Bullish Boomers have a mix of new and old to defy Olympics ‘group of death’ | Kieran Pender

The Australian men’s basketball team are under no misapprehensions about the challenge that awaits them in the week ahead, as the Boomers’ Olympic campaign gets underway on Saturday. “We know we’re in an absolute shitfight in our group,” straight-shooting coach Brian Goorjian admitted recently.

The “group of death” that awaits Australia is one of several reasons that the Boomers head into the Paris Games with mixed views on their prospects. After winning a historic bronze medal three years ago in Tokyo – “ rose gold ” even, the first in the history of Australia’s men’s program – a generational shift began.

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As a golden era of Australian basketballers enter the twilight of their career, it has fallen to Goorjian and his assistants to usher in a new cohort of young stars. The difficulties of that task became clear at last year’s World Cup, when Australia failed to progress through the second round.

Concerns ahead of Paris were compounded by Goorjian’s squad selections. The omission of Matisse Thybulle, an elite-level defender in the NBA who had a breakout performance in Tokyo, prompted much head-scratching. Thybulle had been considered a likely starter in Paris, and certainly a regular member of the rotation – but suddenly he was not even in the 12-man squad. Also not on the plane was Chris Goulding, one of the best three-point shooters in Boomers history.

In their place, 33-year-old veteran Matthew Dellavedova, who had been absent from the World Cup side, made a return to the national team. Another mainstay of the Boomers over the past decade, Joe Ingles, also retained his spot. Together with talisman Patty Mills, Ingles will be featuring in his fifth Olympics – a remarkable achievement. Cumulatively it is a line-up of experience – all but two members of the squad have played in the NBA, a team record (and another, Jack McVeigh, has just signed with the Houston Rockets). But does it have the vitality to return to the medal matches?

Those fears are in part the result of an exceedingly difficult group stage draw for the Boomers. Australia’s campaign will begin on Saturday against Spain, a team that has historically had the Boomers’ number. The Spaniards beat Australia by just one point in the bronze medal match at Rio 2016, and bested the Boomers in double overtime in a World Cup semi-final three years later. Spain is not the team they once were; like Australia, they are undergoing a generational shift. But the clash in Lille will still prove a daunting opening assignment.

The going gets even tougher from there. On Tuesday, the Boomers will meet Canada – a team full of NBA talent, including Oklahoma point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver star Jamal Murray. The pool will then conclude three days later with a match-up against Greece, led by two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Boomers need to finish in the top two to guarantee progress to the quarter-finals, although the two best third-placed teams also go through.

But against the pessimism of the selection debate and a tough group has been the hard evidence of the Boomers’ warm-up games. Australia only narrowly lost to Olympic champions the United States in a friendly in Abu Dhabi, before dispatching Serbia and Puerto Rico. In their final pre-Olympic work-out, on Sunday, the Boomers overcame hosts France thanks to a clutch set-piece bucket with seconds on the clock.

Veteran Mills and new Chicago Bulls signing Josh Giddey have provided impressive attacking spark in recent games, as has 21-year-old Dyson Daniels. And the Boomers’ defensive solidity has been on display in all four matches, most notably in containing 2023 NBA No 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama on Sunday.

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After lacking size in the paint at last year’s World Cup, strong performances from Will Magnay, Jock Landale and Duop Reath will have reassured Goorjian. And McVeigh, who led the Tasmanian JackJumpers to their first-ever National Basketball League title this year, showed his game-winning potential with a clutch shot on the third-quarter buzzer against France. Even a dislocated finger for creative dynamo Dante Exum looks unlikely to keep him off the court for too long.

All of which means the Boomers enter their opening clash with Spain buoyed by recent form, even if some question marks linger. Having finally won an Olympic medal in Tokyo, the team will be hoping to go even better in Paris. Another medal would be a fitting send off for the veterans and a statement of intent from this team’s young new core.

“The talent that we have in Australian basketball is, in my opinion, as good as it’s ever been,” Giddey insisted on Tuesday. “This is probably the realest chance we’ve ever had to win a gold medal in Australian basketball, so we’ve got the pieces to do it.”