Here is my preliminary Boomer's squad from whci the WC team can be selected from:

Bigs...
- Andrew Bogut
- David Andersen
- Nathan Jawai
- Matt Nielsen
- Aleks Maric
- Aron Baynes
- AJ Ogilvy
- Luke Nevill
- Luke Schenscher
- Alex Loughton
- Ater Majok

Mids...
- David Barlow
- Mark Worthington
- Shaun Redhage
- Joe Ingles
- Oscar Forman
- Liam Rush

Smalls
- CJ Bruton
- Patty Mills
- Adam Gibson
- Brad Newley
- Matt Dellavedova
- Damien Martin
- Stephen Weigh
- James Harvey

I may have missed a few fringe players but they will not make the final team.

I ee the following players, if fit, healthy an available should definitely make the team:

- Andrew Bogut
- David Andersen
- Joe Ingles
- David Barlow
- CJ Bruton
- Patty Mills
- Brad Newley

For me the remaining team members are more likely to come from:

- Nathan Jawai
- Aleks Maric
- AJ Ogilvy
- Aron Baynes
- Matt Nielsen
- Mark Worthington
- Shaun Redhage
- Matt Dellavedova
- Adam Gibson

Time will tell I guess, but in reality it is too soon to make the call on the final team.

As I've said befor ein previous posts on various threads, our big man stocks have never been better, both now and well into the future.

Whilst we have a good shot at doing well in Turkey, I really do believe that by London 2012 a few of our players will be coming into the prime of their careers and therefore the Boomers would be poised to medal by then.

Squad of 16:

Bogut, Maric, Jawai
Nielsen, Ballinger, Andersen, Petrie
Barlow, Worthington, Redhage
Newley, Ingles, Harvey
Bruton, Mills, Gibson


NZ team assuming Marks doesnt play and Rickert is naturalised in time:

Pledger, Bradshaw, Abercrombie, Penney, Tait
Rickert, Cameron, Vukona, Jones, Dickel/Henare, Loe, Webster

"Tait, Vukona, Pledger and Cameron are no longer capable of playing high level international hoops."

WTF?

Mika is 27
Pledger is 22
Tait is 27

In many sport science studies, they reckon that 26/27 is your prime age for an athlete.

Obviously Cameron is retired from international basketball. I think Marks will come to the World Champs; He isn't playing much in NO so he'll be hungry to be on a TB's team where he will be high up the pecking order.

I like a starting 5 like this

PG. Tait
SG. Penney
SF. Vukona
PF. Rickert
C. Marks

With that team you got solid rebounding with Rickert, Marks, Vukona(he is a board machine despite his size), and Pledger coming off the bench. Would be great if we could get Marks because it means we have another consistent scoring option other than Kirk Penney.

Today's Melbourne Herald-Sun: http://linky.com.au/0fq5c

"IF IT is possible for momentum to last for two years, then Mark Worthington reckons the Beijing Olympic experience could help the Boomers get to the medal round at next year's world titles.

After a slow start at the Olympics, the Boomers made some take notice with wins against Russia and Lithuania before the inevitable quarter-final elimination by the NBA-laced US during its gold medal run."

Agree with that - Wortho is no guarantee to get selected. However he will be a shortlisted candidate and could well make the final cut.

Also, BA has an interesting piece on Aleks Maric and his success in Euroleague so far this season.

Link: http://linky.com.au/mkex5

"Maric's performance was more than enough to earn him weekly MVP honours for the second time in three games. Maric shot 13 for 16 from the field, drew 10 fouls and also had a steal, an assist and a blocked shot en route to a 49 index rating, tying him for the eighth best performance of the decade along with Darjus Lavrinovic of Real Madrid, who also earned an identical index rating in Week 1 of this season.

Maric now leads the league in per game index rating at 26.1 per game. He was also Week 7’s top scorer with 34 points, climbing to third place on the season-long list with 18.1 points per game. He was also one of five players to record a double-double this week."

Can I suggest that the regular "anonymous" posters select a "Name" and then stick to it in future.

Very annoying as the anonymous posters may well be more than just the one person.

Ok... here's my 12

PG - Mills, Bruton
SG - Newley, Harvey, Barlow
SF - Worthington, Redhage
PF - Anderson, Petrie
C - Bogut, Jawai, Maric

I think Bruton could go round one more time, esp to add some stability in the PG position.

Harvey is prob due some respect for his recent form & that beep test result at the last Boomers camp says the guy still has the motor running smoothly.

I really wanted to put Hinder at the end of a 12 man roster, to come off in spurts & have the big man hit the 3, but Petrie would do that just as well... I've really admired Petrie's character from his days as a star for a Gunners.

I think the bigs pick themselves. Jawai provides an athletic option at the 5.

For me, Ingles & Neilson seem to have had disappointing campains so far this year in Europe, thats why I'm reluctant to include them.

I usually like including Kickert in these teams - I was impressed with him at the last WC's. But it seems that injuries are really affecting his form atm.

