I hit post too quickly as I left our Adam Gibson.

Adam Gibson stepped up to show he can adequately lead the team on the tour of South America, playing some big games. He is a great defender and can knock down the open three. He is a run below Mills and CJ IMO and will be left fighting for a place in the 2010 team with Delly.

He is a step or two below Mills and Bruton, but I think he is still step or two above Dellavedova. Of course, Delly has more improvement left in his game as he is 3-4 years younger than Gibson, but he will be doing well to make it in 2010.

Yeah that Bruton is pretty average - 12ppg, 2nd in steals, 9th in assists at the World Championships; 9th in assists, 9th in steals at the Olympics, 22 points, 6 assists, 0 turnovers against the European champions to guide us into the quarter finals; dominates the Australian and Israeli leagues – yep – we're thin if he’s in our best 12!!

But I think with 2 genuine internationals (Bruton, Mills), a guy who is shaping that way (Gibson), and a young player who looks like he will develop into one (delly), we don’t have huge depth issues at the point. I thought we looked good with Mills at the two for stints against Russia while CJ was also on the court.

I think I must just keep missing CJ's best games, because it seems like everytime I see him he is slow, unspectacular, and a one dimensional 3pt shooter.

But I'm not going to argue against him, because I just haven't seen him enough, I know people have raved about a number of games he has played well in and Paul has listed some pretty solid stats there too.

So if CJ and Mills are both fit, then you'd have to say that PG is pretty well sewn up for the Worlds. I'd love to see Delly make it, because I absolutely love the way he has played, especially at only 18yo. But for team balance, I don't think you would take 3 PGs.

In the end, with CJ and Mills, thats two pretty good, proven players. So you wouldn't find playing time for a 3rd stringer unless there is foul trouble and PG is probably the least likely position on the floor for that to be a problem!

In contrast, its always important to have that 5th big in case you have foul trouble/ injury. And for the current Boomers team, I think it is especially important to find someone who is an athletic SF with size and strength that we can throw at gun opposing wings. So I'd want that 5th wing player to go along with Barlow, Newley, Ingles and Harvey, none of whom seem capable of guarding athletic SFs. Perhaps if Rush continues to develop in the NBL this season, he can be that guy.

Some good points Beantown. I think you will find they will take three point guards, in case of injury. I think Gibson has the runs on the board for that spot, but Brown likes Deelavedova.

Reading Brown's comments, I hope he understands how far off the pace the opposition we played this year was. I remember Smythe’s comments before his NZ series being similarly naïve - which was a shame because I think he could have been a good coach of an experienced national team.

As for the wing guys, Worthington will be there, he has been a very solid international since 2005. In Beijing he played less than 15 mins per game but was second in rebounding, 3rd in assists and shot the rock at 50% from the perimeter. Good player with good size for the 3-spot, and the ability to slide to the 4 when the right matchup presents.

Paul, Wortho is definitely a guy I would look at taking to the Worlds, because of his combative nature, ability to hit the 3 and his mobility for a big man. But what it may come down to with him is team balance. From what I saw of him at Beijing, he isn't quite big enough to matchup at PF internationally and he is certainly far too slow to contain typical small forwards.

As you know by now, I think we have a real problem in that none of Newley, Barlow, Ingles or Harvey can defend the SF spot very well. So a priority for me if I was Brown would be to find the best, strong 6'6 athlete I can and groom him as a defensive stopper who can hopefully hit the open three and chase long rebounds.

IF he finds a guy like that (and there is no guarantee) then I think you could only consider Wortho as your 5th big man.

This is also why I said I don't think there is room for three PGs on the team. Unless I am mistaken we can take 12 players? So the way I would structure the team is that I would take 5 bigs, 5 wings and 2 PGs.

If I was really determined to take 3 PGs, I wouldn't touch the bigs because depth is important for fouls. So that leaves the wings. Newley has to go and I like Ingles length and ability to make plays as well as score, so I wouldn't leave him behind. Harvey has been starting to show his value recently and gives us an experienced player who offers a better long range shot than Newley, so I'd find it hard to leave him out.

If I had Wortho, maybe I could consider leaving out Barlow (similar in that they are both tall and can hit the outside shot) but his height does present tough matchup problems for a lot of teams and he is an experienced hand now.

So I guess I'd be looking at something like:

Bogut Jawai Schensch/ similar 7 fter
Andersen Ogilvy
Ingles Barlow/ Wortho Def stopper (Rush?)
Newley Harvey
Bruton Mills

No AJ Beantown? IMO he performed better than Schenscher in China. He offers both size and mobility on the pick and roll and get hit the long J. With Bogut and Jawai likely to get guernseys, AJ is the type of player you would wnt to mix it up.
Personally I think he has the curent edge over Schenscher.

Otherwise you make a good argument for everyone else. I'm not sure Rush will be up to it by next year, but 2012 is a real possibility IMO.

I dont think Luke Schensher is good enough...
simple as that.

I don't think you can take much out of the China tournament, it was well below international standard. As far as 2010 goes, the way Ogilvy was dominated on the boards by Pledger has probably ruled him out, but 2012 is a chance if he can toughen up and improve his strength/athleticism.

Beantown, I don’t think you need to go with 5 bigs anymore, the international game has changed to be a quicker one. Guys like Garbojosa, Carmello Anthony and Nocioni etc spend a fair bit of time at the 4-spot. Worthington is our best match-up for those guys.

