I agree with the squad but not completely sold on Broekhoff.. Maybe... But I might be more inclined on Gliddon or Steindl..

Petrie and Greenwood are other options too.

I'd start based on the squad of 16 on the BA website (doesn't seem like the officially named squad but looks to be their first choice squad);
Bogut, Baynes, Simmons, Petrie, Newley, Mills, Maric, Andersen, Bairstow, Barlow, Broekhoff, Dellavedova, Exum, Gibson, Ingles, Jawai

I'd have to say from the Sino series you'd look at perhaps adding Motum, Worthington and Neville (all respect to Walker, Steindl and Gliddon but they just miss the cut). Finally I'd add Ogilvy, Goulding and Martin to the mix as players to miss the series but players to consider.

That's about 22 players you have to quickly cut down to 12. Now I'm under the assumption that Bogut will not play (this is probably more likely than not)so that leaves us with about 7 locks into the team.

PG Dellavedova Exum
SG Mills Newley
SF Ingles
PF Andersen
C Baynes

Looking at the remaining players available I'd group them according to who's competing for positions/roles

Point guards: Martin and Gibson
I'd say Gibbo's got the edge based on previous history but with Delly, Exum, Mills and even Jingles with ball handling abilities a 3rd string PG may be the casualty as the back court is stacked right now

Shooters (2/3): Broekhoff and Goulding
I'd say one of these 2 will definitely make it as the designated sniper from the bench. I think Broekhoff has the advantage atm but Gouldings been impressive last NBL season and wouldn't surprise me if he snuck in

Athletic Swingmen: Barlow, Simmons
Barlows got the experience and readiness but hasn't shown much in the last couple of runs in a Boomer jersey. Do you take Simmons who's still very raw but will undoubtably play a huge role in the next 8-10 years?

Stretch 4's: Petrie, Worthington, Motum (An interesting choice in what is probably our weakest area at the moment. Wortho showed that whilst he's treading the line in legality sometimes he may be the spark and enforcer needed. Between the Atheltic swingmen and stretch 4's I feel there's 2 positions up for grabs depending on what Andrej feels our gameplan is.

Post 4/5's: Jawai, Bairstow, Maric, Ogilvy, Neville There's probably 2 of these guys going through. Obviously if Bogut is available he's the first player chosen and lock for this position. Otherwise I'd say Bairstow is the next closest thing to a sure thing for the squad. I'm thinking Jawai if healthy (disclaimer is I have no idea where Natahan is health wise right now) and Maric if he's not is the line of thinking at the moment

I'd say the final team looks a little like
PG Dellavedova Exum
SG Mills Newley
SF Ingles Broekhoff Simmons
PF Andersen Bairstow Worthington/Petrie
C Baynes Jawai/Maric

If Bogut is available and Simmons is up for the stretch 4 role he takes Worthington/Petrie's spot and Baynes slides to starting PF .

All fun speculation at the end of the day. All that matters is the 12 fellas that throw on that singlet play their guts out and I'll be a proud Boomers supporter.

Delly
Mills
Ingles
Petrie
Bogut/Bairstow?

Newley
Goulding
Anderson
Jawai/Baynes
Gliddon/Steindl
Gibson/Greenwood
Exum.

As much as Worthington probably shouldn't make it, my thoughts are that he may slip in based on the lack of a mobile 4.

Petrie is solid - I don't think hes up to International standard however. Wortho probably isn't either but he does have considerable International experience.

The 12 will be very strong. The strongest team in some years. The Boomers have so much talent among the guards that someone like Gibson or Martin is redundant.

Greenwood a long way off the pace IMO..no disrespect.

^fairly strong team... weakness is that 4 spot however..

Dellavedova. (captain?)
Mills
Ingles
Andersen
Baynes (if Bogut plays then Baynes to bench)

Exum
Goulding
Newley ( backs up at SG and SF)
Simmons or Broekhoff
Bairstow
Jawai (Ogilvy if Jawai not available)
Nevill or Maric


Petrie and Martin just miss the cut but Martin over Gibson if they took 5th guard and Petrie could be in if they need a more mobile forward.

