Maric is out according to Luc Longley

Exum gets drafted number 5 and old mate doesn't think he's ready? Wow!

OK lets not add him or Simmons and have them just stay in the NBA while we lament we cannot get access to our NBA stars for Olympics etc.... He is ready

GWB you would be the type that didn't rate patty mills as well I'm guessing!?!

My list:

Mills PG/SG 6'0
Dellavedova PG 6’4
Goulding SG 6’4
Exum PG/SG 6’6 (just edges Martin + Gibson)
Newley SG/SF 6’7 (edges Broekhoff + Drmic)
Ingles SG/SF 6’8
Simmons SF/PF 6’9 (just edges Worthington + Petrie)
Bairstow PF 6’10 (edges Johnson + Motum)
Baynes PF/C 6’10
Jawai C 6’10
Ogilvy C 6’11 (edges Neville + Maric)
Anderson PF/C 7’0

Starting line up and depth formation:
PG: Dellevedova/Mills/Exum
SG: Mills/Goulding/Newley/Exum
SF: Ingles/Newley/Simmons
PF: Bairstow/Anderson/Simmons/Baynes
C: Baynes/Ogilvy/Jawai/Anderson

Womens side also:

Leilani Mitchell PG 5'5 (edges Mcully)
Kelly Wilson PG/SG 5’7 (edges Hurst)
Erin Phillips PG/SG 5’8
Katie Rae Ebzery SG 5’10 (edges Jarry + Madgen + Cole + Zavecz + Screen)
Rebecca Allen SG/SF 6’1 (edges Snell + Cumming + Foley + Newley)
Penny Taylor SG/SF 6’1
Alice Kunek SG/SF 6’2 (edges Talbot)
Laura Hodges SF/PF 6’2
Gabrielle Richards C 6’3 (edges Tolo + Bunton + Scherf)
Cayla Francis PF/C 6’4 (edges Burton + Mijovic)
Lauren Jackson PF/C 6’5
Elizabeth Cambage C 6’8

Starting line up and depth formation:
PG: Phillips/Mitchell/Wilson
SG: Allen/Ebzery/Phillips/Wilson/Kunek
SF: Taylor/Kunek/Allen/Hodges
PF: Jackson/ Hodges/Francis/Richards
C: Cambage/Richards/Francis/Jackson

Just missing out:
Cant be there: O’hea/ Bishop/Batkovic

O'Hea is a lock in front of Bec Allen. To much gloss on Allen after one half decent season in WNBL.

My Team

Mitchell/Phillips
Kelly Wilson/Snell/Madgen
Taylor/O'Hea
Jackson/Richards/Bishop
Cambage/Tolo

Emerg - Batkovic/Hurst/ Two Young kids

Kunek and Allen are very over rated. Kunek has improved gibe her that but Madgen is a better fit and stronger off the dribble.
Bec Allen has confidence and opportunity, her shooting % is ordinary and she is to light for international level play.

Kelly Wilson is a must as a combo and 3pt shooter, Snell can go one more time and Madgen is tough and can score. Mitchell should be the starting PG with Phillips as back up.

I like this team, however I think LJ is long in the tooth and for us to medal she needs to be 100%.
Not one team will deal with Cambage and if she can pass under pressure to Wilson/Mitchell/Snell and we make shots organise the Silver or Bronze now.

The lineup will realistically be something like

Baynes/jawai/Nevill
Andersen/Bairstow/Motum
Ingles/Newley/Simmons
Mills/Goulding/Broekhoff
Dellavadova/Exum/Gibson

Or a variation of those. Though, i personally would rather have Exum, Simmons and Maker included over any NBL player.

And it's been said a thousand times before but damn, i'm really excited about Rio 2016

A potential lineup of

Bogut/Baynes/Humphries
Maker/Bairstow/Jawai
Simmons/Ingles/Bolden
Mills/Goulding/Adel
Exum/Dellavadova

Not to mention guys like Mathiang, Motum, Matur Maker who could also be options.

Definitely has the potential for a medal.

