Bogut: Why Boomers should choose NBL stars

Australian basketball legend Andrew Bogut has explained the “very dangerous” situation facing the Australian Boomers heading into this year’s Paris Olympics. 

The last time the Boomers appeared in an Olympics it was historic, as the squad won bronze in Tokyo, the first medal in Australian men’s basketball history.

However, that success was followed by a disappointing 10th place finish at last year’s World Cup and now a range of selection headaches. 

Australian coach Brian Goorjian has been open about the importance of players playing consistent minutes in the lead-up to a national campaign, which has led to Bogut posing a fascinating question on the Rogues Bogues podcast. 

“I’d almost argue that you take a guy playing in the NBL at 35 minutes a game to a guy that’s getting DNPs in the NBA,” Bogut said.

“It’s always a tricky one, conditioning, shape, your mental health basketball wise, are you feeling confident? Are you feeling yourself? Are you feeling like you’re going to knock all your shots down?”

The conversation has been sparked due to the inconsistent minutes of Australians in the NBA this season.

Patty Mills has appeared in just seven games for the Atlanta Hawks, Ben Simmons has suffered further injury setbacks, Josh Green has just returned from injury, Jock Landale is in and out of the rotation in Houston, Josh Giddey has faced off-court issues, and Joe Ingles has been hampered by injury after a fast start.

While there is still plenty of the season left in the NBA, Bogut believes the rollercoaster ride Australians in the Association have taken isn’t beneficial to the Olympic campaign.  

“Ben Simmons, Josh Green, Patty Mills, Jock Landale, just not playing much. That’s four integral parts of your Boomers program,” Bogut said.

“Joe Ingles is back in the rotation, but he’s hurt, Josh Giddey’s hurt with all the distractions off the floor. There’s a lot going on with the Aussies in the NBA ... that is not favourable for a Boomers positive stint, which you don’t like to see. 

“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge in the NBA season, but I would love to see Patty Mills getting a consistent 15 off the bench, Ben Simmons back and healthy, Jock Landale getting 10-15 playing through good and bad ... that’d be the ideal world for the Boomers, but we don’t live in an ideal world and that’s where it’s very dangerous right now for the Boomers program.”

It is worth mentioning the strong signs shown from Duop Reath, Dante Exum, Dyson Daniels and Green would be pleasing Goorjian, who just returned from a USA trip where he met with all the Australians currently in the NBA. 

A slew of NBL talent is going to be injected into the Boomers' squad for February’s Asia Cup qualifiers, with Newscorp reporting Mitch Creek, Dejan Vasiljevic, Rocco Zikarsky, Alex Toohey and Jaylin Galloway are all in the mix.

Chris Goulding is sure to be in the Olympic camp, while other NBL stars such as Nathan Sobey, Luke Travers, Sam Froling, Matthew Dellavedova, Will McDowell-White, Keanu Pinder, Jordan Hunter, Jonah Bolden and Jack McVeigh would all be looking to impress coach Goorjian throughout the rest of the season. 

The ever-presence of Bryce Cotton’s potential Australian citizenship is also sure to play into calculations if there is progression there.  

It all leads to Goorjian and the coaching staff needing to make some tough decisions before the Games, with Bogut pointing out how certain skillsets mesh with each other will hold greater importance than sole individual talent. 

“After national teams are announced there’s always these people online, ‘how could he make it? This guy’s better than him’. Well unfortunately, it’s not a one-on-one game,” Bogut said. 

“You’re not comparing player X to player Y and saying, ‘if it was one-on-one, the guy that got cut would win’... well, he doesn’t fill the need for that team, his form wasn’t good, he didn’t play a whole lot the last season ... that’s the danger you got right now.”