Australian Boomers news: Chris Goulding on team’s next generation, hopes of making World Cup team

With the Boomers on the cusp of a golden generation, Chris Goulding is realistic about his place in the basketball world. Here’s why that’s a problem for generation next.

Chris Goulding is a realist.

He knows the next generation of Boomers in the likes of young NBA stars Dyson Daniels and Josh Green is bashing down the door for spots at the World Cup.

But if the young bucks think they’re going to get a rails run into the team from the combative 34-year-old veteran, they best prepare for a rude awakening at this week’s Cairns selection camp.

The Tokyo bronze medallist is ready to take names in what is shaping up as the most brutal battle for an international basketball berth in Australian men’s basketball history.

“I’m going to go in, I’m going to compete and I’m going to try to kick everyone’s arse,” a defiant Goulding told Code Sport.

Chris Goulding will be doing his best to make the Boomers' World Cup squad.

“I want to make this team more than any team I’ve ever made because we’re getting better and our chances to keep succeeding as a group are higher than ever.

“I want to be there just as much as everyone else who bleeds green and gold.

“I’m not going to step out of the way and hand it over, but I understand the reality of what the Australian team is and will become.

“There has to be, at some stage, a transition between the guys who have been there for quite some time and father time’s creeping up.

“But I’ll be here for it until they tell me I’m not needed anymore and, if it’s time for someone else to come in and get a taste of international basketball, well so be it, I’ve had a pretty good run.”

A pretty good run, indeed.

The Melbourne United talisman was part of the history making Rose Gold Boomers team that won a maiden men’s medal in Tokyo and he owns gold medals from the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the FIBA Oceania Championship in 2015.

Chris Goulding has no plans to make way for the Boomers next gen just yet. Picture: Getty Images

He says the Boomers’ stellar recent play has produced a notable shift in how they’re viewed by opponents and fans all over the world — they’re no longer the hunters, they’re the hunted.

“The last couple of tournaments I’ve felt people have really taken notice and expected us to be there at the back end,” he said.

“Once you’ve done that a couple of times and we got that medal in Tokyo, the expectation is now there.

“But we will acknowledge it and we have higher expectations of ourselves than anyone else does.

“I think that’s a really good way to be humble, motivated and just be better every time we get to an international competition.

“This is another amazing opportunity for us.”

Goulding is among 18 Aussies who officially kicked off camp on Monday, but most were together on Sunday, sharing stories around the campfire and watching the Matilda’s demolish Canada, 4-0, in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

That squad will be cut to 15 for three games in Goulding’s spiritual home in Melbourne, later this month, before the final 12 is named.

BABY BEFORE BOOMERS: KEY STAR AWAITS FIRST CHILD

—Matt Logue

The Boomers will start their World Cup camp in Cairns without a bronze medallist, with reliable forward Nick Kay waiting on the arrival of a baby.

CODE Sports can reveal Kay has been given permission to be late for camp as he and his partner prepare to welcome their first child into the world.

The Tamworth-born star remains strongly favoured to make Australia’s final 12-man squad for the Cup given his experience and past performances.

Kay was a key member of the Boomers’ historic bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

He played in all six games in Tokyo, averaging 11 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 27.9 minutes per game.

Kay also captained Australia in World Cup qualifying wins over Bahrain and Kazakhstan at the start of the year.

Boomers stars assembled in Cairns two days before the official camp start in a sign of their gold medal intent.

Basketball Australia had locked in August 1 to 10 for the pre-Cup training camp, but players began arriving from Sunday.

All the big names, including Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and rising stars Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels, are on deck for a highly anticipated and competitive camp.

Kay grabs a rebound against Darius Garland during an exhibition ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP

At the completion of training the players posed for a team photo on Sunday afternoon before sharing their first meal together – a traditional Kup Muri, a style of cooking commonly used by Torres Strait Islander people.

The squad then settled in for the night by sitting around a campfire and sharing stories.

Players ramped up the intensity on Monday morning with more training as they prepare to win a medal at this year’s World Cup.

Rising guard and NBA star Josh Green posted an Instagram video saying, ‘GOV’, an acronym for Gold Only Vibes’.

This was the catchphrase the Boomers used in the lead-up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as motivation.

Australia went close – leading eventual winners the USA by double figures in the semi-final – before the world champions flexed their muscles in the second half to leave the Boomers fighting for bronze.

The Boomers squad have arrived in Cairns ahead of their warm-up games in Melbourne. We’re coming for you @FIBAWC 👊 pic.twitter.com/WTflvzSfgV

— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) July 30, 2023

The historic medal in Tokyo has only fuelled the Australian’s hopes of a higher podium finish at this year’s World Cup.

The Boomers, currently ranked No. 3 in the world, are expected to feature alongside powerhouses like Spain, USA, France, Canada and a Luka Doncic-led Slovenia.

New Zealand, meanwhile, have named an NBL dominant squad for this year’s World Cup.

Eleven of the 14 players selected are NBL contracted while a further two formally played in the Australian domestic competition.

The New Zealanders will need every bit of experience to conquer a formidable group that includes the USA, Greece and Jordan.

NEW ZEALAND’S WORLD CUP SQUAD

Dan Fotu, Finn Delany, Flynn Cameron, Hyrum Harris, Isaac Fotu, Izayah Le’Afa, Jordan Ngatai, Reuben Te Rangi, Sam Timmins, Shea Ili, Taylor Britt, Tohi Smith-Milner, Walter Brown and Yanni Wetzell.

Boomers guard Patty Mills and coach Brian Goorjian at training in Cairns ahead of this year's FIBA basketball World Cup. Pic: Basketball Australia

BOOMERS’ 18-MAN ROSTER

(Will be reduced to 15 for warm-up games against Venezuela, Brazil and South Sudan on August 14, 16 and 17 and then 12 for the World Cup in Japan and the Philippines from August 25 to September 10)

Xavier Cooks (Washington Wizards), Dyson Daniels (New Orleans Pelicans), Matthew Dellavedova (Melbourne United), Dante Exum (Dallas Mavericks), Sam Froling (Illawarra Hawks), Josh Giddey (OKC Thunder), Chris Goulding (Melbourne United), Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Joe Ingles (Orlando Magic), Nick Kay (Shimane Susanoo Magic), Jock Landale (Houston Rockets), Thon Maker (Fujian Sturgeons), Will McDowell-White (New Zealand Breakers), Patty Mills (Atlanta Hawks), Keanu Pinder (Perth Wildcats), Duop Reath (Al Riyadi Club Beirut), Matisse Thybulle (Portland Trail Blazers) and Jack White (OKC Thunder)

Originally published as Australian Boomers news: Chris Goulding on team’s next generation, hopes of making World Cup team