Nice run down..

I can't help but think what Aus could have done if Maric was replaced with Jawai, Ogilvy or even Khazzouh. He had NBA all over him going into this and has come out of it with his stock rock bottom!

A problem I see With the lineup going forward is that Brad Newley and Joe Ingles should both be starting, but we can't start Patty Mills at the 1 because he can’t run the offense, so we have to start Delly at the 1 and Mills at the 2. What’s the solution? I have never been a fan of starting a "shooting guard trapped in a point guard’s body", but Patty is too good to bring off the bench in most peoples’ eyes. It throws the whole roster off.

Mick, that's pretty much the same problem I was talking about in the game thread. In an ideal world, Mills would be the PG, but because he can't run the offence effectively, Brown has been forced to bring Delly into the starting lineup.

To some extent, we have gotten away with it, because Delly has played so well, but in the long run the Boomers would be a better team if we could play a taller SG like Newley or (hopefully in the near future) Drmic or Exum.

Hurls great summary and run down, unfortunately you've probably given more thought and analysis to this than BA will.

As for Patty, for some reason i think he would be best coming off the bench as a high impact player. When Patty was being mooted to go to various teams before signing with San Antonio many teams were expressing an interest but only ever saw Patty being that high impact player off the bench, not just this season but in seasons to come, because of his size at the SG and his lack of PG skills.

When you look at the games, Damian Martin would have been a better fit for that 5 - 10 min a game. The change up in defence would have provided something extra plus he is a little more solid, so works well in the mismatch.

The problem with Newley and Ingles is two-fold.

1) I remember Brett Brown saying before Turkey that he couldn't start both of them together because of the defensive liabilities created. Ingles defence has improved out of sight since then though.

2) Newley can't shoot the ball from the perimeter, hence he is extremely one dimensional at the shooting guard position. If he could hit the three ball at 35% consistently I reckon he'd be in the NBA. But until he can do that, his role on this team will be using his athleticism off the bench as an impact back-up at both the 2 and 3 spots.

Patty's move to PG I believe wasn't so much about his inability to run the point. It was more a combination of three things;

1) Patty being more comfortable just focusing on scoring right now
2) Newley's poor shooting
and
3) Delly's impact overall just couldn't be ignored, it seemed like a waste to bring him off the bench

FM, you've made a really valid point.

If Brett Brown had of made the decision to start Delly much earlier than he did, then I think Martin would have got the nod over Crawford.

Once Delly became a starter, our lack of a genuine back-up point guard became a concern, as did switching Patty between shooting guard and the point.

The decision to omit Martin is one that I reckon Brett Brown would have liked to have over again.

You didn't rate the coach.... But I wouldn't either cos he's been lame... D-!!!
Takes off guys when they have hit a few baskets straight, didn't pull Patty into line when needed, didn't use his bench effectively and was too scared to mix it up and change his game plan a bit when things weren't going his way.
Future Boomer: Hell no, thank christ!

For those fortunate to watch these olympics via Foxtels coverage, I think we should give John Casey and Andrew Gaze a rating for their exceptional job as commentators.

I think everyone would agree it's great hearing Case' back calling ball, he hasn't missed a beat, which is no easy feat given he hasn't called NBL games for several seasons now.(one thinks he has been practising in front of the TV with the sound on mute). Gaze's commentating has much improved as a 'colour man' (not a racial slur, commentator lingo) from when its was monotone Carfino and Gaze, they were hard games to watch, and his insight and knowledge of international players and team and overall Boomers Bias makes it a pleasant viewing

A for both

Love the analysis, but I'd give Brown a C-.

we need to give him credit for the Boomers playing some really great basketball at times.
However, we also need to recognise that he made some dumb decisions, he needs to cop it for the Boomers starting so slowly, and that often he didn't act decisively when it was needed.

I'm surprised that Maric got a D-.

He gets a big fat F from me. He was by far our most disappointing player.

