Fox sports are replaying the game at 8:30 PM Eastern tomorrow night for anyone interested

Any news on whether Dante will play in this one?

Beantown, I am sure he will. It's not as though injury prevented him last time. Delly and Bairstow didn't play game 1. It just seems to be the thing they are doing. They need to settle into their rotations now with 2-3 games to go. If Lemanis has 2 brain cells, he would start playing with the line up intended for NZ

Thanks Matt

if Fox are buying the rights from FIBA TV or whatever it is, surely it would?

Ah thanks GWB, I only just found game 1 and am watching it now. How did you think Exum played? Did he show signs of the aggression he showed in Summer League, or was he back to being the good team-mate, deferring to his elders?

He made a few cuts to the basket, and a few drives, but he did kind of drop back into his usual "I don't want to do too much" style.

I hope when watching the Slovenia replay that I see him actually want to score.

Slovenia won 79-70 for those playing at home after leading by 14 at 3/4 time. Broekhoff 20p, 10r & 4s, Dellavedova 11p, Andersen 8r, Goulding 4a.

Exum played 20 mins but only scored 2 pts?

Did Goran Dragic play?

Zoran played, Goran didnt. Zoran had 22 points though...

‏@BasketballAus
WATCH Boomers v Slovenia, Game 1, replayed on @FOXSportsAUS 3 TONIGHT at 8:30pm AEST. Check guides.

Absolutely pathetic. We shouldnt lose to Slovenia without Goran. Can we get rid of this Lemanis idiot yet?

It just has to be coaching... with the quality of players we have, we should not still be looking so inept on both ends of the court, and that goes right back through the FIBA tourney.

Something needs to be done. We need Patty Mills IN and Andrej Lemanis OUT. Should get a petition started, SOMETHING. How can we help change this? At this rate, we will not only not medal at rio, we simply wont be there!

This is getting a little worrying and also perplexing on face value. I have not been able to watch any games so can only look at results and box scores.

I would like to know what Lemanis and the coaching staff wish to get out of this tour.

All I know is that we have 2 MUST WIN games against NZ soon and have a far better team "on paper". For us to lose NZ will need to play better as a team and fully understand their roles.

How does one achieve better team work. My educated guess is that they practice scrimmage among themselves and then against opposition of various calibre.

So why are we apparently still fart arsing around with different combos and roles when we only have (1?)game left now to put it together and hope it works.

Has Lemanis decided on who our go to guys are? If so without trying it how does he know it will work when the crunch comes against NZ? Is he holding Exum or others back for the NZ game or is this his role? How will the first and second unit rotations play together? Is he holding back plays/systems for fear of being scouted?

FFS NZ aren't trying to hide the fact that Webster is the man. They appear to be getting him well and truly familiar with his role and will be well practiced with him being defended as such once the real stuff starts.

If he is not doing any of the things that I suggested and we are going all out with our best then we are in trouble.

If as I believe on face value we are stuffing around with some sort of secret clandestine stuff he is overthinking things and we may be still in trouble.

Don't even get me started on Mills' omission.

At some point you need to win though. You need your main guys to play more and come out and get the job done. Its not something you can just turn on.

I'm getting a little worried.

Having said that, sacking the coach now would be absurd. You don't sack a coach for losing games that don't matter.

If we lose the NZ series, then clearly we need to talk.

Did you read my post. I realise he is playing rotations but when does he find out IF those rotations when put into the real life game plan with real life minutes will win.

With that distribution of minutes the real units and rotations have little actual game time playing together. Again understandable early on but to me not so much later.

There is also a lot to be said about a winning culture and being well practiced in what it takes to close out a tight game.

We have had no opportunity to put any of that to practice.

The thing is if we beat NZ all will be fine but again our real risk is to be out executed and so that should be our focus.

With 4 lead up games it makes no sense to play around with rotations. I don't know what they are trying to achieve with this. He did it in Turkey and we ended up sluggish our first few games. We can't afford his stupid ideas. Even if we win, I think he needs to go. Id be on the phone to Goorjian/Bevo and searching for internationally experienced coaches.

Just looked at rotations, and yes winning wasn't what they were trying to do. But, when it comes down to it, you have ONE game left and you need to start playing with a purpose at some point or you will walk into 2 losses and no olympics. If you have 10 games to warm up, you can do this, not four.