If we have Bogut, Nielsen, Jawai/Schenscher and Ballinger/Andersen as bigs I think we will be fine.

Three point guards is a must - if one gets injured you need to have that reserve just to get the ball up the floor – Bruton and Mills have shown they can play together in patches, too. And realistically you don’t need 5 wings and 5 bigs, as only 10 players are likely to play significant minutes unless there is an injury.

LC, you've misunderstood me - I love Ogilvy's game. For me, he should be a dead cert for our big rotation at the Worlds along with Bogut, Andersen and probably Jawai.

Hurley, Schensch was just there as an example. As I was saying to Paul, I think we want 5 bigs in case of foul trouble. That 5th spot is up for grabs in my book. Schenscher is one option, but basically I would pick one out of him, Nevill, Baynes, Khazzouh or the like, depending on their form and team needs.

Its also possible that you go with Wortho as the 5th big, so you can go 'small' and spread the floor against some opponents for a different look. But in general, I see the 5th big as a guy who probably wouldn't be in the rotation unless someone gets in foul trouble or there is an injury.

Fair enough!
At least most people now know what most of our options have going for them and the team.
Good to see most people have a consensus over a core set of players.

I put a few of them up above. 7ppg @ 37% 3pfg. 9th in steals (2spg) and assists (3apg) at tourney - second in tourny in assist to turnover ratio, second in steal to turnover ratio.

Didnt have as good a tournament as the 06 WCs - both he and Bogut struggled with ankles in the leadup and did them again v USA - but he was a distributor in the offence rather than a scorer.

But was certainly solid as a pg and was brilliant in the big game against Russia (22 points, 6 assist, 0 turnovers), where if we had lost we would have been in positions 9-12.

Paul, I just saw your post. Fair call on Carmelo and Nocioni playing PF. Thats a tough one for us. Wortho is more a like for like matchup in those instances. Only problem being that those guys would destroy him!

So from my perspective, maybe you do go with Wortho as a fifth big to give you that flexibility of going smaller and more mobile.

I would still want Bogut, Andersen, Ogilvy and Jawai as my main interior rotation though. But then again, that is because I'm more of an inside out guy than a perimeter driven offence guy.

Agreed that AJ didn't do a good enough job on the boards against NZ, but I still think he would be a better rebounder/ better at defending the basket than Nielsen or Balls. I think he is a better rebounder than Andersen too for that matter.

In any case, I am looking at him more as Andersen's backup at the PF slot. I see Bogut and Jawai as our centres and primary rebounders. If Andersen and AJ can grab 8-10 boards between them at the 4 then I'll be quite happy. (I defn like the idea of AJ setting up a lot of pick and rolls with our guards at the top of the key, with Bogut/ Jawai nearer the basket looking to clean up anything AJ misses).

I'd still be willing to go with only 2 PGs. I think injury is generally fairly unlikely at that position and in the unlikely event one does go down, we could get by with Ingles/ Barlow for a few mins per game. If Mills/ Bruton had to play 36 mins against a good full court press team then so be it. Its unlikely to happen every game.

Also, I don't like the idea of playing Bruton and Mills alongside one another either, because that is a pretty small backcourt. Would rather see Newley/ Harvey take all the mins there, possibly Ingles if either is not performing.

Interesting. Most international teams dont have plays to post up point guards, which is how we got away with a bit of playing Mills and Bruton together at the Olympics. You wouldnt want to do it against the USA, but if you pick your spot it can be very effective.

I think you are very harsh on Worthington, he is an excellent defender, and did a great job on Kirilenko in Beijing. I think people dont give guys who play in the NBL enough credit.

As for comparing Ogilvy favourably to Nielsen, I have to draw the line there. Nielsen has been an NBL MVP, leading scorer on a Euroleague team, and is still one of the better players for Valencia in the Spanish ACB, the secod best national league on the planet. He has also performed well internationally.

AJ is an emerging young talent who hasnt played a professional game yet and who was soundly defeated by Alex Pledger in the FIBA Oceania Champs - and the bigs get a lot better than Pledger once you get to Olympics or WCs.

I also think Ballinger has proven he is a strong competitor in a strong league, and he has the ability to spread the defence for our post guys and slashers.

My belief is that he has a similar skill set to Andersen but can give us more versaltity and toughness than Dave can.

I agree on the Neilson/Ogilvy comparison at this point in time, but I honestly believe AJ will be more valuable in the long term - and whether that is by 2010 or its 2012 - who knows?
I also think it is a bit harsh on AJ to judge him on 2 outings against Pledger. AJ was a late inclusion and in all relaity had not had much time to adjust to the Boomers team. Not making excuses, but he is a young guy with loads of upside - far more than Neilson has if any.
Wortho is a solid defender and can play a role. I think he will make the team but will be a backup type player and therefore his time on court will be limited.
Most of the top-level talent in the NBL is underrated on the world stage IMO. Just look at how may guys venture to Europe and stay for prolonged periods! They must be doing something right to make it over there!

I have to say the more I see Gibson, the more I am impressed. Decent-sized at PG, strong defensively, shoots at a good clip. I see him as a someone who could be a valuable role-player on the Boomers team. He's still only 22, so still quite young -- only a couple years older than Mills. Also provides something different to Bruton and Mills for defensive assignments. I'm very interested to see what kind of role he takes on the GC team.