AUS - Boomers gear up for Tall Blacks

CANBERRA (FIBA Oceania Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Australia have thrown down the gauntlet to New Zealand ahead of the FIBA Oceania Championship by naming in their preliminary squad several of the players who were so impressive at last year's Olympic Games.

Both the Boomers and the Tall Blacks will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup after they square off in the Oceania series, with games in Auckland and Canberra on 14 and 18 of August, respectively.

And the Aussies are stocked with talent, with San Antonio Spurs Pat Mills and Aron Baynes, former NBA big man David Andersen and European-based standouts Joe Ingles (Maccabi Tel Aviv) and Brad Newley (Gran Canaria) among the eight players who featured at the London Games in the 15-man preliminary squad.

There are several youngsters in the group, including 2.03m forward Ben Simmons.

A player at Montverde Academy High School in the United States, Simmons just turned 17. He helped Australia to a second-place finish at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Another is 1.95m guard Dante Exum, an all-tournament selection at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic last month.

Exum led the Australians in scoring at 18.2 points per game.

Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis believes the commitment demonstrated by the senior players this summer shows how determined Australia are to reach the top.

"We all know that the successful teams - the teams that win medals - spend time together every year," Lemanis said.

"This year we are working with a heavily reduced schedule, but it is still great to get to work with a core of guys who have been with the program for a period of time.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing the young guys start their development within the program. We have some great young talent coming through - how that is incorporated into the program over the next three years will be a key for our success.

"National teams are no different to club teams - it is the commitment to the needs of the group that will ultimately determine success or failure. The time I have spent with each of these has me confident that we are in a good place.

"The players are here for the right reasons - we are all here to represent the Boomers, represent Australia on the world stage and have a shot at winning a medal.

"The series against NZ will be a great challenge. They are coming off eight games preparation in China. Our build-up will be more limited, so it will be a good test for us to see how we respond."

The Boomers' camp tips off 7 August at the Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

Australia squad: David Andersen, Cameron Bairstow, David Barlow, Aron Baynes, Ryan Broekhoff, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Adam Gibson, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Luke Nevill, Brad Newley, AJ Ogilvy, Anthony Petrie and Ben Simmons.

FIBA