Yes I think we al realise that there is a second chance if we lose against NZ.

BUT getting through the qualifying tournament is a quantum leap tougher than beating a NZ team without Adams and a retired Penney in a 2 game H&A series.

I did realise we would go onto an olynpic qualifier later, but at this point we wouldnt be getting through against top Euro teams. This is our best shot, and I fear it might be squandered.

I thought trial games were about testing what you are working on in practice. The trials look like nobody has a clear idea on roles, rotations, or responsibilities. This isn't the first time the coaching department has heard about these players, they didn't just fall off the back of a turnip truck. They should have some idea of starters, the bench mob, and role players.

Like a lot of you I'm worried about the losses, they (the scoreline) look pretty comfortable.

I agree that winning isn't "all important" in trial matches, but it is important, and they aren't purposely trying to lose (I hope). It would be good to see the Boomers 'turn it on' for the last match and actively try to win with the rotations they currently feel work.

It does look like a mess though. On a personal note I lost all faith in this 'coaching team' after the Angola debacle at the Worlds.

Slovenia playing with B team, most of the best players missing, not only dragich goran.

Who plays so much with rotations with only 4 games leading into a series? It is madness. Win or Lose, I want Lemanis gone. We could end up with the most talented Boomers team to miss out on the Olympics at this rate. Lemanis, Longley, Adrian Hurley, whoever else is behind this, they all need to go. Not one of them has a spark, or fire or a bit of mungrel in them.,

I must admit, I am a little concerned too like Cram and may others.

NZ are doing very well in their warm up games against similar opposition and are gelling well and carrying some nice form. Fact is, we are not.

I kind of wish that a high profile sports journalist (maybe boti) would ask the question about Lemanis and his ability to coach these guys. It needs to become a public debate. Basketball Australia needs to really consider whether these clowns are the ones they want at the helm of this thing.

So much talk about how 'talented' we are and how Lemanis is a fool for not getting more out of this squad ... how talented are we really?

As a point of comparison, is Bairstow really more talented and skilled than Fotu of the Tall Blacks? One is nominally in the NBA but doesn't play, while the other averaged just under 11 points in Spain's top league.

Do people expect Dellavedova to suddenly develop an advanced offensive skill-set and start crossing people up simply because he is in the NBA?

Some people seem to be hinting that the sheer number of NBA players on an international side should guarantee results. That is clearly not the case. The recent France v Finland friendly proved that.

I will be watching the game tonight with great interest. The thing I find upon watching game 2 again, is we show stretches of playing very well, and then Lemanis will throw in the usual offenders (usually a combination with Jawai in it) and we will go to absolute shit.

I can understand if they don't care about winning, but they do need some winning momentum going into this. Right now, we have a team which might know Lemanis' plays, but don't know how to win together. You cant just hope for the best when they all get on court in Melbourne. I really hope they actually try for this next game against Slovenia. They need to set themselves on what they are doing.

As for the Boomers talent, we certainly could put a more talented team on the floor with everyone available. Mills upgrades this team massively. Aron Baynes and Ingles are big pieces also. We should be in the top teir of teams (top 5 or so), but right now, hmmm.... I hope we are generally impressed in the upcoming series. I hope Lemanis has a method to this madness.

What's the record of ex-NBA coaches at the Olympics?

Watching thegame. Noticed there was no time out called when Slovenia turned the game on us. We began very well,but as soon as bogut and reply subbed out it went downhill. Happy with first 8 mins, but I gather it goes downhill from here. All players have played already

Bairstow would definitely be one, and personally If I were choosing I would add Blanchfield as well, but its neck and neck between Goulding and Newley for different reasons. One can shoot, but doesn't defend, one can defend but cant seem to shoot anymore.


As for todays game, it got really really sloppy. To begin with the execution was very good, but the Boomers lost their way and it didn't seem like time outs were called or subs were made to prevent it.

Bogut was outstanding in his 8 minutes, which is heartening. He was all over the court, and for as long as he was out there Australia were stampeding all over Slovenia. As soon as he left, Jawai came in, Delly went out, Broekhoff went out, and scoring was like pulling teeth and we couldn't seem to stop Slovenia from scoring at the ring.

