New HC and Assistants.

Things to improve
hunger, size, speed, athleticism, iq, ball handling and security, ball movement, shooting, rebounding, reducing turnovers

Replace
Mills - apparently he's done.
Dellevedova
Ingles
Kay
Magnay

Don’t guarantee players that performed well in 2024 and apply it to 2028.

selection panel must be much bigger to avoid bias.

Get new blood in ASAP, long before 2026.

Giddey has shown he's got the makings of an international superstar. With experience and maturity he can tighten up those sloppy turnovers which were his achilles heel.

Daniels was quite last night but showed plenty this tournament. Zikarsky and Furphy look like elite prospects and 3 years is a long time until the World Cup. Who knows what those guys become but signs are good.

Exum, Landale, McVeigh, Reath, Green (despite his poor showing here) and Thybulle (if we haven't pissed him off) all can remain solid rotation players through 2027 and 2028. Plenty of others potentially in the mix too. Jaylin Galloway another from left-field who could be ready in 3 years.

Patty will be a ginormous loss but the others won't be. Ingles rode the bench, Kay contributed little. Delly's grit will be missed, but WMW ready to step into that back up role.

Positionally there aren't many go-to scorers in the program, or point guards coming up behind Delly. There's loads of athletes and role players in the wing and 4 positions. So I think Giddey will be the man for the foreseeable future, with an athletic group who run and defend. Potentially with Rocco coming into the mix as an inside brute. It can be a successful group for sure.

Maybe this thread would be better...

Next pool of players.

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

Who else?

I still think mills comes back... hes still itchy.

But, to add one comment, international bball is more competitive than ever. France is likely the next Euro superpower with Wemby, Sarr, Coulibaly, Risacher. Canada's got their program rolling with SGA and others.

Basketball is played in more countries than any other sport (including soccer).

So let's take a moment to appreciate the achievements of bronze in Tokyo and getting so close in Rio and China

Although there's huge depth right now, we might never have another core group who fit together like Delly, Patty, Ingles, Baynes, Bogut (with Bogut missing Tokyo and Baynes injury but Landale a solid replacement).

Let's tip our hats to the golden generation as they (likely) bow out of international competition

What do we see with the coaching situation?

Three years to WC and four to Olympics, can we lock someone in that long-term or are we going to flip/flop for the next two years and worry about it later?

Do we need someone with a sole focus or can they have multiple roles?

1-2 year rolling contract, none of this 4-6 year guarantee BS.

Flights home

Entirely new coaching staff - one that will implement a sophisticated offensive scheme rather than Goorj's "defend, and then hope for the best" approach

Josh (and to a lesser extent, Dyson) to realise you don’t have 82 games here to muck around. Ball security is everything at this level.

Dante and Jock aren’t done yet.

Rejuvenate the team - Furphy, Rocco, Thybulle back in, Travers, White, Proctor, Olbrich, among many others to enter (or re-enter) the selection frame and keep pushing things forward

We are making a transition to the new Boomers. We had a talented but awkward lineup of young and old that could be killed on adjustments by teams that knew we had no offence in the half court. A changing of the guard year and the next campaign should be focused on our new squad.

I think the following mix gives a good range of skills and talent with many entering their prime years. Patty will still have some left in the tank off the bench.

Giddey/Exum/Mills
Daniels/Green/D.Daniels(12th man)
Furphy/ McVeigh
Reath / Thybulle or Simmons (whoever is willing to play)
Landale/ Zikarsky

The landscape will be entirely different in 3 years time, this thread is basically who's gonna be good in 2027. Grab your crystal ball...

Yup is on the money, so many things change in three months let at all three years.

"Things to improve
hunger, size, speed, athleticism, iq, ball handling and security, ball movement, shooting, rebounding, reducing turnovers"

I'd put basketball IQ and teamwork first, but otherwise I think you nailed it Weedy. (Is there any part of the game you HAVEN’T included LOL?)

I'm more of a OzHoops fan than know the ins and outs of the sport. But it would appear that Australia is producing excellent coaches. My question is... do we really need to keep using the same old guys and American coaches? Aren't there some good Aussie coaches coming through the system?

Fair point.

All we can say with certainty for the next major tournament (2027) is that

- Ingles and Goorjian will be gone

- Giddey, Daniels, Green, Exum, Landale, Reath should be in the picture- all have demonstrated commitment to the program, established players, have been a part of (even if minor part) multiple major tournaments, and will still be in their prime years or thereabouts (32 or less). So barring injuries or premature retirements, they'll be there

That's about it. The rest we're speculating about trajectories and probabilities. 3 years is a long time.

