Boomers World Cup prep: Australia dominate Venezuela in 97-41 win, veterans face changed roles

The Boomers are changing – and that is a monumental shift considering the long-time champions who have served Australia for the past decade.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 14: Josh Giddey of the Boomers dribbles the ball during the match between Australia Boomers and Venezuela at Rod Laver Arena on August 14, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

Brian Goorjian is using the three-game World Cup warm-up games in Melbourne as a chance to “experiment” with his line-ups but, as Father Time creeps up on his Aussie stalwarts, he says the likes of Joe Ingles and Patty Mills are comfortable with changed roles as they pursue a gold medal.

Twenty-year old star point guard Josh Giddey put on a show in Monday night’s hammering of Venezuela, giving a glimpse of the future as both Mills (8 points, 4 assists) and Ingles (12 points) played different, but no-less key roles to that of their Tokyo Olympic bronze medal campaign.

“They get it. They totally get it,” Goorjian said of his veteran stars.

“They’re totally into winning a gold medal.”

Goorjian is keen to avoid a repeat of Sydney 2000, when all of Andrew Gaze, Luc Longley, Andrew Vlahov, Mark Bradtke and Shane Heal (who later reversed his decision and played at the Athens Olympics) retired from international basketball after the Games.

Patty Mills and Joe Ingles, and the recently cut Matthew Dellavedova, celebrate Australia’s bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Adam Head

Long-serving interior beast Aron Baynes didn’t make the initial Boomers squad and beloved NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova was cut during last week’s selection camp in Cairns, leaving Ingles (35), Mills (35) and Chris Goulding (34) as the Boomers veteran presence in a team stacked with young NBA talent.

“It works in cycles, you can’t have a situation like Sydney where everybody leaves at the same time, we’ve got to keep this momentum going,” Goorjian said.

“So, a couple have already pushed out and some are going to change their roles.

“Father Time is a part of this in the four-year (Olympic) cycles, but our group, now, I like the balance of experience (and) youth.”

Brian Goorjian reacts during the Boomers’ win over Venezuela. Picture: Getty

With Giddey the team’s chief initiator on Monday night, Mills spent most of his 26 minutes off the ball or as the second handler, while Ingles came off the bench, something unfamiliar to the 35-year-old in the green and gold.

“I talked to Joe about that (coming off the bench) prior to the game, (he was) on board with that,” Goorjian said.

“I’m not sold on a starting line-up yet but we’re going to experiment a lot and … shift the line ups around a lot during the next two games.”

The Boomers face Brazil on Wednesday night at Rod Laver Arena at the earlier start time of 5.30pm AEST after the game was shifted to avoid a clash with the Matildas’ FIFA World Cup semi final against England (8pm AEST).

Josh Giddey pulled the strings in the Boomers’ strong win. Picture: Getty

‘WORK TO DO’: BOOMERS FAR FROM SATISFIED AFTER HUGE WIN

Australian basketball’s World Cup warm-up began in fitting and familiar fashion with Boomers hero Patty Mills delighting the crowd with the first points of their Monday night warm-up clash with Venezuela in Melbourne.

Then, perhaps symbolic of the vaunted cultural bedrock this team is built on, Patty welcomed next-gen star Josh Giddey who put on a clinic with a near-triple double — 14 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds — in front of his home crowd in a 97-41 victory against an overmatched Venezuelan outfit.

Far from satisfied, Giddey said the game was vital in preparing the Boomers for the World Cup, but they had plenty of improvement in them.

“A lot of us haven’t played together … there’s a lot we take away, good and bad, from these games,” Giddey said.

“There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re nowhere near where we want to be, so lots of room for improvement, which is great, heading to a World Cup.

”A lot of fun playing here in Melbourne.

“We’ve got two more good hit-outs and then we’re on the way (to Japan for the World Cup).

“Time moves quick through this pre-world cup process but guys have hit the ground running … and we’re headed in the right direction.”

Giddey even got caught in a scrap with a Venezuelan opponent. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Tickets weren’t cheap — one attendee forked out $270 to take his two kids and seats down on the court were the best part of $800 — ensuring a smattering of empty seats throughout Rod Laver Arena, which had curtains drawn in the bleachers at either end.

