OK.... we been speaking roo soon on Patty

What I say?

Nice to see Patty hitting his shots early

Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ognjen Dobric will not play today.

Nice opening quarter

We are looking a lot better so far in this game.

List of players who impressed in the first quarter
Exum, Mills, Daniels, Magnay

I'll be honest.
Giddey must be nervous, work hard and improve his skills. Daniels could threaten Giddey's spot during the next World Cup.

Great defence from Australia. We would be way ahead if we hadn't missed so many open threes.

Serbia playing much harder than the USA. Good prep for us.

Milutinov is a big old beast

Kay can't hit the side of a barn door right now but our defence is looking nice especially against Jokic.

Now is the most important moment.
The first half is not over yet, but Landale is in foul trouble.
If we can solve this problem, it will have a positive effect on the Olympics as well.

Incredibly sloppy finish to the half but overall positive.

Giddey would love to take the last 2 mins of the half, back. That's why Delly is there, for when Giddey goes rogue.

I struggled to get a reliable stream, but in the brief moments I saw, Giddey must've had 3 turnovers that all led to fast break baskets. He again appears aggressive, but to the point of being reckless.

Overall very positive. Should be well ahead if not for shooting. Still a bit puzzled not to see any Reath. Patty seems to be playing himself into form which makes the Boomers a different beast. Certainly this up and down game looks more effective against Serbia so far than it did with USA. If we can get the W here it will give a lot of people more faith in this team but we're seeing some of an effective blueprint showing.

Giddey 4 turnovers

The best % 3pt shooters cant get on the floor.

"Giddey would love to take the last 2 mins of the half, back. That's why Delly is there, for when Giddey goes rogue."


This, Giddey is becoming a great leader for this team but seems to lose his brain for a minute or two and that can be costly. Delly has been great in his role.

6-0 Serbia run in the last 51 seconds

Still a bit puzzled not to see any Reath.

Goorj doesn't know how to utilize role players.
Green and Reath have good tools, but they will not receive playing time until Goorj is replaced.

PTGM, why don't you try enjoy the game without calling for anyone's head? Just a thought

Agreed Maxy. A strong opinion isn't needed at each moment

Mills is hot today, but players should not rely too much on him.

Don't like this small lineup with Kay at the 5 but suppose it's worth experimenting in warmup games.

Agreed PTGM. The last we want to do is go Mills ISO. We are moving the ball really well. If only we could hit open shots.

@MaxM - That is correct.
Still, the Olympics are not held every year.
It happens once every four years. If not now, when on earth can I say it?

Reath wont even sit on the bench, standing away from the team, not going out to meet the team coming off the court.

Not telling you what you can and can't say! If we're getting smacked go for it, but if we're doing alright such as today, may as well look for some positives?

nice to get some practice extended minutes with Landale sitting down. Solid Q.

Is Reath hurt?

Commentators having a competition to see who can speak the most words without taking a breathe.

Reath could be Brian (The Murderer) Goorjian's next victim. Chris Goulding was the first.

Reath would get eaten by Jokic and Mulitinov. Not the matchup for him.

Reath might have had his feelings hurt. Bubbles was always super supportive and ready to play, even if he didnt play. He was always the first player off the bench to get up and support players at time outs etc.

Giddey acting like a petulant 14 year old, clearly hasnt played against that many Euro teams who are going to try and get you pissed off.

Reath would get eaten by Jokic and Mulitinov. Not the matchup for him.

You are very negative.
He didn't play a second. No one knows whether he will do well or not.

Reath could play the 4 beside either Magnay or Landale and do it effectively while being an additional 3 point threat.

Otherwise what team does he match up against? He is running out of opposition.

Goulding was always super supportive? That didn't help the Boomers when we were left without a 3 point threat on the floor.

Ah well, we're doing pretty well currently. But I agree it's certainly interesting.

Great to see this type of finish from us. Touch wood.

Are we winning? Yes. Then why do we care how much Reath is playing? Maybe coaches know something we don't?

The Boomers are playing well but it is up to us to identify the weaknesses that will be exploited by other teams as Goorjian won't see them.

I think we have found our deaht lineup here, Giddey to the bench and Exum at the point.

notice the change in play once Giddey goes off the court. He is currently -4 in his minutes.

Gorj wants to get someone injured in the last minute.

Giddey and Mills do not mix. Giddey is a worry.

Great win. Well done.

Good Win
But the starting lineup needs to change.
There is no shame in Mills playing off the bench. Even if he comes off the bench, he can play however he wants.

How about the rapid evolution of Dyson Daniels? I was calling for him not to be selected, but now is our best defender and is hitting big shots on offence.

Hats off to him.