Also, well said LV. That generation of players - Mills, Ingles, Bogut, Dellavedova and Baynes - took Australian basketball to a level never before seen. The 2016 and 2019 teams played our best basketball ever, and would have been richly deserving gold or silver medallists.

The bronze medal was belated reward for most of those guys - without the medal, it would have been a tragic lack of recognition for that era.

I sincerely hope that the next iteration of Boomers can tap back in to the mindset and philosophies of that group. Key to this, in my opinion, is a return to unselfish, team play with high basketball IQ. It is not beyond this current group - the core of which will be Giddey, Daniels, Green, Exum, Landale and perhaps Thybulle again - but it will require a coaching staff that demands it of them.

Dont let Patty anywhere near the team again would be a great start.

The question marks are

Are Patty, Delly and Kay done? And will they have anything left in the tank

Will Thybulle return

Who's the next coach

Trajectory and development of the multitude of young players coming through (Zikarsky, Furphy, etc) or the fringe players from this 2023 and 2024 window (White, Cooks etc) or those who have shown unexpected development and took spots for Paris (Magnay, McVeigh)- McVeigh's trajectory has been amazing but I don't put him in the same category as those I listed in my last post (even Green who's 4/5 years younger)

Plenty of questions

Thanks JT

I guess, what I was getting at, is that group of players complemented each other perfectly.

- The gritty, pass-first point guard whose middle name is determination

- The shooting guard who turns into Michael Jordan every time he puts on a Boomers singlet

- The small forward who does a little bit of everything, including a 2nd option to steady the offense

- An All-NBA defensive level 5 man with High IQ and post passing ability

- Another brute big who developed a 3 point shot late in his career, allowing him to provide a better fit alongside the other big

It was a near perfect group, in terms of fit, and we saw them click in 2019 so well

And Landale became the third big, an inside/out guy who could play alongside either of the other bigs
All showed huge commitment to the program, team first guys who just wanted to win

Although we have more depth of talent now, and we have NBA level guys riding the bench or not even playing, no guarantee we'll ever have 5 guys who peak (roughly) around the same time and complement each other that well

Farewell the golden generation (probably).

2016 and 2019 I should say, as they went within a bee's appendage of medalling both times. With Andersen being the Landale inside/outside 3rd big in 2016

And would've probably won the World Cup if they'd beaten Spain in that 2019 semi-final double OT loss.

Olgun has a great article looking to the future.

I think we need to look outside Australia for a head coach, nothing will change under Neilson/Caporn.

Roth wouldn't be interested, Vickerman would be decent but unable to implement the significant offensive structure that we need.

Olgun mentioned, would love to see us just go straight to a high-level NBA/college coach if that's the style we wanna play, or to a European. Someone like Jordi Fernandez for Canada.

I really want this to be the end of the line for Patty, he's been great for us over the years but its over...

Same with Ingles, Kay, Delly... we need to now start bringing in the next wave and letting them take over.

Yeah I am in a very reflective mood at the moment. I've followed the Boomers very closely for 25 years, through the late Gaze/Heal/Bradtke/Longley era, the transition and being lost in the wilderness, to the CJ Bruton/Jason Smith/David Barlow relative mediocrity of the early 00s right through the emergence of a new core in the 2014 world cup with Dellavedova and Baynes and then when it all seemed to come together finally in 2016 with Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles Aron Baynes and Andrew Bogut all firing on all cylindars. That team, and the 2019 team rightfully should have medalled and were legitimately good enough to believe that about.

I felt we started transitioning out of that in 2021 with the loss of Bogut and then Baynes, but we were rewarded with a bronze, which spoke to all the work the program had done in all that time. Gaze cried on TV - he was right to. Our game in his country was FINALLY verified. The arrival in the world complete.

I'll always remember that golden generation. How close we came so many times. Being at Marvel Stadium when we finally beat Team USA - our first win to any serious team they've ever fielded. I don't care if it was a warm up game or not. It was amongst one of the most electrifying experiences I've ever had, and I remember vividly the entire day and the ambience it created seeing that in person.

Patty Mills has been extraordinary for the Boomers. Quite literally Michael Jordan in the green and gold. For all the rumours around him and Joe Ingles, I could care less as far as assessing what he's brought to the game and the Boomers. He is, without any doubt, the greatest Boomer to ever wear the jersey. And while some might bemoan some "hero ball", I think of the iconic performance he put in in the first half, and then the clutch shot to send it into overtime, a mere reminder of who he has been.

