The Baggy Greens, the Dolphins, the Matildas and now the Boomers — Australia’s 2023 winter sporting circus enters another phase of action and drama as the FIBA World Cup 2023 tips off.
The Boomers, Australia’s men’s basketball team, is on a roll having finished on the podium for the first time at 2020 Olympics, collecting a breakthrough “Rose Gold” — a fancy, self-depreciating expression for the bronze medal.
With that win over Luka Doncic and his Slovenian squad, the Boomers scraped the monkey from their collective backs, a hairy beast that had hung around ever since size 7 balls were first bounced.
That was two years ago. A new-look squad went on to win the FIBA Asia Cup 2022, holding on for a slim win over Lebanon in the final.
If winning is indeed contagious, this generation of Boomers is sick.
As the Boomers get the ball rolling Friday evening (Aug. 25) with a first-round game against Finland and its star Lauri Markkanen, Rolling Stone Australia studies the form guide and breaks down the other sporting World Cup.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 17: during the Boomers vs The World match between Australia and South Sudan at Rod Laver Arena on August 17, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns Photography)
Small ball Aussies
When your point guard, typically the smallest played on the court, stands at 6’8”, and your starting centre, the large man in the middle, is a fraction under 7’ tall, you’re huge, right?
Not necessarily.
Basketball is a game that attracts giants, and the Boomers lack depth in the extreme height department.
The Boomers’ centre spot already appeared shallow before 6’11” Jock Landale, an NBA star, went down with injury in a recent friendly played on home soil.
When our lone big man, Duop Reath, takes a seat, the Boomers will do something fans of the national team have rarely, if ever, seen — play small ball.
It’s a strategy of non-positional play that has been the signature for Golden State Warriors and other teams in today’s NBA, the idea being that speedier, athletic, smaller guys will, over the course of a match, out-point bigger opponents. Sacrifice height for speed.
You won’t win the rebound count, you’ll need to make your shots and it only works if you have the athletes — which Australia currently has.
Australian basketball has been blessed with bigs over many generations, from Luc Longley, Andy Campbell and Luke Schenscher (all 7’2”), and seven-footers Andrew Bogut, Chris Anstey and Paul Rogers.
Can the Boomers run, gun and hustle for 40 minutes? We’ll find out.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 16: during the Boomers vs The World match between Australia and Brazil at Rod Laver Arena on August 16, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns Photography)
Embarrassment of riches
There was a time, a long period of time, when Longley was the only Australian presence in the NBA.
Back in the ‘90s, Longley became the first Aussie to enter the pros, the first to win a championship and he remains the first to win multiple titles, winning the second threepeat with Michael Jordan’s great Chicago Bulls.
Times have changed.
The Boomers of 2023 is loaded with NBA talent, guys who start with their franchises, who star for their teams, and win titles.
Leading the way is Josh Giddey, the lanky 20-year-old phenomenon will bring the ball up the court for the Boomers, as he does with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Association.
This is now Giddey’s team, and should be for the next 15 years. The son of former NBL defensive specialist Warrick Giddey, Josh will quarterback a team unusually stuffed with athletes around the 2-meter mark, a lineup that includes Dyson Daniels, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Matisse Thybulle, Xavier Cooks and Jack White.
Veteran Patty Mills, whose typically-lethal jump shot has appeared rusty in the warm-up matches, should be freed-up to drop daggers.
Ingles, the mercurial swingman, will spend time leading the reserves. Chris Goulding, the shooter; and Nick Kay, the fundamentalist, will have specific roles to play.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 16: during the Boomers vs The World match between Australia and Brazil at Rod Laver Arena on August 16, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns Photography)
The opposition
Depending on who you listen to, the Boomers are either a medal contender or somewhere in the top 10. If anyone tells you they’re the favourite, walk out the room and keep your cash stashed.
The United States will always stroll into a major basketball tournament as favourites, and this year is no different. Its squad isn’t raging with superstars – the top guns tend to miss the World Cup and instead aim for the Olympics, which is regarded by ballers as the Everest of the international game.
Team USA is engineered to cover all the bases — a blend of youth, athleticism, scoring power. New Zealand has the unenviable task of meeting the U.S. in the first game, Saturday Aug. 26.
The Kiwis are no slouches, and, despite a population roughly that of Sydney, the Tall Blacks have produced talent, including pro heavyweight Steven Adams, who is sitting out.
It’s worth noting, the Kiwis finished fourth at the 2002 World Cup (then World Championships) in Indiana, America’s basketball heartland. Team USA finished sixth.
Canada, France, Spain and Germany, on paper, look scary. South Sudan, in their first dig, look fun.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 17: during the Boomers vs The World match between Australia and South Sudan at Rod Laver Arena on August 17, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns Photography)
History repeats?
Fourth is the unlucky number. Just ask the Matildas. In tournament play, fourth means to play out of your skin, reaching the medal round, completing the maximum number of games, but losing when it matters (twice) and going home with nothing.
From Seoul 1988 until Tokyo 2020, the Boomers had endured the foul taste of fourth on so many occasions, you could argue a curse was to blame.
The bizarre late call on Mills that robbed Australia of bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, led Longley to remark that the opponents on the day, Spain, “gets kissed on the dick by the basketball gods every time we play them.” Maybe so.
Split across 8 pools, the World Cup features more games, more teams, more chances to stumble.
The Boomers have never won a medal in the tourney. The national Australian women’s team, the Opals, won the FIBA World Cup in 2006.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 14: during the Boomers vs The World match between Australia and Venezuela at Rod Laver Arena on August 14, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns Photography)
Big picture
The future is bright, and big.
Rocco Zikarsky, the 7-foot-3 youngster who will play for the Brisbane Bullets in the upcoming NBL season, is an NBA prospect. Australia-born guard Tyrese Proctor has already suited up with the Boomers, and will fancy his chances in the NBA when his time with Duke is done. 7’1” Saint Mary’s center earned playing time, and some points, during the Boomers’ recent run of friendlies in Melbourne.
Attendance at NBL games is on the bounce, with an all-time record 67,811 bums-on-seats for the five-game finals 2022 series between the Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers.
The Boomers squad, currently, is so deep, coach Goorjian left-off NBA calibre players, including former champion Matthew Dellavedova and Aaron Baynes, and 7’1” enigma Thon Maker.
Though Mills and Ingles haven’t put their hands up, this will likely be the final World Cup for the team co-captains. They’ll hope to carry that winning fever through the World Cup and into Paris for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games, just a year out.
Rose Gold isn’t the objective. “Yeah, we need a bit of a shinier colour,” Ingles tells RS. “The goal has always been to win a medal for the Boomers and be the first team to do. And obviously, the gold medal is the goal.”
The FIBA World Cup 2023 will be held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. Boomers matches will played live on Kayo and ESPN.
Counting down the hours. ⌛️ #WeAreBasketball #WinForAustralia #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/dcNzAecDg2
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) August 25, 2023