Can Ballinger make the team?

He can make the team. But as a naturalised Australian, only one of Redhage or Ballinger if selected can make the team.

It's going to be interesting to see whether Brett Brown establishes some favourites. There were certainly some with Goorjian - guys who fitted his system better than others which is why I think Harvey didn't get a run in 08.

I personally think if the Boomers are for real about to doing well at this championships and trying to medal in 2012 and the future then it's time to look at the young cats who are playing phenomenal ball.

That means goodbye CJ Bruton, Matty Neilsen, Harvey and Worthington. Granted Wortho's not that old but I think it's clear that at international level, he's just not quite there and too much of a tweener.

Redhage made sense in 08 but he's not going to be good to go in 2012 so I don't think it's prudent to throw him in as your 12th man when you could give someone else experience.

Here's my 'prospective' team. Note: I realise this team doesn't have great balance or a guy who can stroke an outside jumper from deep consistently - something that's always been a hallmark of Australian teams - but I think you add one more agile guy to this group and a pure shooter to emerge and you're set. I know Harvey and Redhage both fill that out quite nicely, but surely we've got some guys of that caliber lurking around some international competition.

Andrew Bogut, Patrick Mills, Nathan Jawai, Brad Newley, David Barlow, Joe Ingles, David Andersen, Matt Dellavedova, Luke Kendall, Aron Baynes

It's going to be interesting to see whether Brett Brown establishes some favourites. There were certainly some with Goorjian - guys who fitted his system better than others which is why I think Harvey didn't get a run in 08.

I personally think if the Boomers are for real about to doing well at this championships and trying to medal in 2012 and the future then it's time to look at the young cats who are playing phenomenal ball.

That means goodbye CJ Bruton, Matty Neilsen, Harvey and Worthington. Granted Wortho's not that old but I think it's clear that at international level, he's just not quite there and too much of a tweener.

Redhage made sense in 08 but he's not going to be good to go in 2012 so I don't think it's prudent to throw him in as your 12th man when you could give someone else experience.

Here's my 'prospective' team. Note: I realise this team doesn't have great balance or a guy who can stroke an outside jumper from deep consistently - something that's always been a hallmark of Australian teams - but I think you add one more agile guy to this group and a pure shooter to emerge and you're set. I know Harvey and Redhage both fill that out quite nicely, but surely we've got some guys of that caliber lurking around some international competition.

Andrew Bogut, Patrick Mills, Nathan Jawai, Brad Newley, David Barlow, Joe Ingles, David Andersen, Matt Dellavedova, Luke Kendall, Aron Baynes

Young Gun,

I think your team is right on the money there and love the fact you included Harvey. I think in the past we've lacked a PURE shooter and Harvs could fill that void.

If CJ doesnt want to go around again would probably give that spot to Gibson however i like the looks of guys like Delladova and Damian Martin. If Luke Kendall recovers ok from his latest injury and his game picks up from where it left off he may also get a look in.

Definitely think Petrie is worth a look. I like his all round game much better than Hinders and he gives us a different look offensively. His court time obviously will be very limited with the bulk of good bigs we have but i would very much like to see him in the final team.

Thanks for the props AK :)

You make a good point Sam about whether this is a team with one eye on 2012. One roughie suggestion could be Hugh Greenwood from Hobart as a backup SG. I'm pretty sure he was in the massive Boomers squad, also sure he played recently in the Nike High School game & ex-Sixer Mark Nash (from Hobart) says he's strongly built for his age & size (a Dan Majerle type maybe?).

I liked Goorjian as the national coach, but yeah, he sure had his favourites.

Matt Dellavedova would be my pick over Bruton in a youth policy. It's kind of funny that Kendall's name is mentioned because I always got the sense on these boards that he was picked because he was one of 'Goorjian's guys'.

These debates on potential Boomer teams are fun, but theres always going to be surprises in the camp, and some players provide better chemistry or provide a specialised skill to get picked over more tallented individuals.

For me:

Mills/Gibson/Dellavedova
Newley/Ingles
Barlow/Worthington
Majok/Andersen/Nielsen
Bogut/Jawai

Don't want to go too top heavy. I think Majok would work brilliantly with Bogut as an athletic PF. Accordingly, Jawai with Andersen/Nielsen on the high-post.

Sub in Bruton for Della if he wants another run around.

Anon from way back, I would start Pledger over Rickert because Pledge is the incumbent and did an excellent job this year as the starter. Rickert has yet to even taste international basketball, and he is 6'10 without extreme strenght or athleticism. If Rickert turns out to perform better in the lead up games the change can be made.

As for the Boomers looking to the future, with Bogut, Newley, Barlow, Worthington, Mills, Jawai, Ingles amd Gibson in the mix, the future is well and truly looked after. Experience is what we need, and with Anstey and Mackinnon no longer available, Bruton and Nielsen become crucial to our medal chances, providied both are fit.

