In a year and a half, it will be that time again. The Olympic games will hit the samba capital that is Rio De Janeiro and millions world wide will tune in to support their countries on the biggest stage in the world.
Us Aussies, being the sports nuts that we are, will all pay close attention to these games and have high hopes that our athletes can snatch a gold here and there.
Some will watch the athletics where wonder-kid Jack Hale could make his Olympic debut, many will be watching the swimming and wondering if we can bounce back from the London disaster, but this writer will be watching our six feet and above athletes play basketball.
Australia’s mens basketball team is heading towards a golden period and the Rio Olympics is the perfect time and place to swish through the publics consciousness. We currently have seven players playing at the highest level in the American NBA. Our players are heavily gaining momentum to burst into something a whole lot bigger.
Dante Exum, currently at the Utah Jazz and is also an ex-AIS scholar, has been compared to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Manu Ginoboli and is set for stardom. Spurs duo Patty Mills and Aaron Baynes have already won NBA championship rings – a feat only a few Americans yet alone Australians can claim to fame.
LeBron James has an Aussie teammate in Matthew Dallavedova and ‘Delly’ is quickly gaining the praise from the the American media for his smarts and ability to get teammates involved. Andrew Bogut is no stranger down under, but the big man is enjoying a golden run with Golden State. The team is on a 10-game streak and Bogut is putting in strong performances.
Other Aussies in the NBA include Joe Ingles and Cameron Bairstow.
Now to throw a fun thought at you all. Imagine if Australian-born Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving jumped ship to join our rising Boomers team. We could seriously give the superstar USA dream team a scare.
Ben Simmonds is heralded as the top prospect by the American media and is a former teammate and good friend of Dante Exum. When Simmonds finishes college at LSU, he will almost definitely find a NBA home and will go very highly in the draft.
Thon Maker is a 17-year-old Sudanese-Australian who could be the man Pelicans star Anthony Davis worries about in six years’ time.
Whether or not these top prospects will be ready for Rio remains unlikely but, the quotient remans the same. Basketball in Australia is only rise and Rio could be the stage where heads start to turn and Australia is recognised as a legitimate and scary team.
John
Guest
I don't believe that Maker should ever be given the honour of wearing the Green and Gold. He has avoided playing in the Australian junior national teams and has shown no real interest in committing to Australia. The guy has shown that his heart simply isn't in it, and we shouldn't be giving a place in the line-up to a guy like that over someone who would bleed for their country.
pat malone
Guest
but it makes you a decent side
Johnno
Guest
nos exaclty, just coz Viduka,Kewell,Lucas Neil, played in the EPL doesn't mean your gonna win the World Cup.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Agree johnno, plus Oz isn't the only country to have players in the NBA. Canada, brazil, France, Argentina, Italy and a few others also have players there. As you say, many euro players (and even good nba yanks these days) also prefer to play in European leagues and euroleague which is just behind the nba in terms of quality. And the thing is there will always be more European players than aussies there. So it will always be hard for oz to compete, that's what I am quite impressed by what they have achieved. Not easy to be at the top when you are isolated like oz is in a world sport like basket or football. Imo Oz is in the group of 8-10 teams who can make the final. But its so dense and competitive at the top that there isn't much difference between playing an Olympics final and not qualifying for the quarters. that's how tough it is.
Gobbler
Guest
Yeah I think next year is too early for us to compete with USA, however in 3 years I reckon we'll stand a chance. Ben Simmons (no D in his name) will be a special talent. Should go #1 in the draft. Maker is an interesting one; there's a chance he might choose to represent USA or Canada instead of us so don't get too excited yet.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
No doubt Aussie Hoops is in a good place at present, 7 players currently in the NBA is impressive. However that in itself will not necessarily translate to medal prospects. Basketball globably is so strong and competitive, even getting into a medal playoff position would be unbelievable. I think where we would come up short is our depth, the bench would not match many of the European teams. Our starting 5 if all fit would be very very competitive.
Riordan Lee
Editor
I think Exum, Maker, Simmonds are going to be underdone for Rio but man, in about 4-5 years we're going to be really strong if a couple of the older blokes are still around.
Brian
Guest
Will Bogut & Mills both turn up if so we could push for a medal but there's still a lot of Europeans with a lot of depth and a lot more opportunities to play as a team. Spain, France, Russia etc. Argentina are still quite strong too.
Coops
Guest
I agree Sam, Aussie basketball is on the rise. The Under 17 team won the silver medal at this year's U17 world champs pushing the US all the way with players like 7 foot Issac Humphries who scored 42 against Canada, and now finish his schooling in the US. He an Dejan Vasiljevic where named in the tournaments best 5 players. In fact there is a long list of up and comers, Jonah Bolden is also at high school in the US and likely to be a late bloomer, Tad Dufelmier Jr at junior college in the US, both the sons of NBL stars. The Froling boys Harry and Sam are also talented and strong. Don't forget about our women too. There WNBL has been named the second best domestic competition in the world behind the WNBA and more and more of our girls are headed to the US for college. Maybe I could write a similar article on what the Opals team might look like in Rio, they will be something special even if LJ is injured.
Johnno
Guest
The problem is, just haveing NBA players no longer means you are a strong chance of a medal. Like the kiwis haveing NRL players, doesn't mean there gonna beat Aust/or Eng everytime they play em. Now Eurobasket is so strong many of the top Euro basket players play in Europe rather than be 10 minutes a game NBA players. We had more NBA players than Turkey but they got us at the world cup. Soccer's the same, just if you have alot of EPL players is no measure or sure thing of success, just look at the woeful England soccer teams.