David Andersen, Wade Helliwell, Russell Hinder, Luke Kendall, Sam MacKinnon, Darnell Mee, Patrick Mills, Brad Newley, Damien Ryan, Glen Saville, Jason Smith, Mark Worthington
That is the team that will take on the Kiwis in next week's three game series to see who gets an immediate birth to the 2008 Olympic Games.
When you first look at the squad you see a lack of bigs, but please remember the Tall Blacks are not all that tall. Tony Rampton is there biggest along with Craig Bradshaw. Bradshaw is more of a face up guy than a beast on the block.
I will take a stab in the dark and say that coach Brian Goorjian will go with Andersen, MacKinnon, Saville, Smith and Mee. MacKinnon will create the biggest match up problem as they have no one that can match him physically. Provided Andersen avoids foul trouble, he will have a great series and fans will see why he is regarded so highly in Europe.
With this starting line up Goorjian will be looking to set a tempo with his trademark defensive intensity. This will allow Newley and Mills to come off the bench and play their lose free flowing style of hoops.
Without any knowledge, I guess Hinder and Ryan have played themselves into some minutes at their respective positions.
The Kiwis strength is their perimeter play of Phil Jones and Kirk Penny, but I feel our defense at these positions should limit these players game winning abilities.
The only way we will lose this series is if our key front court players continuously find themselves in foul trouble. Otherwise, I forecast a three nil scoreline.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Boomers Team Announced
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4 comments:
Hi JR,
Welcome to the world of blogging! I know there are plenty of the big names missing for the Boomers but what are your thoughts about 5 Kings being named in the line-up ... or is that a little too controversial question this early on?
All the best,
Dodge Taylor
What about your call up to the National team?
Dodge:
Regarding the inclusion of the 5 Kings players, we will be able to gauge it a little better by the end of the series against the Kiwis. There is a team of twelve players that have to fight for court time in a forty minute game. This will mean that several bodies will be non playing spectators. An example that I'm sure has many people letting their opinions be heard is Luke Kendall in the team over Joe Ingles. Right now Ingles has to compete with some of the best players at his position. MacKinnon, Saville, Newley and Worthington are the bodies he has to beat out. Tough ask I say. On the other hand, Kendall is playing a position that is lacking depth. With his ability to play both the one or two, I'm sure Goorjian looks at him as a better insurance policy than Joe. Hope I have answered your question Dodge. Let the series play out, and we will go from there.
Anonymous 1:
Regarding my position on the squad, the coach used the media to let me know that my services were no longer required at the international level.
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