Now we look forward to a new generation to take this thing a step forward, but lets pay some respect for the blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice, broken hearts and limbs endured by our longstanding battlers who've scrapped to put us on the world basketball map, punching us above our weight and letting them all know we're here. That core will always be my favourite all time basketball team - win or lose.

Geez ME thanks a lot now im crying!

just read Gorj has stepped down as coach. so the first thing to take care is finding a new coach.

and we need to start blooding the next crop of serious A team players. I got no problem with Delly, Kay guys like that still being on the B teams we put out for qualifiers during the NBA season but the teams need to be lead by the new guys coming in so they are ready for the World Cup and Olympics

MaxM. I would say Fernandez has really underachieved with Canada.

Froling is not 7'0. He is 6'10 or 6'11.

Froling is listed as 213 cm which is close enough to 6'10" (just under)

The future is now with Basketball Australia. Whoever is appointed as the next coach has a huge job, which will decide the future of Aussie basketball for a long time to come.
I have always been a fan of Gleeson's as he gets the best out of his team. I feel he is a great game day coach. We have plenty of good coaches in Australia, but to succeed at international level you need to be better than good. The Serbian coach was incredible, yes he has Dokic and Boggy but he had them playing great after being down by 24.
It’s a tough job because you bring players from all around the world together and in a very short time expect to gel them into a medal winning team. This type of coach has to be great with X and O’s but has to have a really strong personality to get all players and coaching staff onto same page.
Exciting times ahead.

He is Froling is 2.13 m which is 7'0", he just plays a bit smaller than that.

If Froling is 7" I'll make the next boomers team and I’m a grandpa. Olbrich just beat him in the nbl, he’s not the answer at present. Again, we have the best coach in Australia, though now coaching in Asia, Japan, his name is Gleeson and let him pick his assistants. As mentioned above, you can chuck names on paper but a lot can change, injuries, form etc. Finally well done to Goorj he still got our first medal with the boomers.

Thon Maker is 7'0.
Froling is shorter than Maker.

Don't trust the heights of players' profiles too much. Most players like to exaggerate their heights.

e.g.

Jokic 6'11
Landale 6'11

In reality, Landale is shorter than Jokic. Landale is probably closer to 6'10.

Green is not 6'6. He is 6'4.5 or 6'5.

Sam is 7'0" I've seen he and Harry standing side by side and Sam is slightly taller, Harry is 6'11".

Thon is listed as both 7'0" and 7'1".

New Taipans import ranges from 6'5" to 6'7" depending on the source.

When has Gleeson won anything without having a stacked team?
Roth should get the job. Players coach mixed with right amount of culture plus NBA experience that those guys will respect.

Coaching is the number one issue to address soon. Who replaces Goorjian?

There was suggestion of hiring a US-based coach, which apparently the NBA guys like the idea of, or a Euro coach, but I like the idea of repeating the model that was built from 2014, an Australia-based coach who coaches most of the qualifiers through to the major tournaments. This makes players familiar with the system, the culture of the team. It creates a consistent identity. It allows for plug-and-play players to fill in the gaps, know where they might fit in the system, integrate into the A team, as Kay did successfully 2019-2021. We need more structure, and shouldn't employ an NBA-style of game.

We should have a coach who knows FIBA ball and the Australian style. If we hire a random NBA guy or someone with no international experience, history says it will take at least one major campaign crash to develop an understanding of the international game.

Locally, Gleeson (2014-2016) and Lemanis (2013-2019) have that international experience in an era when we had a system for the D-team through to the A-team. By the way, Lemanis was 14-8 in World Cup and Olympics games, and lifted the Boomers ranking from 11 to 3.

Can only go by what the NBL website says

Again not to defend Goorjian but I'm not sure Giddey would function all that well in a structured set up so by playing loose & fast it suits him better. He is after all our best player once Patty leaves. It's also easier to hide talent deficits by playing that way too. We saw what happened to us last night when Serbia slowed it down and made us play halfcourt ball, turnover city.

His stats in the NZNBL for Taranaki have him listed at 205 cm lmao

Lemanis was way under-rated. Don't see him getting the gig again, but we overachieved with him at the helm.

I think Condon's ceiling is higher than Froling and Olbrich's.

"It's also easier to hide talent deficits by playing that way too."

Playing fast in FIBA requires a very high level of talent because mistakes you make playing at speed or ad lib are punished almost unfailingly by the best teams.

Having good structure allows you to better utilise players strengths, and allows you to better set-up to defend.

The Boomers decision-making in the open floor and in isolation situations was poor this tournament, the new coach needs to find a better system that allows flair at the right moments without it costing us games.