Humphries is 7 foot, 250 lbs.. By the time Rio comes around he'll be 18, he'd definitely be in the discussion for that team, even over Thon Maker who just doesn't have any size

people suggesting we shouldn't be looking at young players for the 11th or 12th man are kidding themselves because how often does the 12th man even see the court as we saw in London Peter Crawford hardly got off the bench.

I think is Australia picked their best available team for this tournament they won't medal especially as Bogut isn't playing. I think they will finish in the 4th-8th range. I think the best bet for Lemanis is to do what the soccerroos did at the World Cup and use this basketball world cup as the development to build the team for 2016. In 2016, Dante would have played 2 years in the NBA, Simmons would have played 1 year for LSU and going into the draft and Bogut would be in his prime (probably past it in 2018). This is similar to when Australia was building for the 2000 Australia Olympics to get the best team possible.

It also gives Lemanis a good pitch to Basketball Australia to make him head coach of Australia until 2016. Therefore, for this tournament I think players that won't be in contention for 2016 shouldn't be looked at. It means line ball guys like Anderson, Worthington, Barlow, Gibson, D Martin are probably going to miss and guys like Motum, Bairstow and Broekhoff should get looks as the upside of those players are vastly better. I agree with the comment above about Peter Crawford and in the past looking at Shawn Redhage, John Rille, James Harvey, Martin Catalini, etc who just sat on benches at tournaments.

My team would be
C - Aron Baynes / Nate Jawai
PF - Cameron Bairstow / Brock Motum / Ben Simmons
SF - Joe Ingles / Ryan Broekhoff
SG - Patty Mills / Brad Newly / Chris Goulding
PG - Matt Dellavedova / Dante Exum

Could potentially take another 5 man and drop either Goulding or Broekhoff but I think Motum, like he did in college, could pinch hit at a 5 spot if required.

Also, those worried about leadership, the team still has Newly, Patty Mills and Ingles and it would give those guys the responsibility to lead without having the other older guys (Anderson, Wortho, etc) and would make the group stronger.

Ohea, Bishop and Batkovic will not be at the world champs.

Exam top 5 pick was a joke, bet ya he doesn't do shit at nba level and will find himself in the d league b4 long

Snell, can't pass, can't dribble but can shoot so still in the mix, wow.

"Humphries won't make Rio"

To be honest. I don't know a lot about the kid. All i know is that most people have him as a 5 star recruit like Maker and Simmons. He'll be 18 when Rio comes around and should be atleast worth a 11/12th man type role.

"Dante Exum was drafted solely on potential.. he is by NO means a proven commodity. He has played very well against college kids on "one-off" little games at Nike Hoops and the U19 Worlds but for all his upside, he is a 19 year old kid that could go Boom or Bust. We should know by 2015/16, We don't know right now.. and for that matter.. I don't add him as a 'lock'.. but of course he would make the extended squad, get a look in and a chance to prove his worth at the position."

His mix of speed and size is hard to come by. It's not every draft that the quickest player is 6'6. His first step is lightning. He'll be getting plenty of free throws in the NBA if nothing else.

He's a definite lock. There's no way that they don't pick a guy that just got picked 5th overall in the NBA draft. That's fucking ridiculous.

"It means line ball guys like Anderson, Worthington, Barlow, Gibson, D Martin are probably going to miss and guys like Motum, Bairstow and Broekhoff should get looks as the upside of those players are vastly better."

I agree. It might sound kind of mean but i don't want any of those players to ever play for the Boomers again. They simply don't cut it anymore. In fact, i don't want any NBL players in the Boomers except for maybe Goulding. I especially don't want NBL players in the team over guys like Simmons and Maker.

We will have to wait until the rio olympics and beyond to have a roster like this:

PG/SG Mills 6'0
PG Dellevedova 6'4
PG/SG Exum 6'6
SF McVeigh 6'8
SG/SF Ingles 6'8
SF/PF Bolden 6'9
SF/PF Simmons 6'9
PF Bairstow 6'10
PF/C Baynes 6'10
C Humphries 7'0
C Bogut 7'0
PF/C Maker 7'1

You could add a bunch more names...
like adel 6'7 etc

"Maker is nowhere near boomers level and most likely never will be! Remember majok? Yeah.. They are probably about the same age!!"

