ME
Two years ago
NBL Young Guns and the Boomers Paris Olympics projections
I get it. People want to put the Boomers at the back of their mind. There's an NBL season here and the Boomers stank it up at the world cup. But after watching and hearing bits and pieces from the Blitz it seems like some young guys very well could find themselves on a plane to Paris next year.
Realistically if Australia is going to medal (or be particularly competitive) at the Olympics we need to do something different. We can't roll out the exact same team and do anything of note against the world's best. So my question is what do you think of the chances of the following guys -
Lachlan Olbright
Alex Toohey
Ben Henshal
and to a lesser extent, Rocco Zikarsky
And further, what are the chances of some old dogs coming back into the fray?
Matthew Dellavedova
Aron Baynes
Jonah Bolden
Mitch Creek
Lachy Olbright has been the standout of the group, and at 6 ft 10, mobile and with an ability to get to his spots and make buckets, you'd have to see him as a potential replacement for a declining Nick Kay.
Alex Toohey can shoot, which is more than can be said for most of the Boomers team. Same with Henshal, who may be a bit further down projections but is a name worth keeping an eye on.
And then there's Rocco Zikarsky. I doubt he'd be an impact player in Paris but surely he makes the camp. There can be little doubt he is Australia's big man of the future.
Then we might look at our old guys - Aron Baynes, "Delly" and Jonah Bolden.
"Baynesy" has shown glimpses in the Blitz that he still might have something in the tank. Delly seems to want to market himself as something of a bench shooter - and is really letting it fly. There were times at the Cup when his experience would have been invaluable. And then you've got Bolden, who left the team in disgrace in 2019, but may have matured enough to be forgiven. He's always going to be 6'10. He's always going to be athletic. He's always going to look like the missing piece, physically, anyway. And then there's Mitch Creek. I never thought a day would come when Mitch Creek would look like any kind of necessity to the team but for a Boomers team with a lack of shooting and scoring options and a lack of grit it's hard for me to keep pretending the man doesn't exist.
I cant help but think some of the needed pieces are emerging in the NBL to put the Boomers back on track but whether they'll be taken and utilized is another question.