Simmons and Bolden showed that the coaching decision should come down to who can instill the best system. Choose a coach and system that is best for the personnel available; don't choose a coach just to appease personalities.

The only guys BA should be concerned about are Giddey and Daniels, and I expect both of them would play for whoever was named the Boomers coach. So the rumour about what the NBA guys want shouldn't matter.

The commitment model for the coach to take a whole 4 year cycle makes sense. BA can have a clause where they can drop the coach if they are a disappointment, but any new coach should be selected with the expectation that they are there for a whole cycle.

I think there's bad blood between BA and Lemanis so I'd never expect that appointment made again. Plus I think by the end Lemanis had just had enough of it all. He should never have been dropped, especially not for Ben Simmons. No matter what we do moving forward, our decisions should never be to appease Ben Simmons. The dude is perhaps the biggest wanker in Australian basketball history.

I am not sure what to make of talk that Scott Roth wouldn't want to do it, and what that is based on. His priorities may soon change if it presents an opportunity to be involved in the Olympics. For me it should be either Scott Roth or Trevor Gleeson.

Olgun mentioned, would love to see us just go straight to a high-level NBA/college coach if that's the style we wanna play, or to a European. Someone like Jordi Fernandez for Canada.

The dude is perhaps the biggest wanker in Australian basketball history.

Shane Heal might dispute this contender to his crown.

I'll try that again.

The dude is perhaps the biggest wanker in Australian basketball history.

Shane Heal might dispute this contender to his crown.

Sweet lol

At least Heal showed up for the Boomers..

That's true.

In a lot of ways I wish Simmons had never played for the Boomers in 2013 as at the time he was still in high-school in the US he may have ultimately switched nationalities, would've saved a lot of grief and Lemanis may still be the coach.

Giddey grew up playing the Melbourne Tigers old school Drake Shuffle offence and credits this experience with his ability to make backdoor passes and cuts, especially his SLOB stuff.
He would be fine with a structured set up.

The new coach should ideally have a Roth like resume ie
NBA assistant coaching experience
Euro coaching experience
National program coaching experience (with Turkey)
Experience and exposure to the whole Aussie basketball realm.
That's ideally but we have too many coaches who just seem to gravitate to the NBA when our national coach I feel needs Euro experience.
Roth loves Euro ball and now says he is a little bored by NBA coaching.

Could Bannan become another 2019 Kay?

Don't agree that Gleeson always had stacked team, they took united to game five without Cotton not that long ago. Anyway coaching Australia his team would be stacked. I’ve always been a bevo fan as well, not certain he’d be interested or want the pressure though.

Well said rjd

Dunkman your memory fails, United swept Perth without Cotton.

However it was a very competitive series despite the sweep

2019 is a good example of Gleeson's wares vs Vickerman.

Gleeson deserving of the opportunity if he wants it. Plays a structured game, strong offensive sets, preaches team, won't pander to egos but won't cheese them off either.

Japan an issue though. So unlikely

I thought Caporn devising the plays late in game indicates both Goorj and the players trust in him. Could he be next to the throne?

Let's hope Goorj's Boomers protege is better than Goorj's previous NBL protege Jackomas!

Cotton-less Wildcats got swept 3-0 by United in 2021.

LV, Caporn devising the plays late doesn't mean anything Jackomas used to do that under Goorj at the Hawks too.

That's my point. Jackomas became Hawks coach. Is it a sign Goorj's grooming Caporn as replacement?

Okay fair enough. He might be but it's also been said over the years that Goorj is a great coach during the week getting the players in shape and ready but come game day only has a Plan A and can't come up with a Plan B in game hence why his assistants have to step in and take charge.

I kind of saw that with my 36ers despite being underdogs beating his favoured Magic/Titans teams in back to back GF's in the late 90's and again last time Goorj coached in the NBL at the Hawks they were playing Cotton-less Wildcats in the SF series the Hawks won Game 1 in Perth went back home to Illawarra to wrap it up and Gleeson levelled the series and then back to Perth for Game 3 which Perth won. It was a massive choke job by Goorj, not the first time and perhaps Gleeson's greatest coaching performance coming back from 0-1 down in a best of 3 SF series despite no Cotton.

You could even argue we saw the same thing happen with Goorj last night. Plan A worked great early, Serbia adjusted, no Plan B so assistant taking over late.

Roth himself has said he's not a great tactical coach, he's more of a good mentor and leader of men.

Would need elite assistants around him and I'm not sure who that would be.
Plus I can't see him being able to fully commit for multiple summers in a row, when he is normally in the US with family.

Wouldn't be my first choice.