Majok wasn't 7'1 and has no where near the skill set of Maker. Majok was incredibly raw and really only had athleticism to work with. I'll say it again. I'd take Maker over any NBL player in a heartbeat.

"We will have to wait until the rio olympics and beyond to have a roster like this:"

Is Mcveigh that good? I mean, would he get in over guys like Deng Adel and Matur Maker who seem to have legit NBA potential?

Goulding is really the only NBL player i want on the team.

Exum top 5 a joke? The kid has skills. Have a look at some of the games he has played in the last couple of years. Have a look at his draft combine results.

Kyrie Irving to get snubbed by team USA in favour of Rose, Westbrook, Paul and Curry and realises he can lead a very talented Aussie team to silver medal.

Irving/Mills
Exum/Dellevadova
Simmons/Ingles/Drmic
Bairstow/Jawai
Bogut/Baynes/Maker

The addition of Irving wouldn't make a huge difference. We are pretty solid at the PG position with a combo of Mills, Delly and Exum. Not sold on Irving's game either. Great ball handler but not much of a team player and bit too much of an iso player. If he wants to play for USA then best of luck to him- we have plenty of players who would jump at the chance to play for the boomers.

"Outside Bogut this pretty much has to be our strongest squad as it is a world cup so not about development its about winning!!

Guys currently in college aren't good enough as yet so stick to the seasoned pro's or guys whom are getting drafted we want to win not forever develop!

You can bring along Simmons, Maker, Drmic, Greenwood as training bait but they don't get a squad spot...it as travelling training fodder only...unless they think there good enough to play!

Guards
Delly, Mills, Exum, Goulding

Wings
Newley, Ingles, Broekhoff, Barlow


Forwards
Bairstow, Motum, Anderson

Centre
Jawai or AJ Ogilvy, Baynes"

I'd take Simmons over Barlow in a heart beat. Also would rather have Maker than Ogilvy.

"I dare say our 2014 should be much better then our 2012 team on paper.. I am not sure why people think it should be a development team when it is easily our most talented team since 2008? "

Because our 2016 and 2018 teams are going to be far, far better and it's good to get the younger fellas who will be a massive part of those teams a bit of exposure to the big time early? And because those players are just plain better basketball players than guys who could make the team.

People who are saying Exum shouldn't make the team (laughs). Who would you rather have over him? We can assume that Mills, Delly and Goulding will be picked. Who else?

What I've seen of Exum and Simmons in Boomers uniforms (the NZ series last year) suggests they're both capable of making an impact at that level. Exum is obviously more ready, but watch the senior guys play with and against Simmons. There's plenty of pick-on-the-rookie, but also a little bit of awe at the things he does almost by accident. He's capable of things right now that no one else in that squad can actually do.

I don't think you have to take him, I don't think you take him just because he's likely to be really important in a few years. But it would surprise me if he's not capable of making the 12 on merit.

And GWB, I agree with a lot of what you're saying. But who's the guy in Boomers camp with exactly the same attributes and abilities as Simmons? Or Exum? We don't have a lot of 6'10" guys with Simmons' strength and athleticism, or 6'6" guys with Exum's length and quickness. I'm not going to pick them on physical ability alone, but a hypothetical situation in which I'm comparing them against other players of the same physical abilities is a bit unrealistic.

In my opinion, Ogilvy is a better fit For the boomers over jawai. ALthough he doesn't have the frame jawai has, he is a better scorer, shot blocker, rebounder, more mobile and a better passer, not to mention a bigger gas tank. Ogilvy should be the primary centre with jawai and baynes sharing the limited minutes. Baynes with limited PF minutes along with Bairstow and ANderson.

What do people think of other offensive PF's like kickert and Johnson?

