The Journos Boomers World Championship Team:

Mills/Bruton/Dellavadova
Newley/Gibson
Barlow/Ingles/Worthington
Andersen/Nielsen
Bogut/Jawai

Please add Adam Ballinger to the side and add some Ranga to it.

my 12 man squad for turkey world champs is:

Mills Gibson Bruton
Newley Ingles
Worthington Ballinger Barlow
Andersen Jawai
Bogut Maric

We have some good depth. note ive put maric in due to multiple euroleague player of the week awards and nielsen is struggling.

pg versatility carrying 3, you got the flair speed and scoring ability of pat mills, you got the defensive ability of adam gibson, and you got the consistency of bruton, all capable of playing minutes.

unlucky guys to miss the team are baynes redhage harvey nielsen. cant help but feel the small forward spot is where we lack depth.

just for interest levels, my 2nd tier 12 man boomers team would be:

D.Martin Dellevadova
Harvey Weigh Goulding
Redhage Forman
Petrie Baynes Kickert
Nevill Knight

im sure im forgetting players but this is just off the top of my head. for me nielsen is past it. would be a great addition to a new sydney nbl team though.

On what basis is Nielsen past it? No having a go, just haven't heard anything of him in ages. How old is he now?

nielson did nothing in the olympics. he just doesnt cut it. Id consider playing delladova and maric is playing well overseas in europe. we also have options such as neville, baynes and olgilvy up front

what about rhys carter and liam rush? from what i hear they are playing well overseas

Mills/Bruton/Dellavadova
Newley/Ingles
Worthington/Barlow
Andersen/Nielsen/Ballinger
Bogut/Jawai

That is a strong team - good backups at every position

We still don't have any specialist shooters that the strong Euro teams use to give grief to the US. Newley and Ingles can't be put into that category (like a Gaze or Heal in his day).

Not sure if we have any? Maybe Forman? I don't think he's up to Boomers standard in other areas like defence and rebounding.

That is why Harvey should go. Shooter, freak scorer, could play the 2 and maybe pinch hit at the 3 if we play small ball.

gibson over dellevadova any day. hes only 19yo playing for an average college whilst gibson is proven and starting pg for the top of the ladder nbl team atm and a better all round game.

boomers need specialist position players.

*internationally, what positions are nielsen and wortho?

*we havent been able to replace sam mack.

*hopefully newley and ingles have matured, otherwise we are in trouble at the 2.

*maric may be a better option then nielsen,but i'm sure hammer won't have that !

*delly is a better option then gibson, hits the floor running, a very good defender and press buster.

*please no harvey,bad shot selections and weak defenders will bring you undone every time.

Agree with you donkeykong, I watched a few of Dellavedovas college games. He struggles to play defence to be honest against faster american guards. Doesn't keep his cushion and tries to body up.

I don't think we should get carried away with Delly; Wait until 2012 Olympics. Remember he is only playing at a mid-major school, with an ok but not great schedule ( St Marys only play one ranked opponent on their schedule--Gonzaga)
Furthermore, lets not forget he is up against European Guards who have been playing professionally since Delly was a toddler e.g. Spanoulis, Calderon, Navvarro, CP3/D-Will, Tony Parker, Prigioni etc..These guys have the experience and superior skill.

No Jawai he is not good enough...... aron baynes is better than him and AJ

A.Bogut
N.Jawai
M.Worthington
B.Newley
P.Mills

D.Anderson
M.Nielson (haven't seen anything to suggest he's not up to it anymore but obviously there are plenty of alternatives if he is)
S.Redhage
J.Ingles
C.Bruton
A.Ballinger
A.Gibson

Nielson played well for us at the olympics.
Coach wasn't sure how to use Bogut. Underplayed Mills.
Can we play both Redhage and Ballinger ? X ?
(or is that only olympics I'm thinking of ?)

Yeah I wasn't sure about that camel, if we can only take one I'd have to say Redhage due to his ability to play SF.

does anyone think ballinger should be in the team ?

testing....testing....is there anyone out there?