This is a big win for confidence and momentum and tells me we're tracking the right direction to be a lot better than people think this year. We didnt have a single game last year, in warm up or the cup, where we looked as good as we did tonight. So with all the considerations of this being a warm up game, I think we can look to our group and tournament with optimism. And the biggest take away here is that Patty Mills isn't done quite yet. That was the old Patty again. Sure you can still see some rust but I'd take this Patty over the one whose been moonlighting as Patty Mills the past 3 weeks any day. I think this team can legitimately do something and we still have a lot of room for growth. Reath to the bench is interesting but if Goorj doesnt feel he can go with that intensity then so be it. They're obviously zeroing in on a style of play that works for them and if one player falls out of favour it isnt on the coaching staff to make absolutely sure theyre used just because we'd like them to be.

I want to add I am liking the use of Ingles and Delly in this team. You can see theyre coming in for a specific effect. Ingles steadies the ship, slows things down and makes the right read. Delly is a safe pair of hands but raises defensive intensity. If both only play 5 minues a game but give you those attributes then they're great pieces to have on a team that is largely quite young.

How about the rapid evolution of Dyson Daniels? I was calling for him not to be selected, but now is our best defender and is hitting big shots on offence.

Hats off to him.

-----------------------------------

Boomers did not select Thybulle and Cooks, so Daniels is the only multi-position defender on their current roster.
I still think Thybulle is a better defender than Daniels, but Daniels can play more of an offense and has greater potential than Thybulle.
If Prime Time FIBA Patty was in the Boomers, the Boomers would have chosen Thybulle.
But for Mills, prime time is over. He now has extreme ups and downs. As for Mills, he can be cold, like he was against the USA and China at the Olympics, or he can be hot, like he was against Serbia today.
That's why the Boomers may have thought Daniels was a better piece, as he could fill a larger role in the offense.

I'll be honest.
Giddey must be nervous, work hard and improve his skills. Daniels could threaten Giddey's spot during the next World Cup.

And I still think Mills should play off the bench.
I am in no way criticizing him.
I still think the Giddey - Mills - Kay lineup should not be used.
USA with KD and Serbia with Bogdanovic are completely different teams. They are like FIBA Patty. These are players who can score an average of 20 points with good efficiency.
Defensively problems are likely to occur.
Even if Mills plays on the bench, he can play a similar role as he does now.

You may be thinking that Giddey can play from the bench instead of Mills.
But now Landale's best partner is Giddey.

My takes from the 2 games (not that it matters)
-Aussies play with high intensity and passion
-Confidence for medal rounds boosted with the level of play.
-Landale and Exum standouts.
-Have to take what Giddey gives you, good or bad. But he's the only one with shiftiness on the ball to make help defenders react. The floater and midrange looks good too.
-Kay and Green solid role players.
-McVeigh needs to find a role.
-Hate to say it but Ingles doesn't belong out there anymore with his level of play, he's been a spot up shooter the last couple years and it shows. The playmaking he once had isn't there anymore, well at least to his previous standards. And he's kind of angry out there these days lol
-Mills is a huge liability if his shot isn't dropping. Hope he finds his touch soon!
-Even more questions raised as to why Delly was selected over Matisse when they have Dyson, Exum, Giddey and Mills running point.
-on that point, Dysons offensive development has stalled remarkably, mainly with ball in his hands (do they only learn jab step and straight-line drive at the AIS?). His spot ups look good and defense is up there.
-Magney did ok. but is undersized who can't stretch the floor, why not play Reath a few minutes?

I sTiLl CaN'T beLiEvE mAtiSsE wAsN't PiCkEd! :S

Maybe Furphy would have been a good alternative to Kay. Oh well, next cycle.
Kay's been ok, just needs to knock down his shots.
Daniels been better than expected but I’d like to see him go for more steals, atm he just keepin them infront.
We need to get more minutes into Green and Reath before Olympics.

I don't get the Goorj hate?

We have won 1 Olympic medal in our history. 1
This guy has poured his life into basketball in this country. He has lived in aus longer than his native US.

He was the coach that helped get us over the line.

Wc’s are a different beast that Olympics, also, we capitalised at the right time with vets who are going to be on the downward trajectory now....yet we have people carrying on like he’s a rookie nepo coach.

Anyone else think Patty"TheGOAT"Mills is a bot? Post with no context. Constantly repeats themselves. Can we have a mute button on this forum?

Looks like Reath has been given the 3rd string backup centre role which means hes likely stuck with garbage time unless injury happens. Goorijan gave Redhage the same role when he was in the Olympic team.

I'm sure Reath is disappointed after having a very solid NBA season.

Without gametime, maybe he requests a transfer to South Sudan in the future and joins Maker brothers, Noi, Kuol, Madut, Kuany, Achor, Acuoth, Deng, Dech, Muo, Mathiang, Acuil, Adel, Makoi etc etc.

