Boomers turn heads with their 12-man World Cup roster

MELBOURNE (Australia) - Basketball Australia announced their 12-man roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, and it sprung a few surprises.

 Surprising omissions from the Boomers' World Cup squad are NBA talents Mitch Creek and Deng Adel, with head coach Andrej Lemanis noting how the selection camp had some unexpected revelations.

"I think the public will enjoy the way we play and will be proud to call us 'their team"- Andrej Lemanis

"You come into your selection camp with an idea of how you think it might play out, but there are always really pleasant surprises," he said. "There were really tough conversations in that environment, but some wonderful reactions as well."

Still, despite some corners of Australian basketball surprised at some of the exclusions, Lemanis is confident in their choices as the Boomers aim for an historic campaign in China.

 
"I am excited by the mixture of experience — the veteran leadership that we have — a group of guys who have been through international events previously, Olympic Games and World Cups, and there’s a real synergy with that group," he explained. "But, we've added a nice mixture of young guys around them as well, and that, for me, is real exciting."

Australia are expected to be one of the deepest teams in the World Cup, and they will be bannered by no less than six players who saw action in the 2018-19 NBA season. These are: Aron Baynes, Jonah Bolden, Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles and Patty Mills.

 
Of the dynamic dozen that coach Lemanis has assembled, five are holdovers from their previous World Cup squad in 2014: Baynes, Mills, Dellavedova, Ingles and Chris Goulding. Bogut missed the 2014 edition, though he did see action in the Rio Olympics 2016, where the Boomers finished in the top four. In contrast, Bolden, Xavier Cooks, Cameron Gliddon, Nicholas Kay, Jock Landale and Nathan Sobey are the ones who will play in their first senior level world event.

After making the announcement, coach Lemanis extended his gratitude to all those who helped the Boomers arrive at this point, and he expressed his confidence in their potential to make a big splash in the World Cup. He also invited their fans to come out in droves and give the team as much support as possible.

"As a team, we would also like to acknowledge the 'heavy lifting' of all those who participated in the World Cup Qualification stage – their hard work and commitment to the program allows us to have this opportunity to compete in the World Cup – for which we are all grateful," he said. "This is a focused and united team. I hope the Australian public come on the journey with us again just as they did in Rio. I think the public will enjoy the way we play and will be proud to call us their team."

The Boomers will have a series of tune-up games against Canada and Team USA at home before they fly to China for the World Cup, where they have been drawn in Group H with Senegal, Lithuania and the aforementioned Canadians.

FIBA