Rumors

Olgun Uluc: This was more than likely Patty Mills’ final game with the Boomers. Joe Ingles has signaled for a while that this would be his final Boomers campaign.

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In their second game at Etihad Arena, after Patty Mills caught fire, the Boomers found a way to defeat Serbia and Nikola Jokic 73-84. The experienced point guard scored 28 points with five assists to lead Australia, which broke Serbia with a 12-2 run in the final quarter after a pretty even game up until that point. Dante Exum also had a great game with 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Josh Giddey scored 13 points with six rebounds.

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Thybulle wasn't just considered by many as a lock to make this Olympic team, but he was regarded as a probable starter. Players within the Boomers, former players on the periphery, and everyone in between were stunned when word began to trickle out that Thybulle was left off the 12-man team. The Boomers had a significant drop off defensively from Tokyo 2021 to the World Cup, so leaving one of the best perimeter defenders in the world off this roster sounds counterintuitive. Sure, there was always the question of: are there too many non-shooting, athletic, defensive wings? But, even with that floating in the ether, no-one really expected Goorjian to leave someone like Thybulle off the roster, purely because his defensive capacity is so elite. Thybulle has no injury concern that would have kept him off the team, sources said, and he put together a relatively impressive camp.

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"The youth of this thing is for real," Goorjian said after the Boomers' loss. "We're changing styles of play. We've made some moves coming into this -- the Delly, the Baynes -- and I really like Daniels. That's another piece to add to that. "You've got Jock Landale to add to this. Clear with all of that. "Some big decisions are ahead. Again, I like what's in front of me."

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Leading from start to finish, the Boomers went up by a margin of 27 points before settling for the 109-89 victory over Japan in Okinawa Arena Tuesday. Coming off the bench in style, Xavier Cooks posted a 24-point, 16-rebound double-double in Gameday 3 of Group E. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Josh Giddey also recorded a double-double with 26 points and 11 assists to go with five rebounds.

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The big-man suffered a nasty left ankle turn early in the game on Thursday evening, leaving the Boomers without one of their best and most important players, creating a major hole in the frontcourt depth that was already lacking. The other way to look at this is that the Boomers' final 12-man team has effectively just picked itself. Brian Goorjian isn't expecting Landale to be available for this World Cup campaign, so no cut needs to be made; 13 looks to have organically turned into 12, but unfortunately under the roughest of circumstances.

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Jock Landale's participation in Australia's World Cup squad is in jeopardy after he suffered an ankle injury in the Boomers' clinical 88-67 victory over South Sudan at Rod Laver Arena. Landale, who plays with the NBA's Houston Rockets and is Australia's first-choice centre, hobbled off gingerly after rolling his left ankle five minutes into Thursday night's clash. Worryingly, he missed the Boomers' previous two matches against Brazil and Venezuela with an ankle concern.

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Midway through the first quarter of the Boomers’ exhibition game against South Sudan in Melbourne, Landale turned his left ankle after landing on the foot of Marial Shayok. The Boomers big man immediately clutched his ankle in pain, before hobbling straight to the locker room, unable to put significant pressure on his left foot.

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"Looking past in Boomers rosters, I think we're a lot more versatile," Green said. "We have a lot more guys who can run up and down the court. We have multiple ball-handlers who can bring the ball up. I think we're gonna play a more faster paced game than what we're probably used to playing, Boomers wise. Faster pace means a lot more stuff. We'll play in transition, it's more fun to play; more fun to watch. It's a winning style of game. Everyone's unselfish. For me, it's coming in and being able to bring the same intensity. I don't want to lose so I'm gonna be competitive, play the same way I do in the NBA. I think we're gonna be a very defensive-minded team, and I think we have a lot of great players to be able to really go on a good run."

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Olgun Uluc: Duop Reath will play for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2023 NBA Summer League, sources told ESPN. 6’11 South Sudanese-Australian big-man, part of the Boomers’ bronze medal winning Tokyo Olympics campaign.

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Dante Exum's potential NBA return has been put on ice after the Boomers star committed to finishing the season with Spanish giants Barcelona. Exum, the No.5 NBA draft pick in 2014, was waived by the Houston Rockets in October before Barcelona picked up the Australian on a three-month contract as an injury replacement for Nick Calathes.

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Dyson Daniels knows his journey won’t be easy, and he’ll face setbacks, but he feels comforted that he can climb up the draft board with an NBA champion and Boomers veteran like Dellavedova in his corner. “I regularly chat to Delly and he always sending me words of encouragement,” Daniels revealed. “He is one of the hardest working guys out there, so his main message to me is to be the hardest worker on the floor. So, be the first in the gym and the last one to leave and to keep working on my game and the areas I need to focus on. Delly is great to learn off.”

Melbourne Herald-Sun

Mike Finger: Had a nice conversation with Patty Mills about the 2014 “Beautiful Game” Spurs and his currently rolling Boomers. As for whether he’ll have a new NBA contract by the time we see him again Tuesday? “That’s kept in the inner circle,” he said. “In the Australian trenches.”

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The Boomers, who had 21 turnovers of their own and shot at 39 per cent from the field, were also let off the hook by Nigeria's poor 12-of-24 free throw shooting. "The areas of concern for us in the game were expected; we were choppy in the half-court ... and the flow of the game we made a lot of poor decisions," Goorjian said. "But this group ... we've focused on defence and I thought that was good and got better and was the reason for the victory."

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