Couldnt agree more with all the above comments. the gradings etc. just a shame we started off slow against brazil and spain. based on the stats we were the 3rd best team offensively (points scored)behind US and Argentina. our defence was about the same. if we had beaten either brazil or spain, i reckon huge chance of medalling at these games. we missed that inside finisher. Bogut would have been awesome to have and i agree jawai, Ogilvy anyone could have contributed better the Maric. Does anyone know how Majok has developed, because other then blocking shots he was ugly a couple of years ago in the NBL.

I still don't really understand how Jingles can be as effective as he is. Not a classic explosive jump-shot where the ball is shot at the top of the jump, slow dribbler, not a lot of variety to his dribbling, slow wind-up to his shot ... I don't understand why other guards haven't taken him to pieces?

Don't get me wrong - I'm not knocking Jingles, I'm knocking the opposing defenders.

For me, Jawai has to be included, especially now he is playing in a team that won't take lazy in FC Barcelona. if he continues to develop and work on his D he is a real talented big that should definitely be included. If his twitter is anything to go by, he seems to giving the Boomers plenty of support which is good.

Bigs of Bogut, Jawai, Baynes, Motum should be good.

Ogilvy would have to seriously man up and learn how to finish strongly and rebound, if he wants to get in the squad. talented yes but just too soft and not explosive enough.i would rather Khazzouh over Ogilvy, although he has similar problems.

For a definition of 'soft' and 'not explosive' - see Aleks Maric.

haha yeah good call Vart.

Exum's future will be at the PG position I think so you could start him and Patty together with Delly the first PG off the bench

Simmons could end up being a PF as well, he's 6'7 right now I think and his growth plates(mentioned on a nbadraft.net interview) are still open so he could end up being like 6'9 or 6'10

Exum is listed as a 2014 recruit with Simmons as a 2015 so they might only get a season or two playing college ball before the next Olympics

I think the problem is - if you start Mills off the bench it would be such a huge dent to his ego that he wouldn't be effective at all.

It's early, but I don't think Exum is going to be an international style point guard. With Ingles at SF you could play Mills and Exum together though, let Joe do the playmaking.

sircreate was that the same interview that also mentioned that if Simmons was playing High School Basketball in the US he would be ranked number 1? must be one hell of a talented player. They are currently playing in the Adidas Nations, with many scouts very impressed by Exum, he posted 17pts in a game overnight. Owen Odigie has also been impressive at the tournament according to reports

Anon^, the best centre in Europe comment was in relation to Maric being named the centre on the All-Euroleague team a couple of seasons ago when he played for Partizan Belgrade. It was his last season there before moving to Panathinaikos.

Only thing that saved him from an F was his little spurt against Russia where he atleast showed some potential to do something useful outside of that its F all the way

Agree Hurls, he was very handy in that little spurt. Nice job on the whole rundown at the top too mate, very impressive.

I was pretty disappointed in Maric too. I do wonder if he might've been injured, but in the end the results weren't there for him, so his spot is wide open for the next World Champs.

If Jawai is committed and willing to work his way into the team, he is probably the best option out there.

So you could see Bogut, Jawai, Andersen and Baynes in 2014, with perhaps Khazzouh or DJ thrown in there as a fifth big to offer some quickness and scoring.

I think Ogilvy is still one step back for now and could rapidly be overtaken by a Simmons or Motum, depending on their development.

Obviously Exum and Simmons are still very young, but they looked outstanding to me in the footage I have seen of them, so am hoping for a Bogut-like break out from one or both of them. If you're talented enough, there's no reason why you can't make an impact as an Olympian at 19.

Vart, I don't agree about your first point on Newley. I think he and Ingles have both done a good job defensively and have co-existed on the court fairly well. I do agree with the second one - Newley's shooting - and therein lies the Boomers dilemma.

I think it unlikely that Newley will ever develop his shot enough to be the 3pt threat we need at starting SG, but I am hopeful that the ideal SG will emerge from the next gen (ie, Drmic or Exum). If that happens then we are going to be in a good place by the next Olympics.

About Mills, this guy isn't a starting point guard level for any team that wants to win a medal at a world competition.

