Monday, 17.07.2006	posted by Andrew Gaze 3:10 pm
Category: FIBA World Championship

.................................................................................................................

BOOMER QUEST FOR GOLD

As the excitement and euphoria of Australia's 2nd appearance in the FIFA World Cup begins to subside, the Australian sporting attention will hopefully start to focus on one of the nations most successful sports teams, the Boomers, and their quest for gold at the 16th FIBA World Championships to be held in Japan from August 19th to September 3rd.

For the second time in FIBA World Championship history the tournament has been expanded to 24 teams and the extra depth of talent will provide an even sterner test for all teams striving for international basketball supremacy.

The only other time the tournament hosted more than 16 teams was in Spain in 1986, which most Australian fans have tried to erase from there memories as the Boomers failed to progress from the qualifying stages. In the idyllic seaside town of Ferrol, the burgeoning reputation of Australian Basketball was squashed after an infamous loss to Angola, who was one of the minnows of the game at the time.

Following the debacle of Spain the team underwent some robust changes, which produce spectacular results. In 3 out of the next 4 Olympic campaigns Australia played off for a medal and they were propelled back into one of the elite teams in world basketball. The success of the Boomers was not confined to Australia and the standards throughout the Oceania region were lifted, particularly with their traditional rivals New Zealand.

In 2001 the Kiwi's staked their claim as a ‘player' on the world basketball stage when they defeated the Boomers 2-1 in the 2001 World Championship qualification series. The win was the first time New Zealand had ever beaten Australia in a series and it gave them entry into the 2002 FIBA World Championships in Indianapolis.

Some of the Aussies humiliation from this historic loss was diminished because of the spectacular performance of the Kiwi's in Indianapolis where they reached the finals and finished 4th, which is the highest ever finish at a World Championship for a team from Oceania.

Both Australia and New Zealand have qualified for Japan and both have the ability to go deep into the tournament but it is the Boomers, led by the 2005 NBA number 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut, who carry the greatest expectations.

A few months ago Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian looked like he was going to be presented with the most talented squad an Australian coach ever had to work with. There was an embarrassment of riches in the big man department with Bogut, Chicago Bulls centre Luke Schenscher, David Anderson, Wade Helliwell, Matt Nielsen, and Chris Anstey. There was also the continued improvement of Glen Saville, Sam Mackinnon, Jason Smith, CJ Bruton, Brad Newley and the like, which was sound evidence for the high ratings of the talent pool.

The outlook has recently taken a huge hit with Schenscher and Bruton choosing to try their hand securing a spot on a NBA roster via the summer camp route, Anderson and Saville unlikely to be available because of injury and Neilsen being ruled out because the sports governing body, Basketball Australia (BA), not able to come up with an insurance policy to protect his lucrative 3 year contract with Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas.

Whilst all these players could have been significant contributors, it is the loss of Neilsen that is the most disappointing.

Neilsen has played the past 2 seasons in Eurpoe, 1 in Greece and 1 in Lithuania, and has developed into a player of NBA calibre. Unlike some internationals, he has an incredible passion and desire to represent his country and he was devastated that his lifelong dream of playing in the FIBA World Championships has been robbed from him because BA are unable or unwilling to pay the costs of insurance.

In fairness to BA, the costs are rumoured to be quite exorbitant but it is an issue that needs to be addressed to ensure all countries and the tournament are not deprived of their stars.

Even with some key players unavailable the Boomers will have plenty of talent to work with but how far they progress in the tournament could largely depend on the play of their guards. Since the retirement of Shane Heal after the Athens Olympics there has been no stand out successor for the point guard duties and it is likely that they will be forced to use an international rookie in Japan.

Steven Markovic, Aaron Bruce and Luke Kendall are currently in the Boomers squad and all have the potential to become major contributors at the international level but their lack of experience would be of a concern to Goorjian. There are a few weeks before the final team will be named and during this period they will all have the opportunity to stake their claim for selection but Goorjian may be tempted to think outside square if he is not convinced with what he sees.

A couple of players that would fall into the ‘way out of left field' category would be Shane Heal and Daryl MacDonald. I know that many would scoff at such a suggestion but unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any other options that would offer much of a difference to the current alternatives.

Heal, a 4 time Olympian, has been lured out of retirement to play for the new NBL franchise the South Dragons this season and despite not playing at an elite level for 2 years, he has been working diligently during the off season to get back to his post retirement form. Reports have suggested that he is physically in the best condition of his career and some of his recent cameo performances when playing in the state league competition in Queensland indicate he has not lost his shooting touch.

The 41 year old MacDonald is coming off a stellar season where he guided the Melbourne Tigers to an NBL Championship and from an NBL point of view there would be little doubt that last season he had the edge over his younger counterparts.

Whoever eventually gets the nod to pull on the green and gold in Japan there is unquestionably enough talent to give Australia a fighting chance to compete for a medal. Throughout Australia's history at competing in the FIBA World Championships they developed a reputation as being the undersized overachievers. They are no longer undersized but the expectations are that they will overachieve.