Two big announcements for the Australian Boomers came out yesterday. Firstly, the two pools for the Olympics games were drawn. Secondly the Boomers squad for the 2012 Olympics was released.
I’m sure fans will be stoked with the teams the Boomers have drawn in London – Great Britain, China, Brazil and Spain. It couldn’t be any better.
This gives us a great chance to finish second in our pool and get that weaker crossover game that we haven’t been able to obtain in the past.
It is highly unlikely we will take the Spaniards down, but we can easily account for the likes of Great Britain and China.
We will have an almighty battle with the Brazilians, especially if they field the likes of Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter. The big key is which qualifier we get in the group.
I think it could potentially be Greece.
We will get the weakest qualifier out of the three that make it. That’s what it looks like anyway.
I can’t see the Greeks beating Lithuania and Russia.
There is no reason we can’t beat this Greek team. It’s a much weaker team than in the past and we need to take some revenge out from the last time they beat us at the World Championships in 2006.
I don’t think Australian basketball fans will ever forget that game.
FIBA have given us some hope and we need to take care of business over in London.
This is Australia’s chance to make the semi finals and give us some hope for a medal.
It will be broadcast to millions of homes around the world.
We will potentially be playing against the USA on Friday 10 August. Bookmark it folks; it could the day that kick-starts basketball in Australia once again.
I’m not suggesting we will beat the Dream Team. But I think this is when the Australian population becomes fully aware of how good our sport is and how much talent we have in such a small country.
Recently I posted the squad I would have taken over to London to compete in the Olympics.
Once the camps are over and they are ready to announce the team it won’t be too far off.
The NBL website posted the squad yesterday. There is some serious talent to pick from, which is exactly what we need.
Most of the squad has had experience or are experiencing basketball in Europe.
After watching how the Boomers play defence you can see some serious similarities to the European game.
The Dream Team don’t like rough, physical play at all. This is why the Spaniards are starting to catch up to them.
I believe if Rubio didn’t injure himself during the NBA season they could have beaten the USA.
There are also some young guys out of college who have cracked the squad, which is always good to see. It will be good for their experience and will continue to make them better.
It is also great to see that nine players in the squad are currently playing in the NBL. Some of them will definitely make the team.
This is great for our league as it continues to grow into one of the best in the world.
I wish Andrew Bogut was playing in this team. There is no doubt we would have had a solid performance in the quarter finals and have been a big chance for a medal.
We will have to do without the big fella in London. I’m sure he will be there with the boys cheering them on. He will bring valuable knowledge and experience to the sidelines.
Here’s to hoping there are no slip ups on the way to the Games and that the final squad that gets picked does us proud.
Bring on August 10th!
Sav
Roar Rookie
Adrian, I agree when you say Boomers are a medal chance and I agree when you say there is no reason why we can't beat Greece however I believe you are underestimating the Greeks by saying "It’s a much weaker team than in the past". This might be the Greek in me coming out but I couldn't disagree with that statement any more. I've watched plenty of Greek basketball through sports channel Eurosport which had the rights to Olympiakos and Panathinaikos games as well as Greek Channel ERT. I also try to catch as much Euroleague action on ESPN as possible so I think I am in a good position to discuss the makings of the Greek squad seeing as I've seen a lot of the players I am about to mention play. They will go into the Olympics with at least four of the players that were a part of the team that beat USA back in the 2006 World Championships in Vasilis Spanoulis, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Nikos Zisis and Antonis Fotsis. Those four will be joined by members from the bronze winning 2009 Eurobasket side in Ioannis Bourousis, Nick Calathes, Georgios Printezis, Kostas Kaimakoglou, Stratos Perperoglou and NBAer Kostas Koufos. The remaining two positions are up for grabs but expect Ian Vougioukas who is a key member for Euroleague 2011 champions and current final four fmembers Panathinaikos and Kostas Sloukas of Greek table topping and current Euroleague final four members Olympiakos to make up the rest of the squad. Most of the above mentioned players are members of either Olympiakos and Panathinaikos who are two of Europes most powerful clubs. The few players who are not members of either of those teams are competing for top clubs in Italy and Spain which are the two strongest leagues in Europe. Schortsanitis and Koufos are the exception however as Schortsanitis plays in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv which is one of the worlds most famous basketball clubs and Koufos who is a key role player for the Denver Nuggets. Saying that the Greek squad will be much weaker is far from the truth. This in my opinion is Greece's strongest squad since the 2006 World Championships and perhaps rivals even that great team. Coached by Ilias Zouros who is the current coach of Anadolou Efes of Turkey, I have faith he will be able to get us to our first Olympic medal. If the turks can trust him coaching one of their biggest clubs he obviously has the goods.
TJ
Guest
If you were to predict the final make up if the 12 what would it be?