After the glorious success of “rose gold” in Tokyo, the Australian Boomers are hoping to add another medal to their collection at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
But the make-up of the team is yet to be determined, with a changing of the guard between generations of NBA talents, and a tricky balance for coach Brian Goorjian to strike.
Goorjian will cut the squad down from 17 to just 12 players after two exhibition games this week at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena, both against China.
Watch the Australian Boomers and Opals’ Olympic warm-up games against China, Tuesday to Friday from 7:30pm AEST, on Foxtel and Kayo via ESPN. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
The Boomers will face China on Tuesday July 2 and Thursday July 4, while the women’s side the Opals will also face China on Wednesday July 3 and Friday July 5, with all matches beginning at 7:30pm AEST and shown live on Foxtel via ESPN.
These won’t be the final warm-up matches for the Boomers, who will move to Abu Dhabi after this week and face the USA and Serbia, before heading to France for the Olympics.
But this is the toughest cut-down the Aussies have faced in some time with Goorjian telling ESPN: “It’s been really competitive.
“I think there’s an element of wanting to be way better on the defensive end, and I think there’s an element of nervousness about making the squad. Last time, I felt like, within the 17, there was a lot of ‘thank you for letting me be here’. This is, everyone looking over their shoulders: ‘you see that, I’m f–kin in’.”
Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey, traded to the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls respectively over the past week, are both in camp with Giddey having to travel to the US for physicals with his new team in the interim.
The pair look likely to attend their first Olympics, while 10 players are hoping to keep their place in the squad from Tokyo – Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Chris Goulding, Joe Ingles, Nick Kay, Patty Mills, Duop Reath, Josh Green, Jock Landale and Matisse Thybulle.
Other potential new faces are Xavier Cooks, Jack McVeigh, Will Magnay, Dejan Vasiljevic and Jack White.
Veterans like Dellavedova, who missed last year’s World Cup, and even Mills and Ingles are no certainties to be selected – though the latter two would be shock omissions given their statuses earned by on- and off-court exploits.
Of the newcomers, McVeigh – Championship Series MVP in the Tasmania JackJumpers’ NBL triumph earlier this year – is viewed as one of the most likely inclusions thanks to his shooting and scoring abilities.
“How we play together and what’s important still isn’t clear, but Jack’s made a case,” Goorjian told ESPN.
“He’s scoring the ball. He’s shooting the s— out of it. He’s an elite basketball player, he’s an international player, and he’s in the mix.”
Boomers start Olympics selection camp | 01:18
While the Aussie men won bronze in Tokyo, they were disappointingly eliminated early in the World Cup nine months ago, going 3-2 with losses to eventual champions Germany and Luka Doncic’s Slovenia (who they beat in the third-place game in Tokyo).
The Boomers’ draw for the 2024 Olympics is yet to be finalised, but a tough group looms.
Australia has already been drawn with Canada, third-placers at the 2023 World Cup, and will be joined by two qualifiers.
One will come from the tournament being held this week in Valencia, Spain where world No.2 Spain is the warm favourite to advance, and the other will come from the tournament being held this week in Greece, where Doncic’s Slovenia, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece and New Zealand are amongst the contenders.
The top two teams from the Olympic group will advance into the quarter-finals, along with the two best third-placers across the three groups.
At a minimum Australia would need to win one game and have a strong points differential to advance into the knockouts.
They went 3-0 in the groups at the 2020 Olympics, beating Italy, Germany and Nigeria, then defeating Argentina in the quarter-finals and falling to the USA in the semis.