Ok, just know it was still tight, thought cats got a couple games. I would not be hanging my hat on the last play, it was horrible.
Most euro countries have a naturalised US player in them, some Asian as well. While we look good for point guards, let's get a high scoring team player, Cotton missed the boat, I’m still crying about it, he’s a difference maker, Thybulle is not the answer, we don’t need a defensive player as we have them.

MaxM, re: Roth well Jacob Chance is already there at the Boomers and he and Roth worked together at the Wildcats and then Roth lured him to the JJ's too.

Sorry dunkman, we have some ok defensive players, but Thybulle is elite over multiple positions. Put him in with Daniel's and we are well over the defensive disasters of Mills and Giddey.

It wasn't our best outcome but 2019 was when the Boomers looked the best. The offence was a thing of beauty. Yes we had a well balanced team but a lot of credit goes to the coaching.

Thybulle is not the answer, we don't need a defensive player as we have them.

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

Come watch the 2021 Tokyo Olympics again

Could everyone please stop mentioning Ben "the shit fashion plate" Simmons. He is dead to Australian basketball.

2021 is a long time gone, he's not the answer, each to there own though.

Yeah, I forgot for a moment that you were a supporter of Kay.

I like the idea of repeating the model that was built from 2014, an Australia-based coach who coaches most of the qualifiers through to the major tournaments. This makes players familiar with the system, the culture of the team. It creates a consistent identity. It allows for plug-and-play players to fill in the gaps, know where they might fit in the system, integrate into the A team, as Kay did successfully 2019-2021.
-------'


No thanks. This creates the situation where inferior players like sobey, kay, magnay getting valuable spots in the WC or Olympics team just because they are more familiar with the playing style , and better players like thybulle, Cooks , Thon missing out.

I supported Kay when he had the best plus-minus on the court by quite a few, I also said that I wasn't a fan of Kay’s but he didn’t deserve the rubbish against him that he was getting, you have either got a bad memory or you only register in your brain what you want. I actually had Cooks in my team ahead of him and still believe in hindsight it was correct but I don’t let pre conceived bias cloud my opinion like some around hear.

The plus-minus can vary depending on who he plays with. If Kay does nothing on offense or defense, but his teammates play well, his plus will increase.

I am not criticizing Kay's past achievements. I am also not criticizing Joe's past achievements.

Kay was one of the best players in the 2019 World Cup and the 2021 Olympics, but his prime time ended in 2022. The same goes for Ingles.

In fact, we watched them play in the 2023 World Cup. Kay and Ingles were very slow on their feet and had low scoring efficiency. The experience of a veteran is very important. That's why it's possible to include Kay in the final roster. But he shouldn't have been a starter.

"No thanks. This creates the situation where inferior players like sobey, kay, magnay getting valuable spots in the WC or Olympics team just because they are more familiar with the playing style , and better players like thybulle, Cooks , Thon missing out."

Compared with the situation where we run a team with no system, only taking a few days to prepare basic offensive principles, and players like Thybulle, Cooks and Thon miss out?

By the way, Thon was in the qualifiers in 2018 (ie. the infamous basketbrawl) under Lemanis, but pulled out of the 2019 team.

Asia regional qualifiers, Asia Cup and Asia U-Tournament do not help players develop.

Boomers require a coach, who aside from having the tactical nous necessary, has ultimate authority and isn't undermined by the NBA players or BA, i.e. Lemanis by Simmons or Goorjian by Mills wanting Ingles on the side (supposedly) and whatever else we aren't privy to.

Sadly I'm not sure this will happen with the track record of the governing body.

Ok, just know it was still tight, thought cats got a couple games

Agreed PW- as I said above, very competitive series and Gleeson would be a worthy Boomers coach

Lemanis v Mills. Mills won.

2025 ASIA CUP is next...

Macdonald
Vasiljevic
Dellevedova
Armstrong
Mcdowell-White
Goulding
Henshall
Fennell
Galloway
Siulepa
Creek
White
Cooks
Kay
Pinder
Bolden
Bannan
Olbrich
Magnay
Humphries
Froling
Etc


Probably N/A

Mills
Proctor
Exum
Green
Thybulle
Daniels
Giddey
Mcveigh
Furphy
Travers
Simmons
Reath
Landale
Zikarsky

Total agree PW, Gleeson is clearly the best candidate if he wants it. While there are lot coaches that are good, certainly at practice sessions, Gleeson is so much better on game day.

"Lemanis v Mills", QA?

I always understood Lemanis was ditched because of Simmons - is that what you were referring to?

All guess work, WMW has signed at Berlin, euro league side, to have Proctor ahead of him on what, hype, please give it a break.