For the long stretches where Andrej just let the boys play, I am wondering what he was trying to prove. They were getting trampled, and nothing was working. A time out and some direction may have helped.

Dante Exum was his usual "I don't want to be accused of trying too hard" self. I hate to say it, but the Boomers would be better off with an NBL player who actually uses his skill than an NBA player who doesn't. Has no one had the "Its time to take the ball to the rack" conversation with him? He needs to find that fire or he is not going to last long in pro basketball - potential or not.

Broekhoff was great. He is the reason it even was competitive at the end. Broekhoff can book his flight to Rio as far as I am concerned. He might even upend somebody for a starter spot.

Jawai should just quit basketball for pie eating contests.

Anyways, I hope in tomorrows game they play with a rotation they are set on for New Zealand, and I hope the coach actually trys to influence the result of the game in some way. They showed for most of a quarter that they CAN defend well, and CAN swing the ball around and get on the run, now they do have to make a habit of it. There were some okay signs, but there continues to be an issue with execution and decision making.

Delly is a concern for mine. Struggled at the WC last year and we sometimes looked better with Gibson at PG. If Delly isn't firing I think we need to take another floor general to complement the explosiveness of Mills and (hopefully by then) Exum.

Just watched the game.

Seem to me that Australia didn't really want to win that badly. Bogut only playing 8mins. We were in control when Bogut was on the floor.

Some things I noticed.

Australia playing a lot of Flex.

Passing inside and ball movement was good.

Outside shooting was just ok but Slovenia was awesome.

Bairstow needs minutes, seem to be very rusty from sitting on the bench all season.

Jawai is over weight and can't defend on the outside.

Brockoff offensive rebounding, defense and cutting was excellent.

Martin D was excellent just can't score but we all knew that.

Golding defense was useless and his offense didn't equal what you lose in defense.

Gibson was just ok. Did nothing wrong or right.

Exum for me needs to have more purpose in his offense. Yes, he is reading to the defense but he isn't moving the defense.

Bogut's rebounding, blocks and inside offense was world class.

Anderson was ok. Would like for him to set up/back screens and pop out for 3's.

Delly defense, catch and shoot and passing was world class. Seems to force too much when driving to the basket.


Newely was ok.

Delly should never be the primary ball handler or play maker. I think of him like an 'assistant point guard'. You always have to have a ball handler on court with him.

And yes, despite some of the comments on the page, Gibbo has been perfectly solid as point guard thus far. Damian Martin has done what Damian Martin does, but has demonstrated why he has always lost his spot to Gibbo - because Gibbo has a little more offensive game and Damian is a dirt poor mans Delly (but a touch quicker maybe).

In the Boomers olympic team I tend to think Ingles will be primary ball handler. I just hope Exum starts deciding to actually DO SOMETHING.

I'm a bit concerned about Dellavedova too at this point. I love his heart, but at the end of the day, if he can't hit the side of a barn or beat his man off the dribble, then it tends to hurt our offence.

If Mills shows he is able to get us into our offence, I'd be pretty tempted to start Ingles at SG so I could squeeze Broekhoff into the starting lineup. His outside shot is so valuable to this team, but he also plays good D, he can hold his own defending the post if he gets caught on a switch, he rebounds well and he is even forcing a few turnovers!

With Motum, Broekhoff and Mills all able to shoot, you can put the ball in Ingles hands, let him play pick and roll with Bogut and find the open shot off that. That'll work even better once Exum is ready to run the point instead of Ingles!

Delly will also be effective running pick-and-roll with Bogut or Baynes surrounded by three shooters, but he has to get much better at pushing the ball and flowing into offence, something Gibson does well.

If Dante is ever able to do that. That would mean doing something.

These games have shown the importance of Mills. There is no medal conversation without Patty Mills. Broekhoff is also putting himself in the conversation for the Boomers best 5 most important players.

Delly is suited to assistant point guard or back up point guard. If Exum ever does wake up to himself the preferable place for Delly is similar to with the Cavs - playing 15-20 mins a game and being a bit of an annoyance to the opposition while making generally smart decisions.

Give Dante time, he's just a kid, he's not ready to be a big contributor at this level yet. He will be though, the Jazz are investing a lot in fast-tracking what he missed by being an international man of mystery, and the time spent in the Boomers program ahead of his time is invaluable.

