QUICK WRAP: Australia vs. Georgia
See you in Paris
If you’re a real one, you sat through the Boomers final World Cup game, a dead rubber against Georgia, a team they barely beat in a behind-closed-doors friendly days before the tournament proper.
After yet another jittery third quarter, the theme of this campaign for the Boomers, the Aussies settled the ship and eventually ran away as comfortable 100-84 winners over the Eastern European nation missing their captain, Tornike Shengelia, through injury.
I guess when I flicked this one on I was hoping for a bit of fluidity, flexibility and experimentation when it came to the lineups and rotations. With nothing to play for, I wanted Brian Goorjian to hand more expanded roles to some of the guys on this team lingering in the shadows this tournament, but who figure to grow into more prominent roles as the future of this program.
I speak of course of guys like Dyson Daniels, Xavier Cooks and Duop Reath mainly.
I was therefore disappointed to see the same tired lineup that had struggled to defend all tournament. I like Nick Kay, and I like Duop Reath, but functionally as a pairing they’re very old school, twin-towers like, especially on the defensive end, where better teams exploit their inability to defend in space through screens and forcing switches.
While both of them can hit the outside shot well enough to command some form of gravity and respect on the offensive end, the tradeoff defensively is too great to make that unit workable, and while I know the injury to Jock Landale likely is what forced that odd couple in the first place, this game was the perfect chance to throw tradition out the window and try a new combination.
As I was expressing this sentiment online some people pointed out that there was no way Goorjian would do that because it might prove him wrong. I understand that might be a possibility, but genuinely, if that’s the way the coach is thinking, with hubris and pride over long term development, then I’m not sure how much longer the path is.
No, I think the more likely explanation is continuity throughout the tournament and a certain degree of rigidity.
As for the game itself, as usual, the trends were not kind to the Boomers, losing the rebounding battle 39-33 while giving up a heinous 15 offensive rebounds to a Georgian frontline that is admittedly big, but not one you’d term as mobile.
On the plus side, and in a bit of a cathartic victory for the Boomers, they finally found their range from the three point line, and on good volume too, launching 31 threes and making 14 of them. If only that shooting was discovered maybe one game earlier.
This team continues to live and die by Josh Giddey, and the point guard put together maybe his most controlled performance of the World Cup, even if the numbers don’t pop. 15 points and 4 assists is pedestrian for Giddey, but he shot 7-9 from the field and generally looked in control as he attacked Georgia’s smaller guards
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Other than that, there isn’t really much to analyse from this game. Duop Reath showed his pick and pop game again, frustrating me as to why he didn’t get more minutes in games that mattered.
Joe Ingles and Patty Mills both had nice bounce back games shooting the ball, and Joe in particular ended the tournament on a good note with a 10 point, 5 rebound and 6 assist performance after effectively blanking on the box score against Slovenia.
Once again, Dante Exum was the pick of the second unit guys, the offense just runs so smoothly when the newly minted Dallas Maverick is out there. 18 points on 6-12 shooting while also dishing 4 assists and not committing a single turnover in just over 18 minutes of play, he’s almost certainly a lock for Paris 2024.
Speaking of Paris, the nature of the tournament ending and with the reasonably quick turnaround to the Olympics being less than a year away, the discussions have already started about who comes in and who drops out.
It’s far too early for me to have any strong opinions either way, but I did want to touch on the case of Matisse Thybulle.
Matisse won Aussie hearts with his effortless assimilation into the Boomers culture for the Tokyo Olympics, earning a place in history as a crucial cog in a team that broke the program’s medal duck. His role on the team was easily discernible, lock down defender. As one of the NBA’s best on that end, he made an immediate impact.
That honeymoon period appears to be over now with calls from some sections for Thybulle to be a tough cut for Paris, with Bryce Cotton coming in.
If you’re not aware, FIBA only allows a maximum of one naturalised player on a roster for a major tournament. Thybulle lived in Sydney for several years as a child before returning to the USA, while Cotton has been playing for the Perth Wildcats since 2017. Cotton, it should be noted, is not a citizen yet, the process notably dragging for the multiple-time NBL MVP and champion.
Both offer different skillsets. Thybulle with his defence and Cotton with his instant offense. Cotton will be nearly 32 by the time the Olympics roll around, and while his offense would be a welcome boost for the program, is it worth the sacrifice of Thybulle’s defence.
The criticism of Thybulle appears to be centered around his lack of offensive production. Well, newsflash, that isn’t his role, and you know that. He may have had an off tournament at the defensive end, but frankly so did the entire team, singling out Tisse for that seems rather short-sighted. For what it’s worth, I thought he played his role fairly well, and his minutes were limited anyway.
Either way, it will be undoubtedly a tough decision for Brian Goorjian or whoever comes into the hot seat moving forward (Adam Caporn maybe?).
BOOMER HIGHLIGHT
Oh yeah back to this game. Well I touched on him above but Dante Exum yet again played his role to absolute perfection as the first guard off the bench. His tidiness on the ball, his efficiency, his spot up shooting, his defensive ability and his slashing to the basket all crucial elements of the Boomers second unit.
This game was a nice little cherry on top of what was ultimately for Exum a very good tournament, and I know there’s some Dallas fans excited as to his role for the Mavericks next season.
Just quietly, I might almost have Exum as my player of the tournament for the Boomers due to his overall consistency. Sure guys like Giddey, Mills and even Cooks had higher highs, but they also has periods of total non-value.
Exum remained a constant, reliable presence throughout.
DISLIKE
I feel like a broken record here so I won’t rattle on too much but the rotations again, or more accurately, the lack of innovation in a game that meant little.
Cooks only got 14 minutes, Duop Reath 17, while Chris Goulding and Dyson Daniels only featured again in garbage time. The point has been made with Goulding, what use was it carrying the best shooter in the country if you aren’t going to play him when you’re in desperate need of a bucket (in games that matter anyway)?
As for Dyson, I would’ve loved to see him get some confidence and repetitions in the Boomers uniform with the guys he’s going to be part of the future with. Just feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Goorjian has said he’ll be in the chair for Paris, so I’ll take that at face value. It feels kind of fair for him to finish out this cycle with the Olympics so soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a changing of the guard following that. Adam Caporn was a loud voice during huddles in timeouts, often drawing up plays. He seems next in line by my distant observation.
BOX SCORE
NEXT GAME
See you in Paris.
#GoldVibesOnly
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I’ll likely record a review podcast on the World Cup where we go in further depth about what went right and wrong this tournament with a guest (I don’t know who yet), so subscribe to Beyond the Fence on your podcast platform of choice and keep an eye out for that one in the coming weeks.