Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova named in Boomers’ final squad for Rio Olympics 2016

BOOMERS coach Andrej Lemanis says Andrew Bogut will be handed the sole responsibility of deciding whether he is fit to chase Rio gold. SEE THE SQUAD HERE!

The Australian Men's Basketball Team, set for Rio. Picture: Getty Images

BOOMERS coach Andrej Lemanis says Andrew Bogut will be handed the sole responsibility of deciding whether he is fit to chase Rio gold.

A command performance from NBA championships winner Bogut is Australia’s best hope of a historic medal but he has just 25 days to recover from knee bone bruising.

As revealed by the Herald Sun last week, he has been named in the 12-man squad but can be replaced one day short of the August 6 competition.

San Antonio Spurs point guard Patrick Mills said Australia wanted to bring home gold, stating: “We are going over there to make a lot of noise”.

But the sheer scale of the challenge presented to world No.11 ranked Australia is in its opponents over five pool games.

France (5th) and Serbia (6th) were confirmed as pool competitors in the past three days after winning European qualification games.

Australia will also take on the USA, gold medallists from 1992-2012, as well as Brazil (14th) and Venezuela (22nd).

Bogut refused to update his condition yesterday but Lemanis said he would entrust the 31-year-old with the final say.

Andrew Bogut faces a race against time to be fit for Rio.

“The beauty of working with Andrew is like all the guys he’s 100 per cent towards what is best for the team and he won’t put the team in a bad position by saying he’s right when he’s not,’’ Lemanis said.

“And I 100 per cent trust that he will make that call when the appropriate time comes and will be completely honest about it.

“In his heart he will know. It is (absolutely) his decision. At the end of the day only he knows his body and how he’s feeling.”

A team universally acclaimed as Australia’s best men’s basketball team has six current NBA players — Mills, Joe Ingles, Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Cam Bairstow and Aron Baynes.

European star David Anderson became one of only eight Australian basketballers to compete in four Olympics, while NBL regulars Chris Goulding, Damien Martin and naturalised Australian Kevin Lisch made the cut.

Lemanis said he was yet to decide who would travel with the squad as cover, but power forward Nathan Jawai and former Houston Rocket Brad Newley were unlucky to miss out.

Point guard Dellavedova, a revelation at the London Olympics, admitted Bogut was irreplaceable.

“He is doing everything he can to get it right, from when he wakes up in the morning to when he goes to bed, he is trying to do everything he can to get healthy,’’ he said.

“We will give him every chance we can to get it right, we are all hoping he can get healthy.

“He provides us with something no one else can.”

Matthew Dellavedova has signed his big NBA deal with Milwaukee, but his eyes are on a medal in Rio.

.@Joeingles7 is off to his 3rd Games in Rio as @andrewbogut is also named for Rio #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/9GBRy0hdND

— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 11, 2016

Lemanis said the qualification of Serbia and France was no surprise, aware Australia was always going to have to beat elite sides to win a medal.

“They are quality European teams and we have played France quite a bit over the last four years and we know quite a bit about them,’’ he said.

“But in all honesty it’s played out exactly as I thought it would play out after we saw the Olympic draw come out.

“Our goal doesn’t change, the reality is to achieve what we want to achieve you have got to beat good teams, it’s an Olympic Games.”

Boomers: David Andersen, Cameron Bairstow, Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut, Ryan Broekhoff, Matthew Dellavedova, Chris Goulding, Joe Ingles, Kevin Lisch, Damian Martin, Patrick Mills, Brock Motum.

Patty Mills will be a key figure in the Boomers’ hopes. Picture: Tim Carrafa

#ONETEAM | Congratulations @matthewdelly on being selected for @Rio2016_en! pic.twitter.com/7Rmjqkakwl

— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) July 11, 2016

Originally published as Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova named in Boomers’ final squad for Rio Olympics 2016