The Boomers have been dealt a blow before their Olympic campaign takes full flight with the announcement Kyrie Irving, rookie sensation in the NBA, has decided to keep his talents in the USA.
Irving has been by far the best rookie in the NBA this season, only being overshadowed by the Jeremy Lin nonsense. I personally didn’t think he would do that well in the league, only having played a handful of college games for Duke. I totally got that wrong! He is a superstar.
The problem is he is sitting behind 4/5 of the best point guards in the world. Standing in the way of Irving’s Dreamteam aspirations are Chris Paul(CP3), Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo and Deron Williams(D-Will).
Some of the PGs mentioned above will be at their prime basketball age when 2016 comes around. I struggle to see them giving their spot up to some young kid.
If he thinks he will make the 2016 team he has rocks in his head! I know he is tight with coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), but will he be the coach in 2016? If they don’t win the Olympics in London, I struggle to see him at the next one.
Europe is slowly catching up to the Americans and we continue to see this in the amount of Europeans not only in the NBA, but doing very well.
If Irving was smart he would have played for Australia and been guaranteed a spot in every Olympics for the rest of his career.
The Boomers would have been a force to be reckoned with at the London Olympics with many of the players on the roster having played at previous Olympics or World Championships.
If Bogut is fit for the games, the Boomers will be a force even without Irving. I think we will definitely come out of the group phase but we desperately need to miss the Spanish or the USA when we cross over.
A one-off semi final could be the chance to put Australian basketball on the map.
Irving will be cursing he didn’t come and play for the Boomers in years to come. There must be people out there giving the kid false hope.
I’m sure however he is keeping an eye on D-Wills 57 points, Rondo’s monster triple-double, Rose’s MVP numbers, Westbrook leading the Thunder to one of the best records and CP3’s dominance in the clutch for the Clippers.
By 2020 or 2024 he may have a whole new class to compete with and Coach K may not be around. I think this is a huge risk knowing he may have had three Olympics under his belt with the Boomers before he gets a chance of one with the Dreamteam.
Enough about Irving. I believe Brett Brown, Boomers coach, has plenty of talent at his disposal and will have to make some big decisions at the training camp.
Here is the 12 men who I think could put Australian basketball on the map for good:
Adam Gibson
Patty Mills
David Barlow
Matty Nielsen
Aleks Maric
Joe Ingles
Mark Worthington
Andrew Bogut
David Andersen
Brad Newley
Nathan Jawai
Matthew Dellavedova
Questionables:
Stephen Markovic
Peter Crawford
AJ Ogilvy
Damian Martin
I may have missed some players but this looks like the strongest roster. Let me know if you think I’ve missed anyone.
I’m looking forward to the camps and seeing the boys fight for their positions. I have my fingers crossed Bogut will be ready to go and lead the boys to a medal. Bogut has not yet impressed at the international level and I think it could be his time to shine.
James
Guest
I recently also put together my 12 man roster and it was identical except I had crawford instead of worthington. I highly doubt wortho will get a look in. If we want a player of his ability we should look no further than Jesse Wagstaff but in my opinion we should take crawford. whether they take wortho or crawf both wont get a huge role so why not give it to a guy hu can knock down that 3 ball on a more regular basis like crawf.
Adrian Bauk
Roar Guru
True! Lets hope he comes back in time for the Olympics. We desperately need him to put Australia on the basketball map for good. I think he can do it by himself if he is fit. Milwaukee will now struggle mightily with no big man at all..Kwame Brown is no big man if that is what anybody is thinking. The warriors should be tougher now with solid big guys and a good back court. Ellis could produce but was a ball hog. I think they have a solid system now and their defence will be all the better for it. They have enough scorers on that team already! Hope noone is a Bucks fan. I'm just glad they wont be on ESPN anymore!!
fivehole
Guest
I see bogut has been traded to the warriors. Hope they have some good docs and trainers on their team
Adrian Bauk
Roar Guru
It's happening alot these days in basketball. You only have to look at Macedonia qualifying for the Olympics to understand the impact an American can have on a national team. He single handedly carried their side to the semi finals of the EuroBasket. I dont think it's right but I do believe that Australian basketball would have taken him in with open arms. There are only a number of players on that team that bring passion to the green and gold jersey. Barely any of them fully commit to the squad throughout the year so it is not like he would be a ring in as most of them are anyway!
peeeko
Roar Guru
I am with you knackers, he is an American in my eyes ( and a real good player)
KNACKERS
Guest
This topic of national team eligibility is an issue currently causing some angst in the UK ( in basketball but more so in athletics ) Obviously if a person has a passport then they pass the eligibility requirement but I'm glad Irving is not playing for Australia , Apart from his birthplace he's American first second and third