I think people have their unwarranted prejudices when it comes to Adam Gibson, maybe they wanted Damien Martin on the team? Maybe they didn't like his play in previous tournaments? But he has been a more than solid back up for Delly at these Worlds, has shown poise and control, also he feeds the post as good as anyone on the team and is energetic on defence. Really, what more do you want from the guy?

Adam Gibson B
Matthew Dellavedova B
Joe Ingles A
Brad Newley B+
Aron Baynes A
Broekhoff B
Brock Motum C
Cam Bairstow C -
Exum D +
Jawai D + (his performance last night saves him from F)
Anderson D - ( a few nice shots, but is too unco, fumbles too regularly)

I think we're judging Exum pretty harshly. He's a 19yo at his first major international tournament playing behind Delly. Sure, he hasn't exactly set the world on fire but you can't say he's played badly. I'd give him a C

Exum hasn't been terrible.. but by 19 I think people expect a bit more. Shit what was Andrew Gaze doing at 19?

Playing his first NBL season. Totally different players, 30 years apart.

I'll give 2 rankings. The basic ranking of how they've done. Then the ranking relative to what I expected (C+ would be even to expectation).

Ingles: A+/A+. Literally couldn't have done any more the first 3 games. He's come a long way since the Olympics, where he was already very good. Our best player.

Baynes: A/A. I expected a fair bit from him, and he's still gone well above that. We'd be struggling without him, is our best inside presence by a huge margin.

Broekhoff: B+/A+++. Pretty much hadn't heard of the guy, just knew he could shoot 3s. And that's an understatement. Defense has been very handy too. I'm impressed. A+++ compared to expectations because I had him earmarked for the Goulding role.

Dellavedova: B+/B. Had fairly high expectations of him, and he's at least met them. I don't see him as the 'he's in the NBA, so he's going to dominate' type of player. Just someone that you can throw into any given team and he'd perform just as well, no matter the competition. Which has basically been the case. Probably hasn't worked quite as well as a tandem with Baynes as he did in the Olympics.

Newley: A/A. Didn't think much of his Olympics from what I remember, so he's been a pleasant surprise. Definitely rate what he's bringing to the team.

Motum: C+/C+. Pretty much what I expected from him. Which was him being solid, unspectacular. Likes to throw his weight around a bit.

Bairstow: D+/D. Dunno, maybe I just expected more from him. Hasn't really done anything that made me notice yet.

Andersen: D/D-. Lemanis likes him, not sure why. Seems to be getting minutes on reputation. He's our Nielsen from the Olympics, living on past achievements. Did hit a couple big shots last night though. I'll give him that.

Gibson: C+/B+. Wasn't expecting much from him, and he's been getting good minutes and playing good solid basketball. Doesn't really take the game on, just protects the ball and moves it, but in a way, that's a good thing.

Exum: D+/D. He's quick and athletic and raw. Basically as advertised. Only, he more often than not seems out of control with his speed. He's a bit doomed by the hype though, will take a long time and a lot of development before he reaches his 'expectations'. Still very young and sky is the limit, just not right now.

Jawai: C+/B+. B+ for expectations just shows how little I rated him heading in. I like his court vision and his passing. It's not something I remember from him. Played actually really well last night. Would actually like to see everyone shuffle up one and Andersen to fall to his spot.

Goulding: U/D-. I've given him a U for Unranked, because basically he hasn't played any meaningful minutes. D- for expectations because I thought he'd be 10/11th man on the list in front of Broekhoff and possibly Gibson and come in to knock down shots from time to time. Good effort by him to make the team though, can't take that away from him at all.

Exum & Tai Webster are the same age. Tai looks way more confident than Exum but his dad has never dunked on Gaze.

The difference between Tai and Dante is the work they've put in to this point.

Tai has been working daily on his game and his body for 2-3 years at the Breakers and then Nebraska. Dante hasn't been in any sort of professional environment to make those strides. Watch him take off now that he'll be working on his craft on a daily basis.

I don't doubt that now he's in that environment he will excel but he's behind the eight ball a little. IMO he would have benefitted greatly as a player going to college but alas his draft stocks wouldn't.

I think he should have locked in with an NBL club, even if he didn't play for them. That way he would have got the development without jeopardising his draft position.

Gibson been pretty much a non factor whereas atleast Exum has made some nice plays and assists.

Rubio didn't start because he wasn't their best guard. If youngsters don't play it's often because players with more experience are getting the important jobs done better.

Goulding is a shooter and only a shooter. Needs to develop a complete game before he enters this level. A team can not spend their entire game creating a shot for him. Overated and so tired of hearing about him. Come back in a couple of years after he has been under a decent coach (not Anstey) who doesn't glorify him and like a parent gives him some tough love with his best interest at heart. Not interested if he is a nice guy. There are plenty of nice guys waiting for a spot on the team and deserving of it.