But, for the 8789 in attendance, it was a celebration of basketball in the first appearance by a full-strength Boomers outfit in Melbourne since their 2019 Marvel Stadium clashes with Team USA.

If the world No. 3 was blowing out the cobwebs in its first ‘real’ competitive game as a squad, it didn’t show — even if the No. 17-ranked Venezuelans struggled to mount a challenge.

The Boomers looked well-organised defensively and showed a wonderful flair on offence, sharing the ball to the tune of 23 assists on 37 made field goals, willing themselves to the basket when possible, and making their threes at a solid 36 per cent clip — although they’ll want to tidy up the 19 turnovers.

The performance — especially in holding Venezuela to just 41 points — gave coach Brian Goorjian even more confidence his team can build toward a World Cup medal.

“I’m more excited after tonight than I was leading into it,” Goorjian said.

“I said to the guys before the game, we had a lot of young guys who we’ve added to the team who are very talented and obviously one that’s got the ball in his hand for us and wasn’t a part of it in the last one so that offensive side of the ball, we were going to make some mistakes.

“We made more than I anticipated, we turned the ball over a lot but my hope was that we played through the mistakes and didn’t drop our heads or roll our shoulders or any of that we just continued to move forward.

“I’m trying to coach very hard on the defensive end of the floor. That’s what I was excited about tonight.”

The Boomers were far too good for Venezuela. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

The connection between Duop Reath and Giddey was uncanny — and, even against an inferior opponent, might have sealed the former Illawarra Hawk’s trip to Okinawa. Reath dived hard in pick n rolls, taking full advantage of Giddey’s size and court vision, benefiting from a number of pinpoint passes from the Oklahoma City Thunder star on his way to 26 points, most on easy dunks at the rim.

What a luxury it is for Goorjian to be able to bring veteran great Joe Ingles off the bench. A stalwart of the Boomers’ success, the 35-year-old had 12 points and is going to be a weapon at the World Cup, should Goorjian, who said he was experimenting with line-ups in these games, continue to utilise him as sixth man.

Down 43 late in the third, tensions boiled over when Venezuela’s Pedro Chourio threw a forearm at Giddey. Both side’s managed to keep their calm but some eyebrows were raised when the referees decided against an unsportsmanlike foul.

Big man Jock Landale sat out with an ankle injury. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Moments later, Michael Carrera — known to Melbourne fans when he blew up after giving away free burgers at a Melbourne United game during his 2019 stint with Cairns — drew a Bronx cheer when he was blocked from behind by Giddey and spent the rest of the third jawing with Ingles.

The Venezuelans have an average age of 32, making them the oldest squad headed to the World Cup, but while 23-year-old point guard Garly Sojo struggled under the Boomers’ defensive pressure (5 turnovers), he top scored with 12 points.

GOORJ’S BIG DECISION

Gun big man Jock Landale was already out with an ankle injury, NBA wing Josh Green was absent with an elbow complaint and Chris Goulding knocked knees early in the game. It gave 21-year-old man mountain Harry Wessels an opportunity to suit up, but adds to the intrigue of Goorjian’s toughest selection conundrum. Green and Landale are both expected to play in at least one of this week’s games, but Goorjian needs to cut one more player from the 13, and it looks like a battle between Reath and Jack White, with the likes of Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Nick Kay, Goulding and Green understood to be firming as locks.

BOOMERS GET #TOUGH4T

The Boomers warmed up in pink shirts, highlighting the campaign for former Sydney Flame Tiana Mangakahia, whose basketball career was cut short this year when she was diagnosed with a re-occurrence of stage 4 breast cancer. The Boomers joined the hoops community in coming together for the 28-year-old, raising almost $45,000 to help with her out-of-pocket medical bills. She was in the crowd and expressed gratitude on the mic during the three-quarter-time break — and a little advice for the fired up Boomers: “stop talking smack and just play basketball”.

GET READY FOR GREEN AND GOLD WEDNESDAY

Just like the rest of Australia, Patty and the Boomers have religiously followed the Matilda’s FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign. It came as no surprise when they decided to shift their game time from 7.45pm to 5.30pm on Wednesday to avoid clashing with the Tillies’ semi-final against England. The Boomers will take on Brazil and then rush off court so they can chair their football counterparts on.

Originally published as Boomers World Cup prep: Australia dominate Venezuela in 97-41 win, veterans face changed roles