(above post was me)

Could be a good point on Bogut and Jawai not being compatible together, I wasn't sure about that either.

Do we have any news on Barlow's form? He was my 13th man. News on Khazzouh/Knight/Loughton would also be appreciated.

And on Wortho, I agree with tickle, could be captain if we don't take Nielson, and I think he has improved his 3pt shot enough this year to play SF more successfully.

Interesting that we haven't seen Schenscher's name once in this thread. I don't know anywhere near enough about the bigs we have in college, or the young guys in Europe to make a comparison but is he anywhere in the mix if we were to leave out someone like Nielson?

Interesting thread. Take it as word that Nielsen is an undisputed certainty

Where is luke nevill playing these days since his axing from cavs?

europe? if so where?

so 17 points in an nba game means you are a bad player?

cause thats what jawai did.

Nevill averaging 11.5ppg, 6rpg and 1.4apg for Utah Flash in the "No" D-League.

l for 1 think that ballinger should be one of the first players picked lets not kid ourselfs he is one of the best shooters in this country without a doubt balls in the team would give the team an extra score lane both inside and out so lets not overlook his strength in this side and not just go with someone who is playing nba who has had no team bonding.thats my opinion only but think about it

Always love talking about a potential Boomer's lineup. And whilst there could be quite a few possibilities and changes depending on injuries, this is how I see Australia's lineup given that everyone is fit, healthy and basedon their form today.

Andrew Bogut
Aleks Maric
David Andersen
Nathan Jawai
Matt Nielsen
Joe Ingles
David Barlow
Mark Worthington
Brad Newley
Patrick Mills
CJ Bruton
Adam Gibson

Those on the cusp of making the team:

AJ Ogilvy
Luke Nevill
James Harvey
Anthony Petrie
Matt Dellavedova
Aron Baynes

Balls and Redhage not even on the cusp LC?

Regarding the amazement that LC has omitted both Redhage and Ballinger, here is my view of the situation.

I think there is little doubt the following players will, if available, make the squad:

Patrick Mills
Brad Newley, Joe Ingles
David Barlow
David Andersen
Andrew Bogut, Nathan Jawai

Brett Brown has shown, in all his squads thus far, a preference for selecting three PGs, with the remaining two likely to come from the following:

CJ Bruton, Adam Gibson, Matthew Dellavedova

CJ will certainly be one of those if he makes himself available.

This leaves three places left in a squad of twelve. The squad will contain at least one more genuine big which neither Redhage nor Ballinger are at international level. This player will likey be selected from the following:

Alecs Maric, Matthew Neilsen, Luke Nevill, AJ Ogilvy.

That leaves two spots on the squad to be split between whomsoever is remaining from the above four players and the likes of Mark Worthington, James Harvey, Aron Baynes and others. Then throw Redhage and Ballinger into the mix.

Personally, I think it would be a massive call to leave Neilsen out but Maric has shown great form in the Euroleague and Nevill, at 7'2", adds genuine size so it's likely that at least two players from that group of four make the squad, leaving the remaining to fight it out for one spot only.

Regardless of both players undeniable talents, I think it not only possible that Redhage and Ballinger both miss out, I think it likely.

If you go back to some of my previous posts in other threads, I actuially had Redhage in the calculations. however after much comtemplation I really do not think either Redhage of Ballinger will make the final cut or be considered as one of the unlucky few to just miss out. The previous post outlines quite well a few reasons why they will probably miss out on being considered. Although Baynes plays as a centre or power forward and could not be a considered a small forward at all and therefore not competing for a spot with Harvey. However also factor in that neither Redhage or Balls were in the "development Boomers" team last year and IMO are therefore off coach Brown's radar altogether.

For the sake of team balance, I just cannot see either naturalised Australian making the final cut or squad. I may yet be proven wrong, but that is how I see it.