He's clearly 1-2 steps below the other top international point guards like,

Huertas
Rubio
Spanoulis
Teodosic
Prigioni
Parker

I'd even take Barea over him.

Australia can't win a medal 2 years from now if he is still the starter at point guard.

Great summary above. It seems most people are in consensus about player performance. As for the coach, not many comments so far. Surely it has to be Brown versus Beveridge for the future head coach.

Re: Boomers finishing 3rd in scoring. That's a bit deceptive since Australia played at the second fastest tempo in the tournament. Their offensive struggles are better reflected by their 43.5% shooting from the field, 8th best in the tournament. The semifinalists all finished top 5 in the tournament in that category, while those teams that didn't make it through to the quarters finished bottom 4 in FG%.

We finished 7th in 3pt% (34%) and 8th in 2pt% (49%). Despite our abysmal free-throw shooting against USA, we actually were 3rd in FT%, but were 11th in getting to the line.

Anon above, when Maric was named All-Euroleague, BA promoted that quite a bit but obviously didn't mention it was because he played a simple role perfectly in a structured system, or that Partizan used Vranes to guard the gun centres to protect Maric!!

I thought with Vujosevic coaching at Partizan again this year Aleks may have headed back, but he is understandably still trying to cash in on his successful year.

hey guys just want to throw up another name. Anatoly Bose. now he had a decent first year in the NBL. i must say i thought he would do better, but he is what 6'7, normally shoots well, not bad athletically, seems to have good IQ. can he improve his D and become a boomer?

Will a guy like Lisch become citizen and become a boomer?

Nice to hear Majok is doing well, but yeh is slovakia are terrible league. Maybe he should simplify his game, become a great shot blocker, rebounder and work close to the hoop. he doesnt seem to have the IQ needed.

The Boomers core from this games was Mills, Ingles, Andersen, Dellavedova, Newley and Baynes.

All six of these guys should definitely continue on both the World Cup in 2014 and next Olympics in Rio.

The only guy that is a definite inclusion in future teams is Bogut. Every other spot is up for grabs.

Re: Bose, I think his concern is being a volume scorer and, as mentioned, his below average D. Based on reports from his college days, he appears to be a hard worker and focused on improving, so he could elevate his game to push for Boomers selection. Another strong scorer would be useful to have, especially if he becomes automatic from deep. Although I still worry about his athletic and defensive limitations.

I thought the next Olympics was only going to be an Under-234 tournament, because David Stern and Mark Cuban are trying to take over all the money and profits from FIBA?

give me Beveridge as Boomers coach any day - I love the way he gets the whole Wildcats team involved in offense, and I assume he's a good talent developer as well

has he ever coached a national team?

I meant Under-23 tournament.

I would expect Lemmanis would be a prospective future Boomers coach

Paul^ - the under 23 idea has been raised by the NBA, but nothing has been decided.

I personally can't see it getting a lot of support from FIBA or it's member countries outside the USA, but the NBA wield a lot of power so you never know.

I think it would be the USA sending an U23 team, but Im even dubious about that given the players don't support it.

Yes, Stern wants to be the international players white knight who relieves the poor international players who feel the pressure of representing their country for little to no financial compensation. They are so lucky to have someone in charge of the NBA who is so concerned about their welfare.

Apparently Stern is unaware of the many internationals who have -- without his help -- refused to play international games or have retired from international games well before they have retired from professional competitions.

I know what Stern wants, but other countries wont have a bar of it.

the under 23 rule can go to hell.. cant believe he has the nerve to go watch the olympic basketball meanwhile try to sabotage it. what a pure wanker

Stern is the one who hired all of FIBA World's current committee. Every single person was a former employee of Stern's at the NBA head office.

So, everyone in Europe already knows that Stern has been de facto running FIBA already since 2007.

So if he wants this, he is getting it. Because the only other group that could stop it was FIBA Europe, and after what happened to those European teams that voted against it, like Greece and Macedonia at the OQT.......

well, let's just say no European federations will dare to block it a second time.

Yeah Joey! My boy ingles just had his coming out tourney