You'd imagine that Patty will still be integral whether it's as spark off the bench or starter.

It will still be Delly's team to run but Exum and Simmons will leave their impression on the team. Baynes and broekhoffwill be there in Japan but not sure how many others will survive

My concern is whether or not we've got any more big men coming through - other than Maker, of course.

Baynes should be able to continue through to 2019. I felt his 2014 WC performance was far superior, but also his role better suited his game. I'm not sure that Baynes was such a success at PF, especially as the tournament progressed. He definitely had struggles containing opposition stretch 4s. For me, it was a bit of a surprise that Lemanis went with Baynes starting at the 4 given his preference to use stretch 4s, but I suppose we don't have many options there with not enough frontcourt depth. The fact that Maric was 13th man says a lot about our frontcourt depth.

Without Bogut and Andersen, we are missing a quality stretch 4 and a quality rim protector: basically the two key ingredients in a modern frontcourt!

As Andersen is sure to retire, the closest to a quality stretch 4 is Motum. Do we have any promising bigs with range? I can only think of Maker, who at this stage is more in the category of "can" shoot the 3, rather than "reliably" shoots the 3. I've always liked Motum, but he has some glaring deficiencies. How much more can he develop after age 25? Hopefully Simmons somehow develops a nasty outside shot in the next 3 years.

I thought rebounding was a bit of an issue at times in this tournament, even though we had 3 NBA-quality bigs. Perhaps Maker and Simmons will help us in that regard.

I like Lemanis's tendency in selecting a defensive-minded lineup. Exum, Maker, and Simmons will fit in there. We really need those 3 to develop a lot more in the NBA.

I really hope Bogut and Anderson don't retire. I know Anderson is oldish but I think the only reason he should be out of the equation is if his play starts declining, same goes for Bogut.

I feel from these lists we need better options at shooting guard. We should be okay inside with Maker if he keeps on at the current rate.

Another concern might be a change in culture. This current team has been together for almost a decade and have an identity now. I am not sure if that will be true of the next group

Andersen will be like 40 in 2020 so i think its safe to say he wont be there

Bogut would be around 36 i think, so he could be a chance for 1 more run if he is still playing well and injury free

How about an annual event:

Boomers vs NBL Select, 3 games series.

TV and Streaming Deal, good marketing for the league.

Yes.

Along with a Tall Blacks game or series of course, which seems to be quite frequent anyway.

The NBL Spin will be a fresh idea, which could include possibly 2 available imports and 2 NZ-ers.. to make up for the fact there most likely will be Aussie NBL-ers in the Boomers squad.

The Comm Games are set to be held in just over 18 months time. Might be something to better to banter about rather than another 500 threads on 2019 or 2020 teams.

No one cares about the Comm Games though.

Basketball at Commonwealth Games is a joke and shouldn't be played. Not enough teams are even remotely competitive at that level.

Australia #11 (soon to be #10)
NZ #21
Great Britain #24 (but competing as England, Wales, Scotland, Nth Ireland)
Nigeria #25 (were better than advertised these games admittedly)
Canada #26 (could possibly be favourites if they bring their best team, but of course, they won't)
...
then daylight.

As there won't be a single NBA player for any team there, it will be the best of the NBL in a rematch for gold.

Just for a trip down memory lane, our 2006 Commonwealth Games Gold Medal Team:
CJ Bruton
Brad Davidson
Russell Hinder
Jacob Holmes
Luke Kendall
Sam Mackinnon
Neil Mottram
Brad Newley
Paul Rogers
Tony Ronaldson
Jason Smith
Mark Worthington
Head Coach: Brian Goorjian

With no disrespect intended, some of those players would not have made a full strength Boomers expanded squad.

The Comm Games are obviously low in the pecking order of international basketball, but it may actually be interesting, given all the commentary about Australia and Canada being teams to watch in the future. Presumably both nations will send second/third string sides, which should provide a good indication of both nations' relative depth.

Should we not try to play a youth side of potential Boomers then, with college players and those available rather than any older NBL players or current Boomers if this is the case (such a low level of talent)?

How could I forgot about Bairstow? A definite frontcourt rotation player of any future Boomers team. If he remains in the NBL, he could be the prime focus and leader of the Boomers in qualification games and the Commonwealth Games, so hopefully we get to see a lot of him. Not sure if he improved much in his time as a Bull given his limited court time, but his development trajectory in college was very impressive. Perhaps his main improvement while in the NBA seems to be the development of extra range on that jumpshot out to 3-point range. He has the potential to be that Andersen-type player: solid post-up game, excellent mid-range shot, and can stretch out and seems to be able to reliably hit the 3. He isn't afraid of contact and will fight for boards. In fact, he was our leading rebounder per minute of play this tournament:

Rebounds per 40 min:
Bogut 6.9
Baynes 10.2
Andersen 9.8
Motum 10.3
Bairstow 13.1

Like Baynes, he is a bit turnover prone. I don't recall what kind of turnovers he tended to get, though.

It will be interesting to see how we approach selection of the Boomers qualification teams and Commonwealth Games. These will be NBL-heavy teams as I believe even NCAA ball will clash.

From what I've seen of Isaac Humphries i've been very unimpressed. We need to find the rim protector of the future and they have to be 7 ft tall plus, and i don't think it's him at this level.

Bogut said today he'll be ready for another go around, body-permitting, but he'll have slowed significantly by then.

To make the next Olympics the Boomers have to finish top 7 at the next World Cup in 2019 (out of 32 teams), this includes 12 European teams (all who are hard to beat, and would also include USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil.

or they have to qualify through an Olympic Qualifying tournament (win one of 4 tournaments). Total 11 teams plus China.

So qualifying for the next Olympics wont be as easy as beating NZ. It will be really difficult.

To qualify for the 2019 World Cup, have to finish top 7 in Asia/Oceania.

November 2017 - June 2018 playoff in 4 pools of 4. Top 3 advance.

September 2018 - Feb 2019 - playoff in 2 pools of 6, top 3 advance to World Cup, plus best 4th place finisher.

So the Comm Games are going to be very important in putting together a National Squad that will help us to Qualify for World Cup.

Someone like David Andersen (if he doesn't go back to NBA)and Brad Newley could be very important, potentially Captains to help lead us through to 2018/19.


Hopefully our Olympics result will help us be seeded top 4 when they allocate the World Cup pools.

For entertainment and competitive purposes an NBL select team would be better..

But definitely something else needs to be done in regards to Emerging Boomers.. maybe closed door session training purposes could use them, which allows them to get more use to the Boomers program in general while putting them up against tough competition.

Not sure if they do that already or not as part of the ongoing program.

In the WC qualifiers, IIRC the results carry over from the first phase to second phase, so we shouldn't slack off at any stage. I think there is definitely a place for seasoned vets in the Commonwealth Games and qualifiers, while also leaving open spots for emerging young talent to gain experience. I'm concerned we will go with no-mans-land selections as we have previously done on Chinese tours where only one or two players have a realistic chance of ever making the full strength team.

It would be great if we could lure some promising young college players to get some experience in the system, such as McDowell-White.

Am I right to assume that Euro leagues are scheduling breaks to accommodate this new qualification process? If so, perhaps Bolden is a chance, and hope that Broekhoff is willing to commit.