Goorjian prefers Rousseau

Matisse Thybulle headlines a puzzling list of reported exclusions for Paris 2024

Right, my Friday has been well and truly ruined.

In case you missed it or are blissfully unaware, Olgun Uluc of ESPN has dropped the reported final Boomers squad for the Paris Olympics, and it contains some, let’s say quizzical, final choices.

When I saw this roll across my timeline, I briefly scanned the list just assuming to read all your old favourites.

“Ok Green and Exum are in, yep Giddey too, ah I see Dyson made the cut that’s nice…wait something’s missing?”

It took me a few read throughs before coming to that harkening realisation that Matisse Thybulle has been sensationally left off this list, and now my day, week and probably month, is completely ruined.

Looks like in the sphere of French post-impressionistic painters, Brian Goorjian is more of an Henri Rousseau connoisseur. Can’t say I agree with him, but at least he’s not in bed with Paul Cezanne.

Anyway…

Before we move on, just a reminder what I wrote about the other day, including the squad I would’ve picked.

Following the World Cup, a disastrous campaign where Australia finished 10th after losses against Germany and Slovenia, featuring a squad largely billed as transitional with the 2024 Olympics on the horizon, the Boomers dropped off that defensive intensity that carried them all the way to rose gold in Tokyo two years prior.

Several factors can be pointed at to explain the Boomers’ catatonic World Cup. The introduction of Josh Giddey at point guard, the nation’s great hope for the future but still a drastic stylistic change from the way the team played in Tokyo, Giddey’s natural floor game sacrificed spacing with his inconsistent outside shot, and the team’s style shifted to accommodate him.

Expanded roles for Josh Green and Duop Reath, two bit part contributors in Tokyo that were thrust into the limelight, the former at the expense of Matthew Dellavedova, the latter due to injuries to Jock Landale and Aron Baynes.

Speaking of Landale, his injury mere weeks out from the World Cup submarined the team, taking a facsimile of big men in Xavier Cooks and Jack White to help Nick Kay cover the five spot in a pairing with Duop Reath.

In summary, introducing so many new key role players in Giddey, Green, Cooks and Reath for the World Cup was always going to provide a bit of transition for the Boomers, but with a settled squad heading into this Olympics, I was reasonably confident of the team to gel together prior to the Games.

And then Goorjian just threw a Molotov into the equation.

No Matisse Thybulle.

No Xavier Cooks.

Let me start with the inclusion of FOUR big men in Landale, Reath, Nick Kay and Will Magnay in the squad. I can’t help but think Goorjian is so spooked by what happened at the World Cup that he’s prioritised having as much big man cover as possible.

I can understand his reticence, but I think it’s a really short sighted move. In the World Cup, Australia were relying on guys like Cooks and Jack White to provide bulk cover at the centre spot in lieu of Jock Landale, while Goorjian refused to stagger the minutes of Nick Kay and Duop Reath, often playing them in a frontcourt pairing, leading to the team’s defence to get utterly exposed.

With Landale back, you have your top two centre options healthy and available, and I would be dead against playing them together for that defensive reasoning. Offensively they’re fine, but neither of them can guard in space, they’re both centres in FIBA ball, you have enough cover with Xavier Cooks providing any additional insurance.

To me, this squad (and again, this is reported, there is a chance Olgun Uluc has something wrong but his track record has me pretty convinced) is a real mis-reading of the situation that the Boomers find themselves in.

By including four centres, as well as Jack McVeigh AND Matthew Dellavedova, Goorjian appears to be insuring himself against a scenario that might happen, rather than loading his team up to play to its strengths.

Australia, in this generation, is never going to be a fluid offensive team. They have guys that can make shots, sure, but the majority of the elite guys in this rotation are streaky shooters.

Therefore, I would’ve prioritised the defence and transition game. Australia’s point of difference is having a bunch of hyper-athletic (for FIBA level anyway), switchable wing defenders that can cause havoc and get out and run.

Australia’s bronze medal campaign was characterised by being able to string together several key stops in a row and pushing the ball in transition, and a huge part of that was Matisse Thybulle. In the bronze medal game against Slovenia, Thybulle took on the responsibility of guarding Luka Doncic. Luka got his that night, but he had to work incredibly hard for it, and eventually Australia were able to pull away after wearing Slovenia down.

By dropping Matisse, and Xavier Cooks for that matter (preseason training will be interesting for the Sydney Kings), the Boomers have sacrificed two of their bigger, more athletic defensive and transition presences, and for what? To carry Delly’s experience on the bench for no reason?

This squad feels like it’s carrying a few too many passengers. I appreciate what Dellavedova and Nick Kay have done for Australian basketball, but if you’re truly picking on form and not legacy, as I was led to believe, neither would be near the squad.

Kay was bad at the World Cup, his numbers way down, and Delly is coming off a season where he shot under 30% from three for Melbourne United. I can appreciate people like the comeback story of perseverance, but this is the Olympics, you only have 12 spots, this isn’t carrying a beloved veteran on a club side for vibes, there should be no charity here.

The Goulding omission is also one I would not have seen coming, especially given how he lit it up in the two warm up games vs. China, but Goorjian also refused to play him anyway, even when Australia couldn’t hit water if they fell off a boat, so I’m not wasting any energy getting mad over that one.

Where there’s losers though, there will also be winners, and this squad is a huge vote of confidence in Dyson Daniels and Jack McVeigh, in particular. With the omissions of Thybulle and Cooks, Daniels and McVeigh will look to have expanded roles, Daniels as that bigger wing defender, and McVeigh as the four man.

Daniels especially needs a big tournament with this vote of confidence. He was a non factor in the World Cup, playing sparingly, but had a reasonably solid season over in the NBA with New Orleans. Still, he has the same shooting concerns Thybulle did, and isn’t the defender Matisse is either, so the logic applying to one and not the other does bemuse me.

All that being said, of course I’ll hope these calls are right, but it’s tough to not feel a little underwhelmed and down on this squad.

#GoldVibesOnly

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