If Jawai and Bogut were both available Baynes would play at 4 spot with Bairstow and Andersen to back him up.

If Jawai and Bogut were both available Baynes would play at 4 spot with Bairstow and Andersen to back him up.

whichever way you look at it, this is an exciting time for the boomers. 4 NBA players, 3 of which are in their teams rotation and Baynes on the best team in the league. experienced and high level international players in Ingles, Newley and Anderson. young players with high potential in exum, simmons, maker, bairstow and greenwood (give him a few more years and he could knocking on the door for selection. I think we should be pushing for a top 6 finish.

But just think about our Olympic team in 2 years time and the level of that group:
delly (nba)
mills (nba)
exum (nba)
Baynes (nba)
bogut (nba)
Simmons (college)
Maker (college)
bairstow (high euro or potential nba bench)
Ingles (euro but could play nba if minutes were offered)

then guys like broekhoff, goulding, nevill, greenwood and steindl potentioal playing high level euro pushing for a spot. if we don't win a medal there I don't know when we could!

One thing for sure, can't see Wortho getting into the final cut.

Worthington still has some fans out there.
Maker is a lock for 2019 world cup not this one just yet.

Delly / Martin or Gibson (I would hate to make this decision!)
Mills / Goulding / Exum
Ingles / Newley
Andersen / Bairstow
Baynes / Jawai

The 12th spot is difficult to pick as it may depend on a need that Lemanis would still like to fill, but it would almost certainly be a 5th big man of some description.

Third Center: Ogilvy, Nevill, Maric.
Mobile PF: Worthington, Petrie + I think Lucas Walker has played himself into contention.

Hopefully Bogut makes strides with his rehab and is available, but personally I'm not holding my breath.

Fast forward to 2019 this team will be our best yet imo

Dellavedova (29)
Exum (24)
Simmons (23)
Bairstow (29)
Maker (22)or Baynes (33)

Ingles at 32 should still be around.
Others that could be there
Bolden
Humphries
Drmic
Froling
Broekhoff
McVeigh
Deng just to name a few

Steven, I don't think we need to wait until 2019 for an amazing lineup. Hopefully Simmons will be ready to contribute at the 2016 Olympics and then we could go with an exceptionally athletic lineup of:

Bogut
Simmons
Ingles
Mills
Exum

The length and agility in that lineup should give a lot of opponents fits and if Exum and Simmons are the real deal we'd have to be in contention for Silver. If Thon Maker works out and plays for us as well then we might even have a crack at the US!

That squad on the BA website has recently been updated, and looks very deliberate in that it is 16 guys (just the number that the final World Cup selection camp will be) and it includes Jawai, a guy that hasn't been part of much Boomers action in the past.

So I would say that is the final squad Lemanis has in mind, with obviously a couple of changes possible if players are injured or unavailable.

Lemanis commented that he thought 5-6 Sino-Aus guys could make the World Cup squad, however it's hard to see him picking any of them outside of Motum, Nevill and maybe Greenwood.

Andersen - Not quite a lock for the final 12. His experience on a young team will be valuable, however his three point percentage has been terrible this past season, and that has always been one of his great strengths. His ability to contibute is quite limited if he cannot hit that shot.

Bairstow - May not be available, will all depend on his contractual situation following the NBA draft and summer league. If available, almost a lock for the final 12.

Barlow - Still rehabbing injury, so questions marks on his availability.

Baynes - Lock for final 12

Bogut - Still 50/50 on playing at World Cup.

Broekhoff - Last man cut from London Olympics team, he is certainly in contention to go to Spain, especially if Barlow is still injured. His length, rebounding ability for his position and ability to hit the three ball are all incredibly valuable assets in the international game.

Dellavedova - Lock for final 12

Exum - He's in the same boat as Bairstow

Gibson - Has to prove he can handle role as full-time back-up point guard, something he has never done for the Boomers before. Has Damian Martin and Hugh Greenwood gunning for the same role.