I too would love to see Petrie given close consideration, he gives us a type of player at the 4 that we havent had before. Worthington was our second leading rebounder, third in assist and 3p % and lowest in TO in Beijing in just 15 mins, played solid D and made few mistakes. He should be a defininte starter.

The worse thing we could do is pick too many blokes with little or no international experience. Jawai, Gibson, Petrie, Ballinger, Maric and Ingles are more than enough in the squad, we have to make sure that the majority of the team are experienced internationals if we want to perform strongly in Turkey.

Luke Kendall? He will not be ready to run around in June next year as he recovers from his Knee surgery. However he would not take the place of Bruton, Mills or Gibson, let alone Dellavedova.

Paul makes some good points for whcih I subscribe to. The key players in our squad and still young but also have been exposed at this level before. We need a few hardened international's to complement them. Guys like Nielsen and Bruton are crucial to have as part of the team.

I'm not sure about Petrie making the team as I'm not yet convinced he can perform on the international stage. However he is someone that will definitely make the preliminary squad who I failed to include in the first instance. Time will tell I guess.

As for Wortho, let's be honest he probably picks himsefl right now - even more so with guys like Ingles struggling with his shot and Barlow who has been sitting out injured (Barlow should be right well and truly by then though).

I think a core group is starting to form for the Boomers though and I'm liking what I see moving forward, particulary with the big guys.

Absolutely LC, little bit of a shame Anstey cant go again with his defence and shooting range. But looking into the future there are guys like Ogilvy, Majok, Baynes, Khazzouh, Knight, Tragardh, Davidson, Johnson who may or may not develop to that level - but a few of them definitely will so we certainly wont be short of bigs.

As forwards we have Ballinger, Wortho, Petrie, Ellis, Motum, Wagstaff, Redhage, who will compete for those spots for a while.

Swingmen is prob the weakest spot with Aussie Rules pinching a few guys in that size, we have Newley, Ingles, Weigh, Barlow, Rush, and possibly Broekhoff, Goulding, Hill, Coenraad if they develop more than expected. Crawford and Harvey are still around but they are getting on.

At the point Mills is a star of the future but there isn't really someone else at that level coming through. Gibson, Martin and Dellavedova should all develop into solid backups, who knows what Jordy Page could become but he is very much a work in progress. Nat Tomlinson? Prob just an NBL player. For us to remain top 8 Mills will have to stay healthy I think.

My guess:

PG's - Bruton, Mills, Gibson
(Sorry Delly, you'll get your chance in 2012)

Wings - Newley, Ingles, Barlow, Worthington, Harvey
(I hesitate to name Wortho as a SF but he's too small for PF and too good to leave out of the squad)

Bigs - Bogut, Andersen, Jawai, Maric
plus one more from the following - Nielsen, Redhage, Ballinger, Ogilvy, Nevill - probably Nielsen
(I doubt that Baynes, Majok, Schenscher, Petrie, Forman or Kickert get a look in)

Oops, that's thirteen. Well, big call but I think Nielsen misses out.

if bruton is fit we need him,he is very comfortable internationally.

mills,probably our best 3 shooter & plan b in offence.

delly over gibson,good press buster/shooter.

neweley and ingles need to step up on the international stage......but are in.

barlow and wortho are in danger,both really not fitting international match-ups.one of them will miss.
probably the one who is not injured at the time.

maric,jawai,anderson and bogut are in.

As for Patty Mills being the Aussies best 3-point shooter, not a chance. He can be good but is streaky. Bruton is a more consistent shooter as an example right now. What Mills gives us is foot speed, penetration and allows us to get up and down the court quickly and give us a different look.

This from FIBA.com on the Aussies and their WC draw: http://linky.com.au/wdlzq

And this also from FIBA about Aleks Maric and Serbia's interest in him: http://linky.com.au/wj4k7

Love this quote from Serbian coaching legend Dusan Ivkovic on their interest in Maric: "Still, we all have to know that such a thing can be approved by FIBA only if Australian basketball authorities allow that to happen, and FIBA will give the 'green light' only if that 'transfer' is on behalf of basketball development. There can be doubt if we are such a developing country."

Developing country? Serbia has been a basketball stronghold for year, and they won silver at Eurobasket this year! What cheek!

I can't see Maric playing for Serbia as I think right now he could be in our top 2 centres, behind only Bogut and will get a gig with us. The ability to play Andersen at the 4 spot alongside these two guys will give us great flexibility and a big frontline that will allow us to compete with the teams that have big frontlines like Spain.

Hit post too quickly...

Also note the articles refer to Australian legend and BA High Performance Manager Wayne Carroll as fashion designer "Wayne Cooper"! Classic!

Aleks Maric has been named Euroleague player ogf the week for the 2nd straight week.

Link: http://linky.com.au/k6ppr

For the third time in a month, Boomers centre Aleks Maric has earned Euroleague MVP honours by amassing the highest individual performance index rating for regular season in Week 8 despite his team's close Group B road loss against Entente Orleanaise.