I think Martin took just about every opportunity he could to try and secure a spot in the WC team. Gibbo also did a pretty good job too. Will be tough for one of them.

Here is how I see it:

Starters
Mills
Newley
Barlow
Nielsen
Maric

Bench
Bruton
Ingles
Worthington
Andersen
Jawai
Nevill
Martin

Unlucky: Gibson & Loughton.

Anyone else thoguth big Nate look out of shape? I know he is proberly carrying a few injuries etc but after spending 2 seasons in the NBA I was expecting him to be better conditioned - especially seen is is fighting for a new contract.

Mills and Newley were the only two that really looked that great IMO. Loughton was OK.

My selection would be

Mills/Gibson
Barlow/Bruton
Newley/Ingles/Worthington
Nielsen/Loughton/Baynes
Anderson/Maric

Very young inexeprienced team, but as Andrew Bogut said on commentary, if we can get a young group and develop over the coming years by london they will be hard to beat.

This is sure to be Bruton last Boomers Campaign as we have Martin, Dellavedova and Cadee ready to take his position next year.
Worthington is in trouble with so many talented players in the 4/5 position he may need to alter his game and become more of a 3 man.
Baynes & Maric although havent played this series both had quality seasons in Europe, and therefore are perfect for the International game. Jawai might be big but is not suited to the fast paced FIBA style game.

Worthington is a 3 man, he does post a bit though.

I think Bruton would start in some capacity. Either ahead of Mills or as a starting guard with him.

I'd go:

Bruton/Mills
Newley/Barlow
Worthington/Ingles
Nielsen/Andersen
C ?

Haven't seen enough of Maric to know if he'd be the best option (sans-Bogut) in the middle. They could run him there with Andersen taking some minutes, then some Worthington at PF and Redhage as a SF.

Baynes actually had quite a poor season in Europe for LV this past year. However he does have potential long term.

Worthington at International level is only really a 3 man - from memory he was exposed badly at Beijing at the 4 spot.

Mills and Newley over the three games were the standouts for Australia. Loughton was probably next best, with Gibson and Martin virtually even after that. After a decent first game, Ingles dropped well off the pace.

I would not really call that an inexperienced team, as most of the guys platyed at Beijing and have plenty of experience playing internationally.

my team is:

Mills
Newley
Neilsen
Andersen
Maric

Bruton
Barlow
Worthington
Loughton
Jawai
Gibson
Ingles

the 2 players that are close to a spot are Nevill and Martin for Jawai and Gobson's positions. Someone mentioned Baynes and I had totally forgotten about him... good call! He's in with a good shot!

I thought Loughton looked like a turnover waiting to happen. I cant see how a guy who has struggled in his last two pro seasons is going to be able to contribute against the worlds best players.

I would prefer a young player take the 11th and 12th spots for development than give it to a player who will never really be good enough.

My first ten are pretty easy, even if you want to reorganise the starters:
Maric, Nielsen, Barlow, Newley, Bruton
Jawai, Andersen, Worthington, Ingles, Mills

After that it gets difficult. I would like to see Petrie there becuase he can play as a mobile four, but he is out of the picture, and Ballinger doestn seem to be in favour.

I am tempted to take two young guys like Cadee and Ogilvy to help develop them for the future, given the last two spots are unlikely to see time in meaningful court time.

I actually think Maric will suit the style well, given that Brown is now going with horn sets a lot of the time that involve rolling to the basket off picks, after hand offs and from the weak side. Maric is great heading to the basket without the ball, always seems to get into great position.

You seem to have forgotten Matthew Delladova! He is easily better than Cadee and Greenwood and dominated in his first year of college for St Mary's and played well against NZ in the Oceana qualifier last year.

My team:
Mills
Bruton
Newley
Barlow
Worthington
Maric
Neilsen
Anderson
Jawai
Martin/Gibson (to close to call)

With AJ Ogilvy and Delladova 11 and 12 for the development factor

You dont take guys to the World Championships for development! UNLESS they can contribute...

Ah yeah you do...... especially when you have 12 spots and only 10 players play!?

Plus Delladova should play in the NBA (in 1-3 years) and Ogilvy if he playd another year of college would've strengthened his draft chances.

Dellavedova was at the Boomers camp and was beaten out for his spot by both Greenwood and Cadee.

I'd go with the same team you listed LC:

Mills Bruton Martin
Newley Ingles
Barlow Worthington
Nielsen Andersen
Maric Jawai Nevill

Unlucky: Gibson & Loughton

Based on this article (thanks to The Champ for posting in another thread) http://linky.com.au/lh94c though, it appears Brown is thinking differently.

The article says he sees Martin/ Gibson as defensive two guards, not point guards. He also sees both Newley and Ingles as threes and Worthington as a four. Brown also is pretty positive about Loughton.

If I had to guess the team based on Brown's comments there, I'd say it'd be more like:

Mills Bruton
Barlow Martin
Newley Ingles
Nielsen Worthington Loughton
Maric Jawai Andersen

Makes Barlow's spot look a little uncertain, but I've slotted him in at the 2 here. Also means that Nevill wouldn't get a guernsey, assuming Maric, Jawai and Andersen are locks.

