i reckon you have nailed it.

Spot on with the team, cannot see us getting a medal though.

what's the latest on Bogut and Nathan,

Bogut could well have had his contract organised by now...
and is Nathan now available?

I think that is about right - I would have Redhage in there instead of Ingles

Jawai is not even part of the 13-man squad and will not make the team. Kendall will be cut fromt he team currently touring in Europe (with Bogut added), leaving the team to be as per below:

Andrew Bogut
David Andersen
Chris Anstey
David Barlow
CJ Bruton
Patrick Mills
Brad Newley
Matthew Nielsen
Glen Saville
Mark Worthington
Shaun Redhage
Joe Ingles

Yeah I think LC has picked it... although is Newley a certainty?

I think we are a medal chance. There is a pretty big difference of opinion on this. People either rate us a big chance for a medal, or rate us no chance at all. I personally think this is probably close to the greatest side we have ever put together, and if the individuals perform up to their normal standards, we will go very close to medalling.

Ok so my team would be as follows:

Andrew Bogut
David Andersen
Chris Anstey
David Barlow
CJ Bruton
Patrick Mills
Brad Newley
Matt Nielsen
Shaun Redhage
Joe Ingles
Nathan Jawai
Martin Catalini

LC you are spot on the team will be:

Andrew Bogut
David Andersen
Chris Anstey
David Barlow
CJ Bruton
Patrick Mills
Brad Newley
Matthew Nielsen
Glen Saville
Mark Worthington
Shaun Redhage
Joe Ingles

the journo mmm check your facts Jawai was cutt a week ago.

drB I was picking the team I would want to to coach in Beijing, no the one I think will get selected.

noted apologies journo

take out jawaii coz he wont play and put redhage in
then its perfect

Definitely the most talented team Australia has ever had IMO. We have good depth at every position. Bogut is the first true post threat we have ever had. We have plenty of guys who can hit the 3. The height and athleticism of most of our players is excellent and a match for most teams.

I reckon about the only things we are lacking are:
1) EXPERIENCE of many key players
2) An NBA quality slasher. Guys like Newley and Ingles are decent at it though, so we aren't awful in that area either.

So I really think our chances of medalling come down to good offensive and defensive schemes and the players performing at a high level.

It looks like Goorjian has done a good job of installing some full court pressure defence, but I think our biggest question mark is really going to come on the offensive end.

From the little I have seen against Iran and NZ, our ability to spot defensive weaknesses and exploit them is still pretty poor. Not having what should be our prime offensive player in Bogut with the team really hurts as well.

I wish BA had some money like the A-League does. If we could afford to bring in a guy like Donnie Nelson or another top US coach for a couple of years, I think we'd see this group's level of team play take a quantum leap. Imagine if we played with the same level of cohesion the Greeks showed when they beat us at the worlds a couple of years back?!

Anyway, looking forward to seeing the boys do well at Beijing. Haven't been this optimistic since Gaze, Vlahov and Bradtke were in their prime.

Nice team Journo. I would take the exact same team I think. Only concern is pure shooting. Seems to be a lack of the pure shooting 2 man in the league for awhile now.
If only Brett Maher was 5 years younger! Almost surprised on this basis alone, that James Harvey didnt sneak into the team.

*Thank god Smith is hurt. As good as he once was, he didnt deserve to be in this company anyway.
**Sammy Mac is unlucky to be hurt at the wrong time. Id like to see him playing at the 2 or the 3 simply from a defensive/rebounding/running point of view. His athleticism and experience would have been useful.