Lets not get too carried away Thon had a great game and is going to be a great player. His not Boomer quality just yet, come 2020 olympics he will be one of our best if not our best player.

very good list, think i may have to attend 2020..

Anyone who thinks Thon should be in the Boomers Olympic team this year is delustional. Thon had a nice game but there is a clear and massive difference between Olympic basketball and NBA summer league. He is playing against NBA rookies and outsiders looking for contracts. He is not playing against fully grown, established players.

Having said that, Australia does need to put that stamp on him in the eyes of Fiba. It would be worth involving him next year and thereon. It is important to include him in the national program but lets not act like he would nudge any of our current Boomers big men out of position right now for Rio.

Anon #591018

That is is a very talented list of players to choose from for the 2020 Olympics.

First thing first.. Let see who the Boomers coach will be first before we get excited.

Thon guardian will never allow him to play for the Boomers
unless there is something in it for him.

Thon has stated many times he plans to rep the boomers, now having delly in Milwaukee i would say its nearly a lock

"Exum and simmons played for the boomers when they
were 17. People who said Thon is not ready to play for the boomers right now were talking out of their backsides."

So you think you can just compare any player at any position by age and assume they're as ready as each other?

Both Exum and Simmons were much closer to the full-grown equivalent by position at that age than Maker currently is, as a center/power forward who is maybe 20 kilos underweight.

Also, you will note that the series they were both in was against New Zealand, who are good but hardly the creme del a creme of international basketball.

You will also recall that Simmons was deemed unready for 2014 World Cup, and rightfully missed out.

And also that Dante did attend the World Cup and looked like a scared deer in headlights for the entire tournament.

You might be able to blood young talent for two-game qualifying tournaments where you outmatch your opponent and are expected to win, but it is not a good idea in the Olympics where there are more games, better teams, and the stakes are infinitely higher.

I am sick of these tools who think the Boomers should be a development team.

Groom him to replace Andersen? He may be ready for the Boomers in a couple of years.

Another big game for Thon - 17 points / 17 boards, against strong opposition in the D-League team.

Maker is legit. Perhaps he should have been selected for Rio.....?

It's fantastic to see some strong performances early on in the Summer League. Needs to be put in some perspective though - I don't think any of these 2 or 3 performances take him past anyone who has been named in the Boomers squad.

Hopefully he's ready for the next World Cup in 2019, and the 202 games after that.

It is hard to pick a player that withdrew from consideration to focus on getting established in the nba.

Thon Maker will not play significant Minutes for the Bucks but he looks like he will be solid in a couple years.

Have a look at the calibre of big men he is up against in D league. He is not competing against the behemoths that will be in the NBA. When he does, then we can talk about what he can or can't do for the Boomers.

The NBA teams would not be letting their 3 future Aussie Boomers play in these Olympics anyway.

We'll be lucky if they play in the next one.

Is that you Olgun?

One game does not make a man...regardless of how old he may or not be....

Glad he's tearing it up but to suggest he should be going to Rio is a tad out of touch.

Hopefully with Delly at the Bucks Thon will suit up for the next worlds cause he really needs to get in an Aussie uniform soon so we can lock him in.

Defineately had a positive start to his career.

"Simmons and Exum did not prove themselves in the nba before getting picked for the boomers. So why should Thon prove himself in the nba before getting picked for the boomers ? This is just another unfair double standards you imposed on Thon.

Also a d league select team is pretty good standard team, certainly good enough to beat most nbl teams. "

I have answered this question before. Exum was crap with the World Cup and Simmons was a bit player at the Oceania championship. Both were physically much closer to the standard for their position, whereas Thon is up to 20 kilos lighter than his competition. You don't blood kids for the Olympics. What are you not seeing?

Anyone who saw Exum at the worlds would have reservations about putting 17 year olds in the national team. He wasn't ready to contribute and he didn't really contribute.

I don't see why people like you see the need to rush. There are qualifiers next year and will be qualifiers over the next two years leading into the next world cup. They're young and will have their day.

"Hopefully with Delly at the Bucks Thon will suit up for the next worlds cause he really needs to get in an Aussie uniform soon so we can lock him in.

Defineately had a positive start to his career."

Yes he should be locked in during qualifications.

Better than most NBL centres, probably. But we're talking about a guy who hasn't really been properly scouted yet. It is two games into Summer League, and some guys will surprise until their weaknesses are figured out. Plus the lazy defense and offence played in the tournament hardly serves as conditions to be the true barometer of how Thon would fair in a league with players another 5-10 years older than that of Summer League who are playing the game with serious intent.

But make no mistake, Thon is impressing.

Having said that, if you put Boomers fringe centers like Maric (31) and Jawai (29) in among those in Summer League, their size and experience would see them dominate in a lot of areas. The reason they aren't in Summer League is they've already reached their potentials and the ceiling for these kids is much higher when they become finished products.

We've seen Thon dominate in high school. He has taken another step up and had two dominant games against guys from 19-23. it says a lot for his potential, but you can't put him in the Green and Gold (yet) above guys who are proven against men in their primes 23-30+.

There is a BIG difference physically between those ages.

And while the Summer League centers are probably better than many in the NBL in a variety of ways, they do not have the experience or frame that many NBL centers will have, despite the fact that NBL centers are rarely huge specimens.

And size is the difference between getting that putback dunk or being nudged out of the key entirely.

I'll give Thon some credit - he looks like he could become a very good player.

He shows lots to like in the Summer League game I'm watching: running the floor, effort, shooting, confidence and rebounding.
I want to see him being more aggressive on the boards, and to use his feet more on defense, but he might be backing off to avoid fouls. And he certainly needs to bulk up. But I can certainly see potential.

Best of luck to the guy, and I hope he's ready for the Boomers in 2018.

2019 that's when the next WC is.

Given our U/17 and U/19 teams get better results than the senior teams, I frankly don't understand why they don't just pick those entire teams and take them to the Olympics/World Cup. Just get rid of all these old guys who obviously aren't that good.

So you're saying that the new Boomers coach shouldn't make minor changes to this squad but should take a bold leap and go with youth in a big way, even if we lose a few games for a while?

So, if we keep Delly, Mills, Broekhoff, Ingles, Baynes, Goulding, that's still a good core to build around.

There's no guarantee that every promising youngster will prove worthy of the Boomers, but it's an idea with potential. Add Simmons, Thon Maker, Exum, Humphries, and a few others into a squad of 15 to 18 and in 3 years they could be a good squad for the Worlds. I like it.

"
DEJAN Vasiljevic and Issac Humphries made the U17 all star 1st team , they would not do much worse than players like Martin, Maric, Jawai, motum and bairstow,
"

Well he was good against kids, so he MUST be great against adults. Not a whole lot of logic going on there. Mind you two of the names you listed them being better than, Martin and Maric, won gold in the 2003 under 19s. And if they didn't turn out great, where's your guarantee about these two?

:I would give the following players a good run in the boomers team as soon as the Olympics is over.

Thon Maker - dominated nba summer league
Humphries - 260 pounds 7 footer, he has the weight and size to compete against adult players.
Majok Deng - already 23 year old, hardly a junior player. "

Maker, yes. Humphries, yes. But what has Majok Deng done? Yeah, I think he was taken by a Summer League team but he is going straight to the 36er bench in his first year. He is still developing and is not in the Boomers conversation yet.

"
Exum and Simmons should also play major minutes and start for the boomers, If they are good enough to start for nba teams, they should be good enough to be starters for the boomers. "

If Simmons plays as expected, yes. If Dante keeps on like a scared deer in headlights, no.

"Hoopie. IMHO that's the way to go moving forward.
I would add Exum, simmons, Maker, Humphries and
Bolden / Majok Deng to the core of Delly, Mills, Broekhoff, Ingles, Baynes, Goulding after the Olympics. "


Indeed, after the Olympics when we have minor tournaments. That is when you blood these players. But only the ones who are doing things of note. Makok Deng and Bolden have done nothing and shouldn't be in the conversation until they do.

Most players with potential end up falling under expectations. Ater Majok is a perfect example but in 2005 you guys would have had him start for the Boomers because he was athletic, black, and drafted.

koberulz， exactly

DEJAN Vasiljevic and Issac Humphries made the U17 all star 1st team

^ @koberulz, you can't expect everyone to understand sarcasm, mate.