With our current list I would have us ranked as 6th in the world behind

1. USA
2. Canada
3. France
4. Germany
5. Serbia

We are currently ranked a reasonable 7th.

There's no doubt we have a strong spread of NBA level (role) players with the 3rd largest. But we are missing shot creators, a big body and a superstar who can anchor the offence. A lot of hustle and heart though and we could beat any of 2-5 on a great game.

As a hornets fan (seriously) Green has been good, not great. Had the opportunity to take a larger role within the team after our injury crisis, but didn't really step up. His D has still been very solid, but his shot hasn’t been the same as it was in Dallas.

"There's no doubt we have a strong spread of NBA level (role) players with the 3rd largest. But we are missing shot creators, a big body and a superstar who can anchor the offence. A lot of hustle and heart though and we could beat any of 2-5 on a great game."

This seems right. It pays to remember the Boomers are on a rebuild, and by historical contexts, sitting 6th at this point in our cycle is quite strong. Having recently read Matt Logue's "The Boomers", we tend to bottom out quite badly once we hand over the keys, definitely with the Sydney games being the biggest example of that. But we are in a good position right now to find ourselves back in the top four again if we can tick some of those boxes above, with the world cup's 10th place being the only particularly glaring blemish.

In an ideal world, we'd have a healthy and mentally fit Ben Simmons. As for a big body, the jury is out on where that could come from. Zikarsky is young but I don't think he has the mobility or athleticism to be the next Bogut. I'm thinking he's a Luke Schensher.

Is it too late to include Bryce Cotton's availability in our wish lists? I know that 1 Olympics would be the end of it but we both (BC and the Boomers) deserve it.

I'm a bit surprised you have Zikarsky in your 12 but not Cooks, White, Magnay or Froling.

Cotton would be a great addition to the team above. He gives the team that elite scorer we are lacking now that Mills is near the end. Would be a handy stop-gap for the next tournament!

Yeah I have Zikarsky for development and insurance purposes. The 12th man isn't going to see huge minutes but we are a bit thin at C and Zikarsky has a lot of potential for the future. But yes agree that any of the suggested bigs could take that place dependant on how Zikarsky develops in the next year and a half. Not too often we have a projected first rounder big.

Didn’t Cotton give up on citizenship?

Also, I recall part of the non selection of Thybulle was based on already having defensive prowess with Dyson and not giving up too much offence? Which is starting to make a little more sense but still don’t fully agree with it. Imagine having Simmons, Thybulle and Dyson on a team. It would arguably be the best defensive team in the world (with the sacrifice of offence!).

Also, is it too early to say that Dyson aka the Bendigo Bandit has overtaken Giddey as our best?

Yes unfortunately cotton gave up on citizenship.
Reath more serviceable, way ahead of any other backup C currently.
Magnay was terrible at the Olympics imo, Simmons as a tweener 5-4 would offer more.
Zikarsky still sometime away from a backup role.


2026
Giddey-Exum
Daniels-Proctor
Green-Mcveigh
Travers-? (Options > Cooks, White, Thybulle, Toohey, Furphy or Pinder)
Landale-Reath-Simmons
+1 G/F


Development
02 Armstrong
06 Siulepa?
04 Furphy
04 Toohey
06 Zikarsky

Vets
Ingles no
Mills maybe
Kay no

I haven't kept up with the latest on Cotton. He would be a great addition to the defensive minded guards we have right now though.

I’d like to see Magnay and Froling get a lot of opportunities leading up to the World Cup, to see if they continue to improve against international competition.

Magnay was up and down at the Olympics, but he hasn’t had a lot experience and he offers some shotblocking that noone else does for the Boomers right now. So not saying he will make the team, but I don’t want to write him off yet.

Froling just intrigues me because of his offensive skills. He’s more like a bigger McVeigh with some nifty footwork. So I wonder if he could play the 4 at international level and give us a guy who could attack mismatches in the paint while not giving up too much size at the other end?

Froling is not a player fit for international competition.
I don't think he is a good defender at international level. He doesn't have good agility. He also can't shot blocking.
And he can only score against NBL and Asian teams. I don't think he can score against Europe and the US. He can't make a jump shot and his free throws are terrible.

^^^^^^ exactly, Froling won't even start for hawks if Olbrich is there next season.

Did Cotton give up? From memory, BA withdrew their support because they wanted Matisse instead, and so it stalled within the relevant WA government department.

Now that Matisse is down on form and has lots of overlap in the Boomers, BC should be brought into the Boomers if at all possible, as he still has a few years of quality play to offer. Giddey and Daniels would rack up a ton of assists with a Cotton on the court.

Hunter should be on the list of fives, big mobile unit, he's a fiba quality centre.

Yeah I thought Cotton only gave up on the DVT pathway to citizenship (the shortcut) due to the AOC and BA withdrawing their support. He'd still be able to move through the more traditional pathways which would have probably seen him eligible by now if he'd been given better advice.

Hopefully a new regime can work with him to renew his desire and make him part of it. He should always be in any squad if eligible.

I'd add Humphries to the big man list as well.

Magnay ahead of Hunter ahead of Humphries, for me.

Humphries doesn't have a 3-point shot to stretch defences.

With my little-to-no knowledge of Furphy and Proctor, and with due respect to them, my 12 are:

Giddey/Exum
Cotton/Mills
Daniels/McVeigh/Travers or Green
Cooks/White,
Landale/Reath/Zikarsky

*If Simmons is available and wanted, then Travers or Green loses his spot, Simmons starts at the 4 and can always "help" as a guard, if needed.

Just saw @hoopie's post. Yeah, I would have Magnay. Sorry Rocco!

You think Patty will still be able to make the Boomers by the 27 WC? Come on that's 2.5 years away.

Patty will be on the bench, unless he retires before then.

Which end of the bench depends on whether we have Cotton or someone like him in the squad.

I can't see Patty making a Boomers team in 2.5 years time, I doubt he will even be playing then certainly won't be good enough to make the Boomers.

Simmons doesn't play the four, he’s a point guard.

In the bits the I've seen of Brooklyn games this season (not fun, don't recommend) Simmons has been *better* at playing off the ball and screening for a ball handler than he has been in the past. Having said that it came from a SUPER low base. He still looks lost when defending in the post.

I think he just got so into his head being a PG only than he missed his biggest advantage SHOULD be his versatility.