Strong NBL presence in Olympic squad

Nine NBL-rostered players have been named in the Australian Boomers' squad for July's Paris Olympics.

A 22-strong roster was announced on Wednesday morning, featuring Chris Goulding, DJ Vasiljevic, Jack McVeigh, Keanu Pinder, Matthew Dellavedova, Sam Froling, Will Magnay and Will McDowell-White. 

Brian Goorjian has also called upon emerging Next Star Rocco Zikarsky, with the 17-year-old's outstanding potential being recognised by the Boomers coach.

Mainstays of the Australian national team, Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and Josh Giddey are among a star-studded squad, alongside reported Sydney Kings signing and NBL23 MVP, Xavier Cooks.

A Basketball Australia release said "the initial squad will be refined before training camp in July with a final 12 selected to meet the world’s best at the Olympics".

Ben Simmons is the most notable absentee from the lineup, with a back injury forcing a late withdrawal.

NBL stars Mitch Creek, Isaac Humphries and Luke Travers have also been overlooked, and can consider themselves unlucky after outstanding individual seasons with their respective clubs.

“We’ve been actively monitoring the Aussie players across international leagues in USA, Europe and Asia as well as domestically in the NBL and we’re confident in the potential chemistry of this list,” Goorjian said.
 
“The complexity of international tournaments like the Olympics is that you have a relatively short window to train and prepare – so you have to identify and implement a style that works fast and amplifies the collective skill set.
 
“There’s always a correlation made of our offensive play with European styles, which is interesting considering there isn’t a whole lot of exposure to the Euro system with our players.
 
“What we have experienced, is the emergence of Australians at the top level overseas and the evolution of the NBL as a world class league with high powered scoring offenses, so we want to drive a game that is familiar but unique to our group.”

Goorjian said the focus was on finding options that provided additional size and versatility, as well as more shooting depth.

“When Jock Landale went down (at the FIBA World Championships) we had to adjust to small ball. It was challenging but ultimately rewarding as we got to trial different packages and get prime minutes into Duop Reath which fast-tracked his development,” he said. 
  
“Looking to the Olympics, we will have Jock Landale available for selection and the added versatility of Kay, Xavier Cooks as well as guys like Will Magnay and Rocco Zikarsky.
 
“We’ve also introduced more depth across shooters in the squad with veteran Chris Goulding joined by Dyson Daniels, Jack McVeigh and DJ Vasiljevic.”

The Boomers will be in Group A for the Paris Olympics.  
  
They'll face Canada and the winners from the Greece Qualifying Tournament (one of Greece, Slovenia, New Zealand, Croatia, Egypt and the Dominican Republic) and Spain Qualifying Tournament (one of Spain, Lebanon, Angola, Finland, Poland & Bahamas).