No Dash Daniels? If he keeps going the way he is going he will be a killer on the court.

Also, Duop is a notable ommission.

All guess work this early though.

Where will every other country be in 4 years? Our biggest competitors are the following imo

I don't know much about the up and coming players in other countries but it is seemingly..

USA will be USA
Spain will continue a downward trajectory.
France will be similar to Australia with older group and new young core. Gobert will be 36 and Fournier 35.
Canada will always be good but let's hope they go back to being non-committal (unlikely with Olympics in USA)
Serbia will develop with more Nikolas in every draft.
Germany will remain strong with Franz but without too much development. Schroder will be 34, Theis 36.

Outsiders are Latvia, Slovenia, Greece. Might be missing some.

The main issue with the team has been and likely will remain is lack of chemistry - they don't have time to gel. If they keep getting together once every 2-3 years, when they can start understanding each other? The Boomers' greatest achievements came after years of playing together, and we are expecting a team that's been together through 2 major tournaments with 3-4 weeks of preparation each time to deliver gold?

Most of other teams bar USA and Canada have their core built around players in the domestic competitions who play on a regular basis in the domestic and international competitions. Having a team composed of solely NBA players may work if they are called Labron or Curry, but with only 2-3 players making any meaningful contribution on their NBA teams, it will be extremely difficult to get them play together quickly. So in my view we should stop the nonsense that if someone makes the NBA he has a guaranteed spot, it has to be earned (several on this team have established themselves so no fuss about them). The team composition should start with Boomers B those playing in other major international tournaments, pick 4-5 that presumably can play at a high level, drill them well and then they can complement the others. We had 12 players in the Olympics, 7 play in the NBA - 2 of whom played almost no minutes in this tournament. Nobody could have predicted that Green would be so bad but it is what it is, Ingles should not have been on the plane and it is more and more believable that he was a player in question. I can imagine a rift that has caused (if true).

Green was really disappointing, though he hasnt shown much on the international level as a whole so not sure what we will ever get out of him going forward. Even McVeigh played better than him and proved to be one of our more crucial players this Olympics, he wasnt scared of taking a big shot and always shot the ball with confidence. Maybe Green now moving to the Hornets and likely in the starting lineup will help him both find confidence and improve as a player.

Does no one rate Roman as a future Boomer? His skillset is quite desired and he is a gun!

Green was 6/11 from 3 in the NBA finals with almost 3 boards per game with ZERO turnovers playing almost 20 minutes a game guarding the likes of Brown,Tatum and White

He is now a shell of himself with the Boomers. Thats on the coaches and the leadership group, not Green

You cant take an asset like he is and can be and mess it up so badly.

Green is a weird operator. I think he is just such a confidence player. When he is struggling to naturally find his spots he really struggles overall. Almost to the level where he looks like he has never played the game before.

But when he is confident and has a role where he can just do his thing he looks amazing. Will be interesting with a longer leash with charlotte if he can really take off. cant wait to see what he can do in 25 minutes a game on a bad team.

Multiple sources theorised that even throughout training camp he just looked mentally and physically exhausted after a long playoff run.

Dante didn't have the same problems but can't blame him if that was an issue.

Hopefully Green will have 3 years on a bad team in Charlotte which will give him lots of usage and minutes.
I have full faith in him bouncing back, can easily see him developing his shot creation significantly.

Also - Proctor has been a pretty big let down so far in college, highly unlikely he makes the NBA. Actually probably a two-way next season I'd guess.

No way I'd put him ahead of WMW or Dash Daniels.

No way I'd put him ahead of WMW or Dash Daniels.

Dash is not yet playing in the NCAA or NBL.

3 years is a long time

Some of these guys might be knocking on the door

https://www.sportingnews.com/au/nba/news/dash-daniels-jacob-furphy-highlight-2024-nba-academy-games/c77884bc49e12d853c315295

The team's potential really opens up if Olbrich continues his rapid development. He has all the traits you need as a high-level power forward for international basketball (and size/athleticism to play up a position as needed).

He's sort of the McVeigh of this spot (bear with me). Like McVeigh made a few specialists redundant with his combined size and skillset, Olbrich would do this at the 4. For example, we wouldn't have to fuss too much over a Kay vs Cooks type decision.

I think we should acknowledge that this year's team was better than the 2023 world cup team if nothing else. I can't see that team troubling Canada or almost beating Serbia. Definitely better on the eye test as well. So it's fair to acknowledge that from one tournament to the next, improvement was made either because of, or in spite of, some more preferred players not making that team.