Just watched the game. Happy and relieved to see Patty find some. A few points i take from it:

-Patty's form will be a big factor in whether we get out of the group.

-I was wrong on Daniels, he's as good as Thybulle defensively and has more upside on offence. And he's only 21. Has a huge future for the Boomers.

-Green is criminally underutilised and unfortunately don't see that changing.

-Feeling sorry for Reath. No floor time in what was a 'friendly'. What is going on there? At this stage he's probably wishing he was representing his birth country in Paris.

probably some truth in that, I'm sure he was asked to play for South Sudan, where he would have started, but decided to stick with Boomers. he might be regretting that decision now. even if you win a medal, if you play 5 minutes in the whole tournament im sure it would feel a little empty

Thon Maker wasnt allowed to play for South Sudan so wouldnt expect Reath would be allowed to transfer either

@Poppa Pump - Anyone else think Patty"TheGOAT"Mills is a bot? Post with no context. Constantly repeats themselves. Can we have a mute button on this forum?

No need to create a mute button.
I will do whatever you want. After this comment, I will no longer post or comment.

Very happy to see Mills gain confidence with his shot. Prior to this game he was frankly woeful. I hope this is all he needed to get on a roll. With this game, I can't see Goorjian drastically cutting Mills' minutes, so we can only hope that FIBA Patty is back for good.

If it ever came down to Daniels vs Thybulle, it's tough to argue that the Boomers coaches were wrong based on the last two games. Daniels has offered a lot at both ends.

I'm finding myself very ambivalent with respect to Giddey. His active play and probing is creating opportunities, and it's something that nobody else can really do on this team, but he also disrupts the offense, throws the ball away leading to easy fast breaks, and puts up ill-advised shots. In the World Cup my main criticism was his lack of intensity, which he appears to be correcting so far. I think his +/- actually has been a fair reflection of his worth so far. If he can eliminate those reckless kick-out passes, it's about 4-6ppg difference right there.

It's hard to be critical of Reath's role. It's unlucky for him, but Magney has provided something crucial on this team that Reath certainly doesn't provide: rebounding and interior D. Magney's increased role has been a surprise, but again, hard to criticise the coaches here. He's a bit undersized, but Magnay adds to the balance of this team.

This game gives us some confidence, but Serbia obviously weren't playing their cards. They have a few more gears. I see the main take-away is the consolidation of roles, building momentum, and some key players gaining confidence.

Fantastic summary rjd, especially on Daniels and Magnay.

At least Serbia were clearly playing very hard, even if not going through all the sets. Good prep compared to the Americans.

I have to also mention Exum. How impressive has he been at both ends? He goes under the radar a bit, but he has quietly become probably our most valuable guard on the team. Strong lockdown D, gets deflections, hits his shots, can get in the lane, passes the ball around well, plays within himself and doesn't turn the ball over much. Exum doesn't get enough love around here.

Was one of our only bright spots at the world cup, Exum.

Bogut made a very good point about Giddey/Mills starting together - in both warmup games, one of them has been subbbed out within 3/4 mins so really that lineup isn't causing many problems. It's just about not playing them together for long periods of time. We saw the end of the game as well where Giddey sat and Exum took over, I feel that's a trend we'll continue to see.

So it probably wouldn't change much if one of them came off the bench, as the lineup is changing regularly anyway.

@BillyBob. Goorj did not get us over the line at Tokyo. The remainder of Lemanis's system got us over the line. All Goorj did was stand on the other side of the line and cheerlead. Stop giving credit where it is definitely not due.

Thon was still in the South Sudans roster in June, when has he been not allowed to play?

I'm looking forward to seeing that Sudanese play in their first Olympics.

Thon Maker (no clearance from Fiba) and Bol Bol (not released from NBA summer league) not playing at Olympics.

2024
Giddey-Exum-Dellevedova
Mills-Green
Daniels-Mcveigh
Kay-Ingles
Landale-Magnay-Reath

2026(WC)-2028(O)
Giddey-Exum-?
Mills-Green or ?
Daniels-Mcveigh or ?
?-?
Landale-Magnay-Reath or ?


Options...
Vasljevic
Proctor
Mcdowell-White
Armstrong
Henshall
Galloway
Siulepa
Furphy
Travers
White
Cooks
Pinder
Bolden
Simmons
Condon
Humphries
Froling
Zikarsky
Etc
Who else?

Sean MacDonald potentially

Might be considered too small at 6'2, has to be a specialist at something. smaller than Delly.

Another takeaway from the game. Serbia shot 3/22 from the three. Mostly wide open from memory as we had to collapse to deal with their inside game.

Was that good scouting as we were selective on who to leave open? Was it just a rare off day as my assumption was that they are usually a good shooting team?