"We really don't know that these teams will be "far, far better"... these are assumptions and projections made on 'potential'.. well the sun has the 'potential' of exploding tomorrow. Greg Oden had the 'Potential' to be a superstar. Every child born has the 'potential' to be the next Einstein. When it comes to making national teams.. we shouldn't be picking on potential... potential is hit and miss..

Lets say 2 players with the exact same attributes and abilities are in a Boomers camp, and lets pretend I am running that camp.. I would take the guy who has proven himself against adults (even in the NBL) over the college kid who 'may' become a superstar or 'may' be working in a carwash in 2 years time. We have plenty of meaningless series between now and 2016, lets leave NZ/Aus and Sino series to 'blooding' players shall we? We should be looking for medals at every major tournament.

I am not 'against' Exum being on the team. Sure, he is a number 5 draft pick.. some would say his position is essentially locked.. I say, bring him into camp, no one should have there position assigned due to 'potential' and name alone. If he is truly in the top 12 players we have to offer RIGHT NOW.. gladly take a spot. If not, then he is going to have to wait out a year or 2 like anyone else in his position. I remember Ingles never made the Boomers team in his rookie year, it was only the year after that he did... it certainly didn't stop him. "

What other 6'6 players do we have that are lightning quick, can get to the rim with ease and are great passers with good court vision?

What 6'10 pf's do we have that are big, smooth, good shooters and scorers, can jump out of the gym, rebound and pass like a guard.?

What 7'1 Pf's do we have that can shoot it like a guard, move incredibly quick for their size, constantly get to the rim and finish and block tons of shots?

You could make a case for Simmons and Maker not playing as they are only 16/17 and still only really have really played high school ball with a few American 'camps' and in Simmons case, some international play but Exum should be a no brainer. He dominated the under 19's and the Hoops Summit. And if you wanna bring up the 'He played against teenagers argument', guys like Randle and Parker would average 20ppg in the NBL with ease. Exum should be a part of the team because from what i've seen he is plain better than most of the guards we have. And i'm not talking he 'will be better', i'm saying he is better now.

"If fit, Jawai belongs on the team because he is the ONLY guy we have that can physically overpower opposition centers. Even if it is 10 minutes a game, I think the guy is valuable.. He also had great shooting touch for a big man and nice hook shot"

Definitely. We really lacked rebounding and an inside presence in London and it killed us. I kept thinking while watching 'we really need Jawai'. If he's fit he has to be picked.

Who are the candidates for the 1 and 2 spots?
Mills/Dellavedova/Exum/Goulding/Gibson/D.Martin
Anyone I've missed?
Aussuming 5 of these guys will make it (as can carry one).
Mills/Delly and Exum will be a lock so who will miss out from the other 3?
I think Goulding may just get his shot this time over Gibson and Martin. He makes 4 players and if they do go with 5 maybe Gibbo again. He is not fit though and racing against time.

I'd say

Dellavedova, Mills, Exum and Goulding.

Well, with Mills being injured and missing out -

C - Baynes, Jawai
Pf - Bairstow, Anderson, Motum
Sf - Ingles, Newley, Broekhoff
Sg - Exum, Goulding
Pg - Delly, Gibson

I really hope they don't start Newley at Sg.

Ben Simmons should be in the mix.

Yeah, we should actually use this as a chance to blood the young ones early. My revised lineup

C - Baynes, Jawai
Pf - Bairstow, Anderson, Maker
Sf - Ingles, Simmons, Broekhoff
Sg - Exum, Newley, Goulding
Pg - Delly, Gibson

I still see us going through to the second round. Even with our injuries, we should still take care of Mexico and South Korea quite easily and should win against Angola. We could also sneak victories against Lithuania and Slovenia.

Mills was such a massive part of our offensive, this is devastating.

I say Exum is the one that needs to stand up. He needs to be constantly attacking the basket, drawing fouls and making plays.

Agreed, I'm keen to see what Exum, Simmons and even Maker if he's chosen can do in this setting. I just hope they don't ride the bench and only get playing time late in the fourth when the game has already been decided. I want them to actually get decent minutes.