Basketball Australia have announced 26 players named to the Australian Boomers Olympic roster, with players from each Australian NBL team selected for the initial squad.  

All 12 players who competed in the FIBA Oceania Championship against New Zealand last year are included in the team, including Adam Gibson, Cam Gliddon, Chris Goulding and Nate Jawai.

“It is a benefit to have a group that has spent time together both on and off the court,” said Australian Boomers head coach Andrej Lemanis.

“That group went through a campaign together and a majority of that group also went to the World Championships which will certainly help in our preparation. 

“What we’ve done is ensured we have depth in all positions which will help us if injuries ever occur.

“We have a fantastic core group of players that has been with us for a significant amount of time now and we have some exciting young talent that we have added to the squad.”

With half of the initial roster made up of NBL players, General Manager Jeremy Loeliger hopes that a strong contingent will be suiting up in the green and gold.

“It’s great that the NBL is so well represented in the squad – and while it could be assumed that the Australians playing overseas will be the ones that make the final team, I don’t think it is so clear cut now,” he said.

“All of the players have improved this season and taken their game to another level, and given how successful our season was, I hope many of our guys will get the chance to represent the country.”

Included in the line-up is Illawarra Hawks guard and 2016 NBL MVP Kevin Lisch, subject to his Australian citizenship being granted, alongside NBL Grand Finals MVP Damian Martin.

“Lisch was fantastic at the Wildcats, and left for a stint in Europe before the Illawarra Hawks were able to bring him back home. This season he’s proven once again, he’s one of our very best and we’d be so proud to see him in a Boomers uniform,” said Loeliger.

“We are also pleased Damian Martin will get another chance to represent us. He has had such a bad run of luck with injuries previously, but as we saw over the Grand Final Series this week, he is in the best form of his career.”

A reduced squad of 16 will enter into a selection camp from July 5-10, once the Boomers’ commitments in the NBA and Europe conclude. The camp will give the coaching staff the opportunity to make their final decision ahead of Rio.

Lemanis and his coaching staff know what they are looking for when narrowing the squad down to 16, before finalising the roster closer to the Games in August.

 “It’s a case of the selection staff taking into account previous history with the Boomers, current form, injuries team balance and chemistry and putting all that together,” Lemanis said. 

“One of the reasons I like getting to 16 is because it’s not only about determining the final 12 but it’s the start of us working out our offensive and defensive structures. We need practices to be productive so that we can build as a team.”

Once in camp, the Boomers will be subject to practice matches as well as an inter-squad scrimmage to fully assess each player’s contribution in a playing environment. 

At the conclusion of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Andrej Lemanis will head to the Brisbane Bullets for the 2016/17 NBL season.