"2026(WC)-2028(O)
Giddey-Exum-?
Mills-Green or ?
Daniels-Mcveigh or ?
?-?
Landale-Magnay-Reath or ?"

Surely it is very unlikely that Mills is going past this major tournament. He is turning 36 in August. A small player who relies on speed. He will be 39 by the World Cup in 2027. Surely this is FIBA Patty's last hurray.

Patty still got plenty left in the tank

I figure mills is like scola and will go on till he decides he's ready to retire.

Giddey, Exum
Mills, Daniels
Green, Furphy, McVeigh
Reath, Simmons, Ingles
Landale, Zikarsky

WMW should be in the mix.

@aussiepride

So they just rolled the ball out and goorj just played pre recorded messages from Lemanis?

Ingles is no chance for 2026, he was apparently one of the last 2 picks.

That was great to watch two very good performances to finish our preparations for the Olympics. I was a bit nervous after those two games against a mediocre China team but the second-half comeback against the USA and coming close to jagging it along with a systematic performance against a decent Serbian team gives our Olympic hopes a real shot in the arm.

I'm not sure Patty has got too many of these vintage performances left in him but that was beautiful to watch. He ran them ragged and some great passes too. I must admit Dyson has made a believer out of me now these two games he's looked a much better and composed player, playing good D and knocking down the open shots.

It was interesting too to see how much better we played with Magnay out there than Landale. Even though Magnay is limited offensively he's a better player defensively and unlike Landale seems to intimidate opposition bigs a bit more.

Late in the game we were cruising along with Magnay out there then replaced him with Landale who immediately started making mistakes at both ends and gave Serbia a sniff. Goorj put Magnay back in for him and we kicked back into gear and cruised home. It was very, very telling. Landale should probably still start but if a team gets a jump on us early get him out of there and put Magnay in.

Speaking of bigs what was the point of picking Reath if we're not going to give him minutes in exhibition games? I know he's a poor rebounder and seems to have regressed since going to the NBA but Cooks would've been a much better selection than him. Kay already gives us some outside shooting at the four spot.

Anyway stoked with our preparation for Paris bring on Spain in 10 days time.

We have 2 more prep games.

PR and France.

Hey?

It was the perfect finish to the Boomers' Olympic preparations, following an equally solid display against USA the night previous.

--

Australia now heads to Paris, where it takes on the second-ranked nation in the world, Spain, in its opening game on July 27.

https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/mens-olympic-basketball-tournament-paris-2024/news/olympics-men-2024-news-tracker-preparation-games-for-the-mens-olympic-basketball-tournament-paris-2024

Okay cool but strange the NBL doesn't know about them. Hopefully they're not just scrimmages.

NBL admin, sometimes they don't put in the correct info.
Hats off to them though, they try to keep the public up to date, unlike BA.

I think Ingles may be retired by 2026 or at most playing in the NBL. I wouldn't expect him to be in the cup team. This really would be his last major, and given the limited role he looks to have I just cant see what they'd get him to do.

Patty's shot would be if he comes to the NBL, gets a lot of burn and still has gas in the tank. Maybe he can be deep on the bench if he indeed does still have something. I'd expect we'd have moved past Delly and Kay for Proctor and whatever else is out there.

Dont bother saying Simmons. Just dont.

Furphy is a lock. Zikarsky is a lock. I reckon Magnay/Duop could have another tournament. I think McVeigh may just be a one tournament guy, I think theres just too much quality coming through at his spot.

Daniels is near enough a lock.

Who do we have coming through who's really in the mould if Jack McVeigh as a stretch 3/4 other than Furphy? That's really it.

We are getting bigger across the board, more athletic and seem to have more options in each position going forward. Upgrading defensively but we lack genuine shooters at most positions.

6'0 Mills 88
6’2 Vasiljevic 97
6’4 Proctor 04
6’5 Armstrong 02
6’5 Mcdowell-White 98
6’5 Exum 95
6’5 Daniels 07
6’5 Henshall 04
6’5 Green 00
6’5 Thybulle 97
6’6 Fennell 06
6’6 Galloway 02
6’6 Siulepa 06
6’7 Daniels 03
6’7 Travers 01
6’7 White 97
6’8 Giddey 02
6’8 Mcveigh 96
6’8 Furphy 04
6’8 Cooks 95
6’9 Pinder 95
6’10 Bolden 96
6’10 Simmons 96
6’10 Reath 96
6’10 Olbrich 03
6’10 Magnay 98
6’11 Condon 04
6’11 Landale 95
6’11 Humphries 98
7’0 Froling 00
7’3 Zikarsky 06

Probably missed a few
Toohey is one.

6'7.25 Alex Ducas 00