Brian Goorjian has made the most difficult coaching decision of his career and cut Matthew Dellavedova ahead of this month’s basketball World Cup.
The three-time Olympian and former NBA champion joined fellow guard Will McDowell-White on the cutting room floor when the squad was trimmed to 13 on Wednesday.
There will be one further omission before the side heads to Okinawa in Japan to begin their Cup campaign on August 25 against Finland.
“On my mind is this selection, which everyone has been talking about, it is going to be probably the most difficult thing I’ve done in coaching,” Goorjian said ahead of the confirmation on Wednesday.
“And I’ve coached for a long time.”
The 32-year-old was LeBron James’ right-hand man on the way to an NBA title with Cleveland in 2016, forging a reputation as one of the toughest players in the world for his defensive work on Steph Curry.
That passion, along with his efficient play-making, was a foundation of the Boomers’ drive to a maiden international medal – bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
But the writing was on the wall at that same tournament when Australia’s next crop slowly took minutes off Dellavedova as the campaign progressed.
The playmaker earned another NBA crack with Sacramento last season and positioned himself for a third Cup tilt, forcing Goorjian to make the call after a week-long Cairns camp.
The Boomers will play matches against Venezuela, Brazil and South Sudan in Melbourne on August 14, 16 and 17 before leaving for Japan.
Third favourite with the bookies behind stacked the United States and Canada teams, the Boomers will be well-served in the backcourt by Dyson Daniels, Josh Giddey, Chris Goulding and Patty Mills.
Giddey, 18 at the time, was left out of the Boomers’ Olympic squad but since blossomed into a genuine NBA star with Oklahoma.
Dante Exum, Josh Green, Joe Ingles and Matisse Thybulle offer Goorjian a play-making weaponry arguably greater than any Australia has previously possessed.
Forwards Xavier Cooks, Jock Landale, Jack White, Duop Reath and Nick Kay round out the squad, with Landale (ankle) unlikely to play in the warm-up games but expected to be fit for the Cup opener.
Tokyo bronze medallists Reath, Kay and Goulding are the only members of the squad without NBA experience.
The World Cup is being played in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, with the latter stages in Manila and the final on September 10.
Boomers: Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Dante Exum, Josh Giddey, Chris Goulding, Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Nick Kay, Jock Landale, Patty Mills, Duop Reath, Matisse Thybulle, Jack White.
© AAP
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