I like the Bogut/Motum/Broekhoff/Ingles/Mills line-up. Four of those guys are playmakers in their position through the ability to score or create and Broekhoff is a quality finisher.

My bench would be:
Baynes/Andersen/Newley/Blanchfield/Gibson with Exum and a mobile defensive PF for impact, maybe a Petrie or Walker, or Simmons if he makes some good progress this year.

Watching that game I'm far less concerned than just seeing the numbers on paper.
Delly's main issue for mine is when he tries too hard to force the offence. With our full team he won't need to do that, so he can settle back into doing what he does best.

Agree with the comments about Exum. It's not fair to count on anyone that young for major production. My worry is more about what he will become down the track. What aspect of his game is going to be elite?

Anyway, the important players played pretty much as expected IMO. The Slovenians sure can shoot a basketball if the D lapses.

Looking forward to game 2 tomorrow.

Exum and Delly does not work in the backcourt I would prefer some more shooting out there with the starting line up such as Goulding.I'm not sure what Jawai adds to this team also surely someone like Ogilvy would have been more useful especially without Baynes.

Jawai has fallen way down the line of preferred centres for me. I would have Luke Schensher on the team first.

I am not sure what Exum will be, but if he doesn't improve drastically next season and say, Greenwood plays really well, I would be inclined to take Greenwood (just an example). Exum is adding only marginally more than Jawai and I don't see that changing any time soon, Greenwood would atleast provide some maturity.

"Petrie or Walker, or Simmons"...……..i'll definitely pick Simmons.

I don't expect Exum to dominate given his age, but he continues to demonstrate an unwillingness to be assertive and attack defence, this has been a consistent theme not just for the boomer but also for the Jazz. Most people would okay with Exum being aggressive and making mistakes rather than just ball watching or being so passive,(he did set a good screen in the 1st quarter though)

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

Boomers def Slovenia 66-51 Broekhoff 13p & 5r Goulding 12p Newley 10p Bairstow 5p & 7r Martin 5p & 5r Delly 5a

At least we finally got a win! Since we've lost Exum, I really hope we can bring Mills back in for the NZ series. I'd like to see Jawai replaced by a more mobile big man who has a proven record against NZ at NBL level as well. Ogilvy, DJ, Khazzouh, even Matt Knight... just a dependable big man to spell Bogut.

Yeah, the Jawai experiment is not working and Bairstow is not doing much either. We need to take care of business against NZ and we are taking a big risk not having reliable back-up bigs to support Bogut and Andersen. I want to see an experienced, proven big man that I know can defend the pick and roll and protect the paint. Doesn't matter about the future. We need a guy who will help us win the NZ series. The more I think about it, the more I think Matt Knight should be the guy. He is much better than Ogilvy defensively and knows the games of most of the NZ players.

Great to finally get a result. We will now watch with interest on the team makeup for the NZ series.

As it is likely a replacement will be needed for Exum is the door now open for Mills if available.

I really hope now that Mills can be available for the NZ series. No obvious choices if hes not

Blanchfield for mine if Patty not available.

I agree Paul but it appears Patty will be in Melbourne next week anyway according to the article written by Boti.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/more-sports/basketball/with-exum-out-boomers-will-look-to-patty-mills-to-answer-rio-olympic-qualifiers-sos/story-e6frf3f3-1227470924876

Game 3 was a much better showing for the Boomers defensively, keeping Slovenia to 51 points and 1 of 7 from behind the arc.

Boomers scrapped their way to the win in one of the uglier games you would witness while benching both Andrew Bogut and Brock Motum.

The team does seem to have improved, and is playing an up tempo - disruptive style.

The injury to exum was surprising, and it was sad to see the amount of pain he was in after. I hope he heels up and gets back on court quicker than scheduled.

As for replacement, Boti believes that Basketball Australia has already reached out to Mills, and if Mills plans to overlook the fiasco it really would be making the best of a bad situation.

I was more concerned with the teams fortunes before today, after todays game I feel if they play like this they certainly should pass New Zealand. Add Andrew Bogut, Motum and Patty Mills and we should be in very good stead. The offence looked more purposeful and the defence was dogged. The first and only good warm up game.

We shall have to see if we can continue this roll.