Boomers Named
Tagged in: National Teams, Tall Blacks
Basketball Australia has selected a squad of 17 players to represent the Australian Boomers in five international matches, including two against the NZ Tall Blacks, in June.
NBA star Andrew Bogut will miss the Al Ramsay Shield series pending contract negotiations in the United States, CSKA Moscow centre David Andersen will enjoy a brief rest after returning from a grueling season in Russia, while Nathan Jawai is fighting hard to keep his NBA dream alive and may not be back in Australia in time for Olympic selection.
“A lot of the decisions were positional and they were tough calls, but we all agreed on what had to be done,” said Boomers coach Brian Goorjian after a five-day camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
“The players we released have contributed to the road ahead and we are appreciative of the efforts they have made. It was a positive, intense, aggressive camp and now it’s on to Perth and we’re looking forward to playing some games.”
Peter Crawford (Perth Wildcats), Adam Gibson (Brisbane Bullets), Jacob Holmes (South Dragons), Matthew Knight (West Sydney Razorbacks), Alex Loughton (Perth Wildcats) and Luke Schenscher (Brose Basket, Germany) were the athletes shaved from the squad.
Europe-based stars Matt Nielsen, Brad Newley and Damien Ryan were unable to attend the AIS training camp, but will join the Boomers in Perth.
The Boomers play Asian champions Iran in three games – Perth (June 16), Adelaide (June 18) and Melbourne (June 20) – before heading to Auckland to face the Tall Blacks at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday, June 26. The return game of the Ramsay Shield series is scheduled for June 28 at Melbourne’s State Hockey and Netball.
Australia, who have already qualified for the Beijing Olympics, head to Europe on Sunday, June 29, for games in Croatia against Angola and the host nation, and a tournament in Greece for games against Brazil, Croatia and the host nation.
The Australia Post Boomers squad is …
Chris Anstey (Melbourne Tigers), David Barlow (Melbourne Tigers), CJ Bruton (Brisbane Bullets), James Harvey (Gold Coast Blaze), Wade Helliwell (Nuova Sebastiani, Italy), Russell Hinder (Sydney Kings), Joe Ingles (South Dragons), Luke Kendall (Sydney Kings), Darnell Mee (Cairns Taipans), Patrick Mills (St. Mary’s College, USA), Brad Newley (Panionios, Greece), Matthew Nielsen (Lietuvos Rytas, Lithuania), Andrew Ogilvy (Vanderbilt University, USA), Shawn Redhage (Perth Wildcats), Damien Ryan (Gruppo Triboldi, Italy), Glen Saville (Sydney Kings), Mark Worthington (Sydney Kings)