Reading where when Goorj paid tribute to Mills and Ingles given their likely retirements, he made clear the decision to select Ingles over Matisse had been proved correct.

Didn't hear the comment to understand the context, but that's a fair bit of spin since Joe didn't play and we give up some big leads, particularly against Serbia.

Would like to hear why he thought that proved to be the case, only thing he could have been talking about was locker room presence.

Anyway, time to move on now and look forward

As crystal balls are nice but the way it's turned out, Thybulle might have been better than Green. Point being made that at time of selecting and now, who knows, it’s the way the apple crumbles.

Backing up Goorj's comments, after hearing similar comments about Ingles selection and his role this campaign from the ex boomers in the media I am comfortable now with Ingles selection.

To me though the problem was not who had the last seat on the bench. The problem is that our coaching/preparation whatever does not arm us with how to battle Euro teams in the half court when the foul and slow the game right down. Unlike the NBA, off ball players camp on the split line, foul intelligently but indescrimately, get in the ref’s faces, continually tap at the dead ball...
We need to be ready for those tactics and a coach with just NBA experience will not be prepared for that

It's clear that the Euro teams have a competitive advantage regarding FIBA rules and chemistry. This has been evident for some time beyond this Olympics. USA nearly picked off by Serbia. USA haven’t been really dominating like they should be. Canada knocked off by France. We are basically a mini USA team and we have been getting picked apart despite the talent. There’s a lot to be said about fitting this system and style of play.

Goorjian always brings one's guy he's absolutely determined to have that never plays and that player is always at the detriment of a better player. In his explanation he said Joe was training other players. Cool. Could've done that as an assistant coach. As for being injury insurance, Exum went down and we barely even went to him so who was he potential insurance for exactly? You could easily argue that Thybulle would have been more effective in spot minutes against Greece or Canada if we weren't even going to play Ingles in those games. But Ira all irrelevant now. I'm glad to move forward from Goorjian. I am not sure if Patty is dome yet though. If he's playing and shooting okay and if no one comes up in that position there's no reason he can't do what Sergio Llul did.

When you look how the tournament panned out, boomers, Goorj got lot right, it took USA mighty two , Lebron triple double and Curry 36 points to beat Serbia. As I've said previously hindsight is easy to get it right and the carry on over Thybulle is unbelievable, as it turned out, Cooks for Kay might have been better, but we will never know. Congratulations to all the boomers, plus coaches and all staff, it was an enjoyable ride.

On a side note, Lebron and Curry won’t be there in four years and world basketball is a lot closer now than ever, bring it on, love the world game.

Has Goorj ever done anything but talk himself up in any media conference?

I suppose his record is very enviable, I didn't hear the press conference but you can see how close we went.

I noticed Ingles regularly speaking with Boomers players during the game, often as they came off the court. Obviously don't know what was said, but it doesn't sound unreasonable to hear that fellow players would say that he provided valuable contributions at the end of the bench.

Ingles over Thybulle is only a problem if it affects Thybulle's desire to play for the Boomers in the future. But Goorj is gone now, so...

Not very Gold Vibes Only of you, Dunkman.

Reality is, we had the chance to beat Serbia and play off in the medal round of this tournament.

Just like we had the chance to beat the eventual world champions Germany in the previous major tournament.

At some point, stacking excuses and moral victories when coughing up winning games with decisions that any reasonable basketball mind would question, becomes a pattern of low expectations and performance.

*winnable games

I'm hearing you JT, but that’s been the since the Gaze days, close but so far, Goorj did produce a bronze.

Correction - the players plus Goorjian produced bronze.

He even said he didn't contribute much to the way the team played.

"Has Goorj ever done anything but talk himself up in any media conference?"

I remember how unedifying his departure from the Hawks was too, pining for a contract extension in the media not getting it so spat the dummy and quit, whilst trying to make it sound like it was a smooth transition to his protege Jackomas. I think Goorj even signalled he wanted to stay on as a consultant lol

People can talk about the bronze in Tokyo but that was more the work of Lemanis and since Goorj coached us to 9th at the WC and 6th at Paris, where we only won one game and lost our last three games.

Like Bogut & Newley said you can't decry 'hero-ball' in a press conference when it's the thing that kept us in games.

