The 12-man Australian Boomers team that will compete at the FIBA World Cup and the lead-up games in Perth and Melbourne has been announced today, Wednesday, August 7.
The team features two players who are set to make their national team debuts. Jonah Bolden and Xavier Cooks have been selected for the first time after impressing at the Boomers’ selection camp.
Bolden is fresh off completing his first season in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, and will don the Australian jersey for the first time since the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championships.
Meanwhile, Wollongong native Cooks will make also his debut for the Boomers in China. Cooks enjoyed a stellar season in Germany with Oliver Wurzburg before embarking on an NBA Summer League campaign with the Phoenix Suns.
Joining Bolden and Cooks as fresh faces in the team is Jock Landale and Nick Kay.
Landale, spent last month as a part of the Milwaukee Bucks summer league team and impressed many after averaging 18 points and 7 rebounds across four games.
Landale, who is currently signed to Lithuanian club Žalgiris Kaunas, made his Boomers debut in February during the final FIBA World Cup qualifying window. His inclusion in Boomers qualifying teams earlier in the year was something which took him by surprise but what this program means to Australia’s basketball players was clear when he described being told by Boomers coach Luc Longley he would be heading to the FIBA World Cup.
“I was actually with one of my mates and Luc [Longley] came up to my room and told me they were going to take me, it was pretty emotional, I had a bit of a teary after Luc left because I get a little tough around the coaches” said Landale.
Although Nick Kay has been a part of the Boomers program since 2017 it was his brilliant “high-level play at both ends of the floor” during the team’s selection camp this week that left the Boomers coaching staff unable to name a team without him, selecting him over more experienced players like Brock Motum and Deng Adel.
With his high-level play at both ends of the floor, @Nickkay04 left the @BasketballAus Boomers coaching staff with no choice but to add him to the 🇦🇺 @FIBAWC squad 👊@PerthWildcats #NBL20 pic.twitter.com/3oqNSgWYkD
— NBL (@NBL) August 7, 2019
Six members of the 2016 Olympic team will return, with Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Chris Goulding, Joe Ingles and Patrick Mills taking their places in the Boomers team.
Chris Goulding is one of four NBL players in the team, alongside Cameron Gliddon, Nicholas Kay and Nathan Sobey. The latter three will all play in their first major international tournament after playing key roles in helping the Boomers qualify for the World Cup.
“I’m always so humbled in the Boomers environment. The commitment to the team and the pride each athlete shows in being a Boomer is a privilege to experience. As a nation, we are extremely fortunate to have players who are not only extremely skilled on the court, but who are also wonderful human beings” said Boomers Coach Andrej Lemanis
The omission of players with NBA experience like Mitch Creek and Deng Adel combined with the selection of Brisbane Bullets NBL players Nathan Sobey and Cam Gliddon has left the Andrej Lemanis who is the head coach of both the Boomers and Bullets open to “favouritism” attacks from many rabid Australian basketball fans.
Lemanis going with Sobey (who I like) and Gliddon over Creek is mind boggling. #boomers #FIBAWorldCup
— KentyMcKent (@matty_0101) August 7, 2019
Congrats to those who made it but the omission of @MitchCreek from the @BasketballAus Boomers for the @FIBAWC is an embarrassment and leaves the selectors wide open for Brisbane Bullets bias accusations.
— Boti Nagy (@boti_nagy) August 6, 2019
Shocking @BrisbaneBullets bias in the announcement of the #Boomers WC squad. “Sign with me and I’ll make you a Boomer” is an absolute national disgrace. Lemanis should be sacked. @BasketballAus #SackLemanis
— Adam Fryday (@the_fryz) August 6, 2019
Well I clearly don’t understand. Creek fits on every team, he finds a away to contribute. I had him as a lock, certainly above Gliddon and Goulding.
Are the Boomers now saying he wont be a part of the Olympics too? Simmons, Exum, Maker, Green to come into that team.
— ALLeigHOOPS (@ALLeigHOOPS) August 7, 2019
During the press conference Lemanis noted how the choice to not include Creek, who recently impressed NBA scouts during NBA summer league was “heartbreaking”. Although he was quick to state the incredible talent Creek possesses, his skills did not match the team needs at small forward, resulting in them going in a different direction with Cooks.
While Deng Adel recently earned himself a contract with the Brooklyn Nets in July, his inexperience in FIBA competition resulted in the coaching staff favoring the defensive talents Nick Kay had displayed during the past 18 months with the program, and his high level of play this week.
“So often the communication to players who have missed is, ‘I don’t have a lot for you, I just had to make a decision’,” an emotional Lemanis said.
“‘You’re a really good player, but we have lots of good players’.
“The reality is, it’s not an All-Star team, it’s a group of skill sets that we’re trying to fit together.”
While it’s clear the selection process was incredible emotional for both coaches and players alike, Australian will enter the FIBA World Cup with the most balanced, experienced and prepare it has seen in a long time… and arguably the greatest collection of Australian talent we’ve ever fielded in a FIBA major tournament.
They just need the medal to prove it.
The 2019 Australian Boomers team for the FIBA World Cup:
| Player | Current Club | Junior Club |
| Aron Baynes | Phoenix Suns (NBA) | Cairns |
| Andrew Bogut | Sydney Kings (NBL) | Sandringham Sabres |
| Jonah Bolden | Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) | Sydney Comets |
| Xavier Cooks | SIG Strasbourg (France) | Illawarra Hawks |
| Matthew Dellavedova | Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) | Maryborough |
| Cameron Gliddon | Brisbane Bullets (NBL) | Bunbury Slammers |
| Chris Goulding | Melbourne United (NBL) | Southern Districts Spartans |
| Joe Ingles | Utah Jazz (NBA) | Southern (Noarlunga) Tigers |
| Nicholas Kay | Perth Wildcats (NBL) | Tamworth Thunderbolts |
| Jock Landale | Žalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) | Geelong Supercats |
| Patty Mills | San Antonio Spurs (NBA) | Canberra Shadows |
| Nathan Sobey | Brisbane Bullets (NBL) | Warrnambool Seahawks |
Marco Selorio is a serial entrepreneur, basketball writer, Master of Ceremonies, event director and promoter. Follow him on Facebook @marcoandreselorio and on Instagram @marcoselorio
