The Boomers are a force to be reckoned with ahead of the Olympics

Less than a week ago all hope seemed lost for the Boomers, now they’ve shown they mean business and it’s all thanks to one man.

NCA. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIAÉ July 4 , 2024. BASKETBALL. Australian Boomers vs China at John Cain Arena, Melbourne. Patty Mills . Pic: Michael Klein

COMMENT

The Australian Boomers’ Olympic chances have skyrocketed after two impressive

performances in Dubai against world powerhouse countries the USA and Serbia this week.

On Wednesday (AEST) the Boomers beat Serbia, who were led by NBA superstar Nikola Jokic, but were missing their other star in Bogdan Bogdanovic.

It was Australia’s intense defence that was most impressive. At stages it was full court pressure that created problems for their more fancied opponents.

Dyson Daniels has been superb at the defensive end of the floor. His size and athleticism has created pressure on the ball and this has set the tone for his teammates.

The Aussies held Serbia to 3/22 from the three-point line which ended up creating a huge advantage as Australia shot 10/23 from the same distance.

Patty Mills finally hit form after really struggling to put the ball in the hole in the previous

three friendly games. He finished with 28 points, including 4/7 from 3.

Aussie fans will be hoping this is the start of Mills winding back the clock to some heroic performances in the Green and Gold, which included helping the Boomers win their first medal at the last Olympics.

Patty Mills is ready for a big Olympics campaign. (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)

The Boomers have shown that they can mix it with anyone in the world after their win over Serbia and their great performance against the USA the night before.

That was a game where the Americans dominated Australia for the first half, but the Aussies stepped up in the second half with their intense defence and brought the margin back from 24 points to a hard fought six-point loss.

This is against a team full of NBA superstars including LeBron James and Steph Curry.

Coach Brian Goorjian has started to get his rotations in order as they get closer to Paris.

The inclusion of Dyson Daniels and Nick Kay has helped balance this line-up and helped them force turnovers.

This has, in turn, triggered their transition game and rewarded the Boomers with some easy points. It’s a strategy that has been working well in the preparation, but now every team will be aware of the Aussies’ style come the Games.

The Boomers defence can be suffocating. (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)

There is no doubt that this is Josh Giddey’s team now. Giddey brings a unique look for the Boomers as a 6’8 point guard with an ability to score at the rim and create easy shots for teammates.

While he didn’t score at a high percentage against the Americans, he showed he can dribble drive against even the best players in the world and this will prove to be a big advantage for the Boomers.

The Boomers will have to be on point for their first game at the Olympics against Spain. This is a game I’m confident that we can win, something I was admittedly uncertain of a few weeks ago.

This game is critical, and a loss would make things very difficult because their second game is against a very talented Canadian team lead by some NBA superstars. This is a game that will be very tough, but at our best it is certainly not out of reach.

While others won’t expect the Aussies to win this game, we can be very dangerous as the underdog, essentially getting a “free swing” against our more fancied Canadian opponents.

It’s Giddey’s team now. (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)

Bring it on SGA. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The third and final game of the pool is against the Greeks led by the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He will create some serious strategy and challenges, but this is another game I believe we can, and must win.

While the Greeks will be tough, I believe we have more depth and quality in our squad and way more Olympic and World Cup experience, something that should help get us over the line.

For the Boomers to advance to the next stage we must finish in the top two of that group of four.

The two best third placed finished teams will also go through.

Our pool is very tough and there are no easy beats, but the more I see of this Boomers team the more I’m confident we will get through to the next round. From there it only gets tougher with every game being critical.

These friendly games have left me believing this team can medal once again.

Bring on the Games.

- Shane Heal is a four-time Olympic basketball star for the Boomers, including captaining the 2004 Athens Olympic team. He is writing exclusively for news.com.au during the Paris Olympics.