This is an exciting time for Australian basketball, says Joe Ingles

SALT LAKE CITY (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Australia veteran Joe Ingles is upbeat about the development of basketball in his homeland and the future prospects of the Boomers.

"It's all on the up for us, and it's a really exciting time for Australian basketball," he said.

Ingles first played for the senior national team in 2008, helping the Boomers play impressively at the FIBA Diamond Ball and the Beijing Olympics. He has been a mainstay for Australia since then, seeing action in all the Olympics and FIBA Basketball World Cup tournaments thereafter. Constantly representing Australia has been an important part of Ingles's basketball journey, and a big part of it is the formation of deep bonds with his fellow national team members.

"For us, it's a group of guys that grew up together and enjoy playing together," he shared. "Obviously, we're representing Australia, but we also love how we genuinely enjoy each other's company. It doesn't feel like we 'have' to be here, but we feel lucky we get to represent our country with other great guys."

That feeling of representing the green and gold is something Ingles has missed in the Asian Qualifiers, but he is hoping to rejoin the national team soon, perhaps even as soon as the next window in June and July.

"Everyone surely wants to play in June and July," he said. "And if the opportunity is there, then of course it will be great to play in the Qualifiers in the next window."

Until then, though, he is satisfied with how Australia have played so far, especially as the Boomers have officially booked their spot in the second round with an untainted 4-0 win-loss record. the Utah Jazz wingman credits the current members of the Australian national team for holding the fort while he and other marquee Boomers are caught up in the 2017-2018 NBA regular season.

"The guys in the Qualifiers have been playing well, doing a great job as many of us cannot be there," he said. " I think a lot of them have shown that they are really on the highest level to represent Australia well."

The 30-year-old is aware that he is maybe on the latter stages of being able to represent Australia, which is why he is aching for a shot to don the national kits again. Of course, he also feels that their performance at the Rio Olympics 2016, though commendable, was strewn with a couple of missed opportunities. Ingles knows that they could have and should have definitely placed better than top four overall.

"Well, we had one goal, which was to win the gold medal, but we fell short," he explained. "If a couple of things had gone our way, we would have been right there. We just had a bad game at the wrong time in the Semi-Finals. With that experience and then once we add guys like Ben and Thon, the future is exciting for the national team."

The prospects of a bright future for Australian hoops is indeed quite bright. In that 2016 Olympics squad, six were NBA players (e.g. Ingles, Patty Mills, Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Cam Bairstow and Aron Baynes), and that's not even including current NBA talents like Thon Maker, Dante Exum, Mangok Mathiang and Ben Simmons. Ingles believes that the Boomers already had the depth to gain a podium finish in 2016, but he knows that if they are ever at full strength in any of the Asian Qualifiers windows or at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, then they should be installed among the elite. Should that happen, then it'll boost the growth of the game back home, where basketball has already mustered a deep foothold thanks to the influx of Aussie talents in the NBA and international scene.

"Basketball has been growing for quite some time in Australia, starting with Luc Longley before and obviously with Andrew being picked number one, too," Ingles said. "More recently, the championships of Patty and Delly also helped the popularity, and now we have Ben and Dante really pushing it. The league in Australia is also doing really well, the veterans are helping our NBA teams here in the States, and we've also got more young kids coming through."

It's all on the up for us, and it's a really exciting time for Australian basketballJoe InglesJoe Ingles

In addition, the New Competition System's home-and-away format should help this growth continue. Ingles is a fan of this format, knowing how the exposure of the game and the national team should attract more fans.

"Having those home games helps our guys continue to build and grown the game in Australia," he said. "In fact, we want to get as many games at home as we can."

FIBA