Boomers squad announced
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 03:47 PM
Basketball Australia
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=4814
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 03:47 PM
Basketball Australia
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=4814
Basketball Australia is proud to announce a 17-man Australian Boomers squad, whose players will vie for a place on the national team to compete at the 2007 FIBA Oceania Qualifying Series in August.
The Boomers have to defeat the New Zealand Tall Blacks in that series to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
“Forget Beijing and forget medalling – we’ve got to qualify first,” Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian said.
“Only the World Champions Spain and the host nation China are guaranteed a spot in Beijing, so I can confidently say that all the other nations are thinking like we are.
“At this point, qualifying is the goal.”
Basketball Australia also invited 21 athletes to attend a Try Out and Development Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in early June as a precursor to the Boomers tour of China in late June.
The athletes that make an impression during that initial camp will be invited into the squad that will attend Boomers Camp 2 on the Gold Coast in mid July.
“The short term goal with the June camp is to find a hidden nugget and to introduce as many people as we can to the Boomer culture,” Goorjian said.
“The medium term goal is to get all the best players aboard and on one page.
“The goal at the end of all this is to have a team that is playing well and, as I said, to qualify against New Zealand.”
The Australia Post Boomers 17-man squad is as follows:
David Andersen (CSKA - Russia)
Chris Anstey (Melbourne Tigers)
Stephen Black (Brisbane Bullets)
Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks - USA)
CJ Bruton (Brisbane Bullets)
Aaron Bruce (Baylor University - USA)
Wade Helliwell (Sebastiani - Italy)
Joe Ingles (South Dragons)
Sam Mackinnon (Brisbane Bullets)
Darnell Mee (Cairns Taipans)
Patrick Mills (AIS) (Gun)
Brad Newley (Townsville Crocodiles)
Matthew Nielsen (Lietuvos Rytas - Lithuania)
Glen Saville (Wollongong Hawks)
Luke Schenscher (Fort Worth - USA) (Adelaide 36ers)
Jason Smith (Sydney Kings)
Mark Worthington (Sydney Kings)
The 21 players invited to attend the Try Out and Development Camp are:
Ian Crosswhite (Sydney Kings)
Larry Davidson (Singapore Slingers)
Oscar Forman (New Zealand Breakers)
Adam Gibson (Brisbane Bullets)
Sam Harris (Old Dominion - USA)
James Harvey (West Sydney Razorbacks)
Russell Hinder (Sydney Kings)
Jacob Holmes (South Dragons)
Nathan Jawai Cairns Taipans) (Baby Shaq)
Luke Kendall (Sydney Kings)
Julian Khazzouh (West Sydney Razorbacks)
Daniel Kickert (Livorno - Italy)
Matt Knight (LMU - USA)
Alex Loughton (Valencia - Spain)
Aleksandar Maric (Nebraska - USA)
Steven Markovic (Red Star - Serbia)
Brad Robbins (Perth Wildcats)
Liam Rush (West Sydney Razorbacks)
Damian Ryan (Perth Wildcats)
Cameron Tovey (Sydney Kings)(Isn't he like there 9th man)
Greg Vanderjagt (Townsville Crocodiles)
Head Coach Brian Goorjian departs Sydney International Airport on Tuesday afternoon for a four nation meet-and-greet session.
He will visit Australian players and foreign coaches in Germany, Russia, Lithuania and the United States to see the players in their foreign environment and to discuss the Boomers’ 2007 campaign.