Ingles - Lock for final 12

Jawai - Would bring an X-factor to our bigs that we have not had for some time, if ever. If Bogut doesn't play, and Jawai is fully fit, he should go to Spain.

Maric - Received a lot of criticism after his performance in London, but was hampered by injury. Could play a role as a back-up centre.

Mills - Lock for final 12

Newley - His length and athleticism mean that the spark he provides off the bench is still extremely valuable. Would be all the more so if he could hit the three at a consistent clip. He should be a lock for the final 12.

Petrie - Lemanis had him pegged as this squads 'glue guy' as a mobile four, but Motum has shown a lot against China and may have moved past him in the pecking order.

Simmons - Definitely needs to be included in the squad. Will be interesting to see how much he has developed over the past 12 months, as he has dominated all comers in US high school basketball.

So based on the above, their appears to be only four true 'locks' at this stage - Mills, Dellavedova, Baynes and Ingles. Everybody else still has question marks abound due to either form or injury.

Martin and Gibbo are both timid and useless against top tier international teams. No thanks. Neither can shoot either. Lets carry more wing depth and shooting please.

Assuming no Bogut:

Baynes/Jawai
Andersen/Petrie or Worthington
Ingles/Newley
Mills/Goulding
Dellavedova/Martin or Gibson

Of those last two spots one has to go to Exum even though he's probably not ready. The other could be a second mobile PF given the importance of that position in Lemanis' system, or a fourth big which prob comes down to Nevill, Bairstow or Maric.

Bairstow gives a bit of mobility and defensive toughness so I might lean towards him, plus he's young, but Nevill's ability to consistently can the jumper could be very handy too.

At this point I'd go with:

Baynes/Jawai
Andersen/Petrie/Worthington
Ingles/Newley
Mills/Goulding/Exum
Dellavedova/Martin

but I change my mind weekly! And I think the fitness of Andersen and Jawai might be a concern. If one or both of them is under a bit of a cloud I'd replace Petrie or Worthington with Nevill or Bairstow.

Swap Worthington for Bairstow and Paul's team looks very good

He is also a very skinny (90kg) seven footer and only 17 years old no way he will be on this team

I would tend/hope to think motum would be ahead of Worthington going of the Sino series.

Motum hasn't really done anything at the professional level though.

Worthington is declining, however he is a 'bruiser'/physical type of player that can really get under opponents skin.

I suspect that mobile PF spot will be picked on defence first, and if so I think that would leave Motum lower on the list.

Delly Exum
Mills Goulding (Newley or Broekhoff)
Ingles Simmons
Andersen Bairstow (Motum or Wortho)
Bogut Jawai

If Bogut unavailable swap for Baynes

"The guys that are saying Exum and Simmons should be picked are crazy. They aren't ready. We should pick older guys that are averaging 10 ppg in the NBL rather than young 17-18 potenital future NBA all stars."

Strongly dissagree, that's been the issue with underachieving Aussie teams of past, we've never had a crop of dynamic young talent like this, mite be our only chance to see them in green & gold & not die wondering.

I say put Simmons and Maker on the team from an investment standpoint. If we have them for WC we are more likely to have them for Olympics rather than USA have them for future Olympics. These guys are good now but they are going to be insane in 5 years. Exum, Simmons and Maker will likely be NBA All Stars if they continue the growth they have had so far.

Kason Jidd... Simmons cant rep USA has he has repped Aus in junior Fiba events. Thon Maker is another story but I would more then likely line him up for the under 19 games coming up.

Question, whether to include Andersen or Daniel Johnson at the PF or neither of them (because of their D)?

Both are good offensive players, and the Boomers will need scorers, but both create problems for the boomers because of their fairly poor defence. Andersen obviously has considerable international experience and was fairly effective as a pick and pop 3pt shooter, but Johnson is younger, quicker and has a good mid range game but didn't shoot the 3 well this season.