I just wish we had an out and out pure-shooting guard to choose from. I really hope our guards can nail the open look after first pumping the ball inside to Bogut as Bogut will get all the attention...

I'd be surprised if there is room for Balls or Redhage. I don't think either brings anything that Worthington doesn't already cover in the 'mobile big man who shoots the 3' role.

I question whether Nielsen still brings much to the table as well. His numbers are pretty poor in Europe, he doesn't seem to have many scoring moves internationally, and doesn't rebound or defend especially well. I just think his day has passed.

I agree with you LC that we have a real shortage of true shooting guards. I was hoping that Harvey would be the answer, but he has done nothing this season to make me think he can do the job for the Boomers.

In reality, Newley and Ingles should soak up most of the minutes at SG and both have decent size, so I'd actually be tempted to give Harvey's spot to Dellavedova at this stage.

He was tenacious on D, had a level head and stuck plenty of outside shots for the Boomers last year. Now he is starring for St Mary's in his rookie college season. If that were to happen, I'd envisage a mosquito fleet of four small 'point guards' - Mills, Bruton, Gibson and Dellavedova.

Obviously Mills and Bruton would soak up most time at PG, but I think there could be occasions where we need to junk it up a bit and try to get under an opposing team's skin to get back in a game. Guys like Gibson and Dellavedova would be perfect for that.

Throw a Gibson/ Dellavedova backcourt in with Ingles, Wortho and Bogut and I think you could really cause opposing teams some grief running their offence! It might just qualify as the Boomers most charismatic team of all time! ;P LOL

CJ has shown this year that he can play the 2 pretty well. Could work if we decide to take 4.

If I were a coach selecting from Ballinger, Redhage and Worthington for the final spot, I would most likely select the player that has the most potential to develop for future campaigns. IMHO, that player is Worthington.

Also, looking to the future, wouldn't it be nice if we had a naturalised 1 or 2 player such as a McKee or "Homicide" to sure up our backcourt ala Russia's JR Holden? Worthington in the squad would allow for that slim possibility.

We need to head hunt someone!

Wanted: One shooting guard, 6'5, athletic, no older than 26, must have played at least 100 NBA games and hold 3pt average of .400 or more. No chance of representing current country, but wants to play intl ball and prefers to be a big fish in a little pond. Must like beaches, sunshine, a good health system, laid back people and be satisfied with about $750k (plus endorsements) per season!

Hmmm... JJ Redick anyone? Only 6'4 and not real athletic, but he can shoot and he did play at Duke!

Can anyone do better? Hit me with your best shot! :-)

Jared Dudley from Phoenix perhaps?

I like Duds LC - more of a SF - but we could use one of those too! Especially a hustle guy like him!

Andrew Gaze. Just park him on the perimeter, get him the ball.

Gaze is well passed his prime I'm afraid....he would be most useful right now...

FIBA.com article on Matt Nielsen...

Link: http://linky.com.au/zf5i4

The full, and quite entertaining, Q&A session is at www.acb.com. Just translate it through google.

BTW, after a couple of poor games early Nielsen is putting together a very solid season for Valencia, who look likely to take a top 4 spot in the ACB.

Nielsen would be pretty close to the best role player in the league, and will be a very valuable player for the Boomers with his leadership, passing, versatility and unselfishness (who would have thought that 10 years ago!).

To win a medal the Boomers need Nielsen and Bruton playing near their best as their leadership is invaluable.

Some injury worries have now surfaced on in form Aussie big man Aleks Maric.

In Partizan's Euroleague game against Aron Bayne's Lietuvos Rytas, Maric suffered a knee injury that will require him to sit out of action for the next month. Thankfully Doctors have determined that the 2.11m Maric's left knee ligaments are intact.

Australian centre Aleks Maric is the 4th leading scorer in Euroleague this season, averaging 16.9 points and of 9.1 rebounds per game before his injury.

Link: http://linky.com.au/i8iul

Maric would be an ideal backup to Bogut at the World Champs when fit and I hope he come back strongly from this injury.