Can anyone tell me the status of these guys for the Worlds?
- Barlow (not playing v Argies - injured/ resting?)
- Bruton (just resting?)
- Nielsen (resting?)
- Maric (just fin Euro season - assume will play)
- Andersen (injured?)

Delly had a great first season in college and will definitely improve. He will become a fine player but my feeling is the NBA won't happen for him. He has good length for a PG but does not have NBA athleticism. I hope I'm ultimately proven wrong.

Ogilvy did not have a good working relationship with his coach at Vanderbilt and in fact saw his numbers decrease with each season. AJ was caught between a rock and a hard place and nominated knowing his timing was not optimal but that staying one more year would probably not help.

I'm no NBA assistant coach but playing Martin and/or Gibson at the 2 spot is a worry, despite Bogut's assurances to the contrary (regarding Martin's defensive ability, anyway). Even Argentina's second rate team identified the mismatches and posted up on them. What would the first rate teams do to us at the WC's?

Well I hope Brown only plans to use Martin/ Gibson as a defensive pest off the bench against certain opponents. I'm good with chucking Martin on with Mills in the backcourt if we need to shake a game up by playing some aggressive defence. But it should only be a 'plan B' IMO.

Hopefully, Newley and Mills will be good enough at the Worlds that we won't need to go to plan B too often!

Agreed re: Martin/Gibson. Goorjian played Bruton and Mills together in Beijing but only in short stints so the oppo didnt have time to exploit it.

As for Delly, at the FIBA U19 WCs he was a long way off the talent level of the guys who are being looked at for the NBA. But he will develop into a very good NBL player and can make money in Europe too if he can get a passport (which his name suggests he can).

My best team would be pretty similar to what has been written above with Nevill and Martin both still young (24 and 25)and both able to fill holes in the line up if need be.

Whether we take our 12 best or one or two players for development we will wait and see.

If that's true then great. It makes some sense. Has anyone else heard or read anything along these lines? Sources?

Could be true, although he had 3 months off after the NCAA tournament coming into this.

Bob Jane - ah no you don't

Green & Gold jerseys dont just get handed out to any young kid, they are fought very hard for.

What sort of message would that send to the likes of Martin and Markovic if they are told, well done, you should be on the team but these kids are young and might be good one day.

Martin & Markovic have busted their asses - Martin has gone from a player who was left alone outside the 3pt line just over a year ago to being almost automatic and Brown stated that Markovic has 'reinvented himself'.

These kids get experience by being in the squad, training against ppl like Mills etc, playing in series like this one vs Argentina where the top line players are unavailable.

This is the World Championships; you gotta earn your spot!

i was a bit surprised how often/easily mills coughed up the ball.he shows signs of preferring the 2 spot.
eg.moves really well without the ball,makes great position to receive/shoot and takes full advantage of broken down defence.
w/c's will be more about the right combinations on the floor,for the right situations.
in saying that,there may be room for a serious 'press buster' like delly at the expense of martin.

LC- i too like the mills/newely combo,may be suspect to up court pressure,but dynamic offensively.

don't know much about maric but one thing is for sure, jawai will need to be fully healthy before he gets a gig!

Updates on some players for you Beantown:

- Barlow is apparently resting up and will be available for the next camp and games
- Bruton has been playing in Puerto Rico and featured in their finals (which they lost in the end).
- Nielsen is resting up and will be available for the next camp and games
- Maric only just completed his MVP season in the Serbian league and will be available for the next camp and games
- Andersen is resting up in Melbourne and ensuring his back is right to go (he was at the game) and should be available for the next camp and games

I'm with Paul on Maric - he will be very well suited to the game plan being tested out by Brown. In fact I think Brown has chosen an offensive style that should suit our key players, including Mills, Newley, Ingles, Andersen, Neilsen and Maric (and Bogut if he was to play). Let's hope it continues to improve as players get more familiar with it and each other once the final squad get together.

I'm really worreid about Brown's intentions to use Wortho as primarily a 4, and Ingles and Newley at the 3. I think they can all pinch hit in this positions depending on match ups, but to go with it as the first option I think we will be too small and outmuscled by better the better teams.

As for Delly, he had a chance to go head to head with guys like Cadee and Greenwood and as mentioned by Aussieboomers4eva, was outplayed and hence missed out on a spot. He will be a very good player, but I don't think his game will translate to the NBA as much as I would love to see him make it. He could well end up as a very good player in the NBL or even get some coin in Europe.

And as for AJ Ogilvy, he ended up in a bad situation at Vandy, with a few niggling injuries compounded by a deteriorating relationship with the coach due to how he was being used. I have no doubt this was a major factor as to why he nominated for the NBA draft early. Given his talents, he could still end up in the NBA, however I think his game would be perfectly suited to the European style and I think he could carve out a very good career ala David Andersen over there for the right team.

You should pick your best players for the World Championships, and position 11 and 12 should be no different and these spots should be selected to cover potential needs or perceived weaknesses should they be exposed badly.

AJ Ogilvy would be right on the borderline to cover the PF/C position along with a guy like Aron Baynes. As for Delly, I think he has dropped a rung or two down then pecking order...but he has plenty of time and chances in the future to climb back up. 2010 is not his time IMO.

With Mills, Ogilvy, Ingles set to play NBA Summerleague along with the probable addition of Jawai, Andersen and Newley, I just hope they all get through injury free and saty gfit and healthy for the WC's.