So would you pick one to make the final 12 or too much of a defensive liability?

Don't forget that Longley, Bradtke and Vlahov were all 19 when they played in the 1988 Olympics, and look how successful they became for the Boomers.

I'm all for blooding the young guys, especially if it stops them being poached by another country.

While I like all the analysis so far, I'm not as sold on some of your locks. For me, we look fairly strong on 'd' with most of those names, but might struggle to score against aggressive smalls and mobile bigs. Ingles and Baynes have got lots of experience but haven't done much on offense this season in the (many) games I saw. I've been underwhelmed by Newley's international form for a few years now.

I like the look of

Baynes/Jawai/Nevill
Andersen/Maker/Bairstow
Ingles/Simmons
Mills/Goulding
Dellavedova/Exum

If Nate is healthy well need him, he's a whole different kind of 'Big' 130kg+ 7'5" wingspan, outside of Bogey I don't think we have anyone capable of physically overwhelming typical international centers when necessary.

Jawai is almost impossible to stop in pick n roll and seal situations, if he's fit and we don't have Bogut then big Nate has to go.

"We need a shooter (Gaze,Heal,Ronaldson) style and we don't have that away from Goulding who is soft and plays no "D"."

I think Goulding is actually not a bad defender. I think people just give him that "no defence" label because that's what everyone says about scorers/shooters.

And to be fair, its not like Gaze or Ronaldson were great defenders either. Yet they still got selected.

Goulding is an absolute must for this team.

You have been crying for a shooter for years now, and you finally get one (and one that is more advanced that Crawford or a Harvey) and don't want to select him.

Australia's defence has always been exceptional internationally IMO. An injection of instant offense would go a long way to fixing some of the Boomers problems.

Agree with MACDUB regarding Goulding,the Boomers will need scorers and he's very good at creating his own shot, as far as defence goes, if goulding is getting beaten on d by a 2 guard Delly could switch to guard the shooter as he has shown he is quite capable of doing at NBA level.

Agreed, Goulding is a vital piece to the Boomers puzzle, just don't mention Gaze,Heal,Ronaldson:), loved those guys but we were still playing a style from their era at times during the last Olympics & it was yuk.

I'd love to see Chris, Patty, Dante & Delly etc, show off a new style of Aussie Hoops that combines the work rate & intensity were known for with NBA finesse.

Goulding absolutely should be on the team.

Goulding is the sort of player that can win you a game in a big match if he gets hot. He should definitely go.
Dellavadova/Martin/Exum
Mills/Goulding
Ingles/Newley
Anderson/Bairstow/Motum
Baynes/Jawai

If he got the spot I'd also think interest in Australia's games would be x10

I agree, given we probably wont medal anyway, id give the 11th and 12th spot to Simmons and Maker, with Exum being in the squad as part of the top 10 players,

a bit like they Boomers did, with Gaze, Bradtke, Longley back in the day.

It is nice to see reasonable debate on whether the Boomers go with inexperience or experience. A very healthy sign. I tend to favour youth in this instance.

(14/20)

If you look at the competitive games Lemanis has coached (Oceania and WUG) since taking over, he tends to use 10 guys in his main rotation, and they're not always the same 10 guys from game to game.

I think Exum has to go as a development player who may contribute. After that, I think the other 11 have to be contributors. More development can take place between the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Cup.

You wouldn't pick a guy like Petrie or Worthington if they weren't going to play, but anyone who's paid attention to the way Lemanis likes to play knows mobile PFs will play an important role.

PG - Dellavedova/Exum
SG - Mills/Goulding
SF - Ingles/Newley/Simmons
PF - Bairstow/Anderson/Motum
C - Baynes/Ogilvy

That's my 12 man squad there.

Depth Chart in a 40 minute game.

