Hoops

Who should be in the Boomers 12 for Spain?

Have to pick a team from a 20-man squad list provided to FIBA - we only know who 17 of those 20 players are.

With Simmons out, I can only now assume that Jawai and Motum are both in as I would not take Wortho.

Thanks for the info Paul! Disappointed to hear Motum hasn't impressed defensively. He showed a bit more scrappiness on D in Summer League than I had previously seen in the China series, so I was hoping he might impress at training camp. Looks like we will see one of Walker or Wortho make the team in that mobile PF role.

Not good news about Jawai's fitness. If he isn't fully fit it isn't really good enough, considering how much time he's had to prepare. If Lemanis does plan to go small at the four, he could perhaps consider taking Motum instead of Jawai. That would give us a genuinely clever offensive big man as an alternative to Wortho or Walker should it be needed.

I noticed you have Andersen and Bairstow starting above there Paul. Do you see those two as complementing each other better than either combo with Baynes?

Also, any info on how much point guard Exum has been able to play in camp? Judging by Summer League, he needs the ball in his hands a lot to be effective at this stage.

Thanks Beantown. Love your thoughts on the possible makeup.

Spot on about blowouts Steven - I'm hoping we get a couple of those ;)

I think your article is on the money LC. Like you, I'd like to try and get Broekhoff into the team for that extra shooting, but also for his extra length and rebounding. I think he is fighting it out with Martin, Simmons and perhaps Bairstow or Jawai for the final spot. I think who makes it comes down to who performs in training camp and how Lemanis wants to play.

It looks to me like we are going to play small and press wherever possible (see Ingles comments, China series and Lemanis' Breakers teams) so I think that makes Motum extremely important and if he performs in training camp I could actually see him starting/ playing big minutes.

If that happens, then you have to question whether we need all of Andersen, Baynes, Jawai and Bairstow, who are all a little slow and best suited to play centre IMO. I think Baynes and Andersen are locks, but depending on how Jawai and Bairstow perform, you could possibly leave one of them out to create a spot for Broekhoff, whilst still having room for Simmons and Martin.

So, in that scenario, you could go with a lineup of:

Baynes Andersen Jawai or Bairstow
Motum Simmons
Ingles Newley
Goulding Broekhoff
Delly Exum Martin

The risk there IMO is Motum's inexperience at international level. Lemanis would have to be very sure that Motum was ready to play a pivotal role. If he isn't then you are quickly putting a lot of pressure on Simmons, which he probably isn't ready for.

However, there are a few advantages with this lineup:
1) You are developing a style of play for the Boomers that will suit its personnel more and more as players like Simmons, Exum and Maker come to the fore in future years.
2) It allows you to keep Martin, a player whose skill-set and experience would be very valuable to this team if we are going to press a lot.
3) It allows you to keep Simmons on the team and gaining experience for a role that I think he is predestined to excel at in a couple of years.
4) It allows you to get Broekhoff into the team for his shooting, rebouding and extra length to disrupt passing lanes.

So while I'm not saying this is the team Lemanis will go with, I think it has some interesting possibilities to take advantage of the strengths of our personnel, both for this tournament and for the future.

Excellent article, LC.

Thanks for the feedback.

We all felt bad for leaving Broekhoff out as he can offer something to the team, and not just his shooting.

Maker is not ready for this level, even if he is already 7'. He would be pushed around far too much, and in any case he is not part of the squad.

Maker has said he would make himself available for U19 World's next year.

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