogut/ Baynes inside and Gliddon/ Delly on the perimeter.

Hopefully then play an aggressive running game off the bench with Mills, Exum and Newley all at their best in the open court.

Boomers need a SG. Drmic is a lights out shooter, and people can't criticise that selection -- he could do no worse than PC did.

I could see Drmic taking this spot at Worlds (replacing PC from the Olympics).

Broekhoff could operate at the 3 effectively. Also Newley could play at 2 or 3.

Motum will be so suitable for International games, because he is the ultimate stretch 4.

Still need a backup PG. That is going to be the hardest position -- there is virtually no one out there who is putting their hand up.

Team for the Oceania series:

Mills/ ?
Delly/Newley/Drmic
Ingles/Newley/Broekhoff
Baynes/Motum
Bogut/Jawai

Bogut will probably be unavailable. So Maric could step in to replace him.

But in that team above, you get a bit of everything -- get some variety. Would be hard to scout this team effectively:

- You have a backcourt duo that can share ball-handling duties, and become scorers when needed
- You have 'bangers' inside like Baynes and Jawai. But also have a stretch 4 like Motum. Nice inside-outside combo.
-You have guys who can defend the perimeter and lock down (Mills, Delly), but also have inside defensive presence with shotblockers (Jawai, Bogut)

All the Boomers need to do is sort out the backup PG spot.
Doesn't have to be an absolute stud scorer. Just someone who can get the team into sets, play hard-nose defence and not turn the ball over. (Gibson is showing increased problems with the first and last of those points)
Boomers should give this backup PG extremely limited mins -- because of the advantage of having Mills and Delly -- take Mills out, move Delly to PG and vice versa.

Broekhoff and Drmic are the shooters the Boomers need. broekoff us ready now, Drmic is not far behind

Good to hear Exum will be in camp for the NZ series. Hope he knocks everyone dead and makes the team!

I would think Maric has to get an invite. He needs to perform well in camp though, to show why he should be selected ahead of guys like Jawai, Nevill and Ogilvy.

Al Bundy, pretty much agree with your list there. Are your contenders in pecking order though? Cos I would have Nevill ahead of Ogilvy based on what I have seen in the China series and what I remember of Ogilvy last year. Nevill did a surprisingly good job of showing on the pick right out beyond the three point line and then recovering to his man against China. Ogilvy I recall looking slow clumsy in comparison, both in his movement and in his ability to finish around the rim. Having said that, he has just played a year of pro ball, so hopefully he has improved. Could be a good battle between these two for selection.

Nice summary YKM.

Anon, I can think of seven players who would be virtual automatic selections for the Worlds if available:

Bogut Andersen
Baynes
Ingles Newley
Mills
Dellavedova

If Jawai comes home for Boomers camp, you'd have to think he'd be close to an automatic selection too, but I haven't heard what his plans are.

Of course, a lot of those guys above may not be available for the NZ series. Bogut definitely not and I'm sure a couple of the other guys will drop out for various reasons.

I think there is a pretty clear spot for Goulding or Gliddon to back up Mills at SG. Based on this China series, you'd probably have both in there and drop Gibson though.

Nevill's play probably has him in the mix to make the team, but it will depend on availability and form of Andersen and Jawai.

We're obviously going to need a mobile big who can matchup with Vukona against NZ and I think Petrie should be almost a lock for that spot. I have to say, though, that the thing I liked most about Bairstow was the agility he showed for his size. I actually could see him replacing Petrie in the mobile PF type of role in a year or two.

So to answer your question, I think there is more than two spots available right now and I think Petrie, Goulding and Gliddon probably have the best shot to find a spot on the team to play NZ. Nevill has a good shot, but may miss out because of the big man talent available. Gibson may make it, but I'd rather see both Goulding and Gliddon instead, and Bairstow is one for the future. The rest are real long-shots IMO.

The refs, on the other hand, played a blinder for motherland today!

China 69-57 Aus. 7:24 to go in the 4th.

The Boomers just haven't really been dialled in for this game. I don't think Lemanis has been that focussed on winning either, giving DJ and Steindl a fair few mins despite the ballooning deficit in the the 3rd. Hopefully the guys will have a crack and bring it home in the 4th. We're certainly capable of it, but we've got to focus on D and stop their penetration.

I've liked what Cadee has shown in this series. Nice to see him backing himself and utilising his speed effectively. Has also handled the ball well against pressure. Hopefully he can take another step forward for the Sixers next season too.

Youknowme I tend to agree with you about Gibson. His ball-handling has been poor compared to Cadee. Even Iggy seems to have dealt with the on-ball pressure better. Part of it is probably Gibbo's lack of footspeed. He just doesn't have the speed to blow by people off the dribble, so he has to turn his back to pressure a lot more.

Gibson was ordinary at best until he hit the triples. Johnson really bad too

Gibson hit back to back triples...within 2 at quarter time. Turnovers and missed shots hurting...

Bairstow looking good at both ends for mine.

I'm keen on a link if anyone knows of one...