PG - Dellavedova(30)/Exum(10)
SG - Mills(30)/Exum(5)/Ingles(5)/Goulding(0)
SF - Ingles(25)/Newley(15)/Simmons(0)
PF - Bairstow(20)/Anderson(15)/Motum(5)
C - Baynes(30)/Bairstow(5)/Ogilvy(5)

A bit of flexibility in there. Plenty of ball handling between Delly, Mills, Exum and Ingles. Gives you a chance to blood Exum and also have Simmons in the group. Plenty of perimeter shooting between Mills, Ingles, Anderson, Motum and Goulding. Beasts down low with Bairstow and Baynes should provide some easy buckets. Ogilvy adds some size depth. A good blend of youth (Exum, Bairstow, Simmons, Motum) with some experience (Anderson, Newley, Ingles, Mills). Gives us the best opportunity to compete as well as blood some young talent.

Out of interest, a team of:

Baynes/Jawai
Andersen/Petrie/Bairstow
Ingles/Newley
Mills/Goulding/Exum
Dellavedova/Gibson

has eight or nine guys who could still be playing at or near their peak come 2019 and 2020.

Form or wear and tear will get some of them, but probably five or six will still be there and that suggests there is no need to rush in multiple unproven young guys just yet. Having them involved in the camp is a good idea though.

Get kind of sick of the Boomers always been thought of as some development squad... Exum should have NBA experience before the next Olympics, same maybe for Simmons.. I think we need to bring 12 guys who are ready to roll RIGHT NOW... If Exum and Simmons prove to be in the 12 best in camp... Sure, by all means take them.. if not... then we need to bring whoever is going to bring results TODAY, not in two years time. If Exum is out-performed in camp by some NBL guy, then so be it. Boomers can get results this year, if we were really in a "redeveloping" phase I would understand, but we aren't.

Boomers tops should be handed out for what you ARE not what you 'could be'

I agree with GWB in theory about putting young unproven guys in final team. I still think Exum should be there though. I just hope we don't give the nod to Worthington just because of his experience we have enough veterans in the team with Andersen, Mills,Ingles and Newley.

We need someone to handle the Mobile power forwards, thats the only reason why Wortho would have a shot. He can handle the mobile powerforwards and get under opposition skin, when it comes to actual 'skill' level he is fairly ordinary.. Power Forward is our weakness though.. and this might be why he gets in.

Any serious hope of future medal contention for us will require some significant team chemistry, trying on our guys with the highest ceilings mite be our only shot at producing a group in future that's realistically capable, strategy for international games is always a gamble at best, mite be time go all in.

If you look at how long the current crop have been in the program, now is the time to try and medal, especially when you consider all but Worthington and Andersen have their best years now or in front of them.

Add in some good complementary pieces like Jawai, Goulding, Petrie, Exum etc and go hard at the next two tournaments playing a more Aussie-suited style:

Mills - since 2007
Newley - since 2005
Ingles - since 2008
Andersen - since 2003
Worthington - since 2005
Baynes - since 2009
Dellavedova - since 2009
Gibson - since 2009

We don't have to give Thon Maker a spot just to lock him in. Fingers crossed he plays under 19s in 2015.
If you must know anon I think your team is too top heavy, you're missing depth in the 2/3 positions and Exum is really a 5th guard this early in his career.
I count 7 power forwards/centres in your list which is too many.

I do like your starting 5 tho anon.

Thought Bogut was meant to have announced by now his availability?

Bairstow isnt bad for starting power forward, considering he could get drafted this year too

No more Adam Gibson please.

I can see Bairstow being our David West. He has that kind of game. He had probably one of the best college seasons i've seen from an Aussie. Just improved out of sight. Out of the youngsters Exum is the only one i would probably give minutes too. Maybe by 2016 the other future stars will be ready.

Only two guards on the bench?

All these teams mentioned lack a knock down shooter... This is why Goulding is a must, but also why you have to look at either Steindl, Broekhoff or Gliddon for a 9th/10th man spot.

I thought Goulding ruled himself out to concentrate on making the NBA??

Delly Exum
Mills Goulding (Newley or Broekhoff)
Ingles Simmons
Andersen Bairstow (Motum or Wortho)
Baynes Jawai