Serbia's game against the USA just further highlights for me how close this whole competition was. France making it to the gold game, also. France almost lost to Japan and then went on to beat Canada and Germany to stamp their ticket. They weren't exactly impressive in their pool games. Australia gave Canada a pretty tough game, and really was a few brain farts away from beating Serbia. A few bounces a different way and the Boomers are in the medal round, a few bounces another way and France plays USA in the quarters and is likely knocked out. This tournament has been super tough, no doubt about it. We can look at our record at the Olympics and say we underachieved, but no one from "the group of death" won their quarter final. Could it be that we were all playing in much tougher games, showed more of our hand and then took the L against teams that were restying players and still had time to work through more of their stuff? I am only spitballing here, but the difference between top 3 and 6th is a knives edge. If we were anything bordering on careful with the ball we'd be right there.

In other news there's talk that Patty wants to play on for the Boomers. A lot of people want to close that door but I am not so quick. Spain has held onto a lot of their 40-somethings and theyve been important to that team. If Patty remains our best option for an off the bench burner role, then he should take it. If he doesnt, then move on. But a lot of people seem to want to bite the hand that has fed us for a decade, and if not for Patty we wouldnt have stayed in that Serbia game. He wont be the go-to guy in 2026/8. But he very well still may be important for some buckets. I don't think we should force retirement on someone who may well still make a difference. I'm betting on Patty in 2-4 years having more on court value than Ingles did this time around. If someone takes that spot, then fine. But I am not overlooking Patty and just assuming he cant do what Sergio Lull did.

I'm with you, Zodiac. What has been interesting is the valid criticisms that Bogut and Newley have made are very similar to those made here, or on social media by 'keyboard warriors'. Hero ball, lack of off ball movement, everyone is saying the same thing.

(Out of politeness/loyalty, they didn't pin these things directly on Goorj of course, while they are clearly down to coaching)

Newley made a fairly clear comment about the strength of the Lemanis regime 2010-2019, where players came in with an expectation/understanding of what was needed in offence.

We are likely/hopefully embarking on a similar journey with this new talented playing group. It's vital we find a coach and a system to take us back to the heights of 2016-2021.

Agree JT, I got a kick out of Bogut straddling the fence of trying not to criticise Goorj too hard given the NBL team he part-owns just signed him to be their coach, for the next 3 years too.

I only watched a couple of those Gold Standard shows but both Bogut and Newley have been good value even though Newls sounded like he was half asleep in the final one.

My group for the next majors cycle. Nothing set in stone. Really hoping that Travers comes along, think he could offer a really interesting look at the 4, along with Olbrich who could be a proper Euro style big.

Giddey
Daniels
Exum
Travers
Landale

WMW
Josh Green
Furphy
McVeigh
Thybulle
Olbrich
Reath
Zikarsky

Proctor, Jaylin Galloway, Alex Toohey, Cooks, Jack White all under consideration.

I said previously, Bogut should get the Luke Longley role in the next campaign, he gave his all even banged up for the boomers and commands respect. NBA guys got fit the system.

Good call, Dunkman

I like the idea. He might be a bit blunt for some of them, though. LOL

You need bluntness some times in team sports, otherwise you can get selfishness that takes over team.

I agree Bogut had a great basketball IQ , was committed to the program and would be a valuable asset.

I really like Toohey, hopefully he develops, seems to have more perimeter gamethan the other options...

Agree with the comments about Bogut. Bogut's commentary in the Gold Standard was consistently on the money. My only surprise was that he was uncharacteristically restrained in some of his criticism, but the Kings-Goorjian situation explains it.

He was part of the Boomers from the refreshed Boomers (2004+) without culture to the peak Boomers in 2019, so he knows what is necessary. I also would argue he was an important part of the development of Golden State's team culture that created that 73-win team. Bogut was there during Boomers scrimmages recently, so hopefully BA elevates his role moving forward.

I thought that Toohey's weakness was his shooting. Hope I'm wrong and he continues to develop.

It is time to let go of the Paddy and Ingles show and with the retirement of Delly and CG43 from the boomers no time is better than now to complete the change including retiring Kay.
A blind person can see that there is no longer a positive chemistry between the younger players and Paddy. Time to invest in youth and new leadership in the playing group.

Lets's all be realistic here...we are about to go on a very very big slide downwards. This is just a fact. We "might" get to all major tournaments but we will be spectators

"I thought that Toohey's weakness was his shooting. Hope I'm wrong and he continues to develop. "

It definitely is, however he has pretty good form I feel and it should come around, he's just inconsistent right now. I'm not sure he will ever be a Boomer though, he does everything relatively well at this stage but doesn't stand out enough in any one area either. Very young and could well develop into a high-level utility piece though if he can knock down 35%+ from deep.

We don't have an NBA MVP level guy, the 3 games we lost were to MVP level players, SGA, Giannis and Jokic, Luka knocked us out of the WC’s.

It prolly should have been Simmons but that ship sailed...