Tough Roster Decisions to Face Goorjian, Boomers

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Australian Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian has confirmed the three World Cup games in August at Rod Laver Arena will be crucial in finalising the 12-man World Cup team.

Australian Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian has confirmed the three World Cup games in August at Rod Laver Arena will be crucial in finalising the 12-man World Cup roster.

The initial 18-man squad was named last week, with that group set to be cut to 15 after an upcoming training camp in Cairns. Those 15 players will participate in the 'Boomers vs World' series at Rod Laver Arena in October against South Sudan, Brazil and Venezuela before being trimmed to the final 12 names.

With 10 NBA players currently listed in the extended squad Goorjian emphasised how difficult it will be to select the final team, as he praised the amount of young, flourishing Australian talent across the globe.

“The staff right now are talking about the camp, the style of play, looking at games in the NBA that these guys played in. You start putting the numbers and names on the board and it’s going to be tough. We made some difficult decisions on the 18,” Goorjian said.

“It’s a great sign, and it’s a great sign in Australian basketball that we’ve got these kinds of numbers and the decisions are difficult. That’s a sign that you have a good team.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NBL talent wherever you look - on all sides ??????<br><br>With NBL23 stars likely to represent Australia, South Sudan and Brazil in the Boomers' World Cup warmups, everyone can get around their favourite stars ??<br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/rkOW0bgOq0">https://t.co/rkOW0bgOq0</a> <a href="https://t.co/LZopEz8jQ3">pic.twitter.com/LZopEz8jQ3</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1659348398636687360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“You’ve got some experience there, you’ve got youth coming in and you’ve got hopefully Olympics the following season,” Goorjian said.

New Orleans guard Dyson Daniels has been named as one of a glut of Australian guard talent alongside the likes of Boomers mainstays Patty Mills, Chris Goulding and Matthew Dellavedova, and fellow emerging stars Josh Giddey and Will McDowell-White.

The Bendigo-born 20-year-old says he's prepared to get down and dirty to secure his spot in the final squad.

“It’s going to be a competitive training camp, there’s a lot of great players in this camp,” Daniels said.

“There’s only 12 spots so I’m going to be competing there, putting my best foot forward and show that I deserve to be on this team.

“Playing at the highest level, going up against guys every day who are the best in the world. Learning to defend them, learning to play with the ball, play different positions.

“I’ve got a lot of learning that I’ve taken from my first year and can take into my second year and especially take it into this Boomers camp as well.”

BOOMERS vs WORLD EVENT DETAILS:

Monday 14 August
Brazil v South Sudan – 5:30 PM
Australia v Venezuela – 7:45 PM

Wednesday 16 August
Venezuela v South Sudan – 5:30 PM
Australia v Brazil – 7:45 PM

Thursday 17 August
Venezuela v Brazil – 5:30 PM
Australia v South Sudan – 7:45 PM

Venue: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne