Jock Landale’s awkward moment Boomers Paris heartbreak hit, renewed excitement on road to LA

Standing at the altar about to say his vows, Jock Landale looked out across the crowd. For a fleeting moment during his special day, what the Boomers Olympian saw brought thoughts of the ‘sting’ of Paris.

As the Australian squad gears up for Asia Cup selection camp, Jock Landale has opened up on the Boomers’ Paris Olympic heartbreak — and the group chat with Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels and company that has them primed for LA.

Landale said the “sting” of the Boomers Olympic quarter-final loss to Serbia, where they surrendered a 24-point second quarter lead, hit him like a ton of bricks while, of all places, about to say his vows to long-time partner India Maddern.

“I didn’t have any time to feel sorry for myself,” Landale said.

“It was something that was kind of delayed for me because I went from the Olympics to, three days later, getting married in London.

“I think the first time it really hit me was when I’m standing at the altar, looking out and I’m seeing a few of the boys from the Olympics sprinkled in amongst the crowd.

A wedding, Paris heartbreak and excitement for the Boomers future: Jock Landale is a man on a mission.

“I was like, ‘f*** man, that stings’, which is funny, because I’m standing at the altar about to get married.”

From that moment, the new Memphis Grizzlies’ big man said he parked any further thought of a golden opportunity missed — until he returned from his honeymoon.

“We got back and we started having exit meetings and conversations and I really started diving into it with Andrew Bogut,” Landale said.

“You play it out now and it’s a game of, ‘what if?’.

“We felt like we had a team that was special and could have gone a lot further than we did.

“You look at that quarter-finals game and it’s like, ‘we were so close’.

“But it is what it is, there are things that we can improve on as a team, as a program and I think that those things are being addressed.”

Jock Landale, Josh Giddey and company are already deep in the planning for the Boomers’ 2028 assault on LA. Picture: AFP

‘BALL ROLLING’ ON ROAD TO LA

Amid that forensic deep dive into what went wrong in Paris, the Boomers’ WhatsApp was constantly active, with chatter about everything from new coaching staff to the little things they could improve on.

“We started a bit of a group chat and got the ball rolling for the next campaign,” Landale said.

“Me, Gids (Josh Giddey), Dys (Dyson Daniels), Dante (Exum) and a few of the boys were all on the text fairly heavily late last year about what we need to improve on.

“We were like ‘we might as well start trying to build something special right now’.

USHERING IN A NEW ERA

With the legendary Brian Goorjian’s tenure at an end after a history-making Tokyo Olympic bronze medal, attention turned to who would take the coaching reins.

As candidates from the likes of Atlanta Hawks’ coach Quin Snyder to incumbent assistant Matthew Nielson were considered, Basketball Australia ensured it collaborated with senior Boomers in its discussions.

“The coach selection panel process was really interesting, they got the new leadership group involved, not too heavily, but just enough where we felt like we had a voice that was heard,” Landale said.

There’s an excitement among the Boomers for the future under new coach Adam Caporn. Picture: Basketball Australia

Once the selection panel settled on promoting assistant Adam Caporn, the excitement among the Boomers group was immediate.

“Capes having that free range to go and really finetune the program to his will and put in place everything that he wants is really exciting,” Landale said.

“He was the driving force offensively for us in the Paris campaign and it felt like we were close to breaking through and we saw flashes of really special things.

“So now that we can have that campaign completely under his control, that really excites us.

“There’s a lot of trust and faith in what he produces for us.”

FOR THE CULTURE: WE WANT DEANO

When considering the make up of the Boomers new coaching panel, Landale and the senior leaders were adamant one man had to be involved: Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman — Landale’s mentor on the 2021 NBL championship team and one of Australia’s most celebrated coaches.

Boomers senior players called for Dean Vickerman to be involved in the national team program. Picture: Getty Images

“I think that was one thing that we made fairly clear early on in the piece was that we really wanted Dean involved,” Landale said.

“I think Dean’s done a cracking job of building a relationship with all the players and, culturally, he’s probably the best coach I’ve ever been around.

“You see that through the way Melbourne United plays and speaks about him.

“We preach culture and I think that Dean can really help take that to another level.”

Vickerman was among those considered for the lead role, but landed in the perfect role of associate head coach, where he will be the one constant on the Boomers staff through major and minor tournaments and friendlies.

A CAMP TO KICK THINGS OFF

Vickerman said he was appreciative of the players’ endorsement as he prepared to head to the Gold Coast for that Asia Cup selection camp.

The Boomers, on Thursday, will play a one-off clash with University of Colorado on the Gold Coast, which follows a four-day camp, beginning Sunday, with the likes of Giddey and Daniels in town.

“I’m looking forward to going to camp and we’re going to have a number of those NBA guys around and I’m look forward to chatting with them about Boomers culture and how we can tweak it a little bit for the new group coming through,” Vickerman said.

“Capes has led into that with me doing some work in the culture and leadership space of the of the group moving forward.

“There’ll be other culture, leadership guys within the program but I might be someone that’s a bit of a constant at all of the tournaments.”

Fourteen players, most out of the NBL, are vying for 12 spots on the Boomers Asia Cup team, which will shoot for a three-peat when it jets to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the August 5-17 tournament.

Originally published as Jock Landale’s awkward moment Boomers Paris heartbreak hit, renewed excitement on road to LA