Boomers legends weigh in as Chris Goulding, Matisse Thybulle, Xavier Cooks officially left out of Paris Olympics squad
The Boomers squad for the Paris Olympics has been officially confirmed, with several key men missing out. See what Australian basketball royalty had to say about the big decisions.
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The Boomers have produced some major selection shocks, with Olympic bronze medallists Chris Goulding, Matisse Thybulle and defensive beast Xavier Cooks all cut for the Paris Games, sparking strong comments from legends and fans alike.
CODE Sports revealed the full squad on Friday, with the Australian Olympic Committee announcing the 12-strong group on Sunday.
The group includes eight of Australia’s Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists.
Three-time Olympian Andrew Bogut has led the chorus of question marks, declaring he thought Thybulle, Cooks and even Goulding would be on the plane to Paris, not joining NBL stars Jack White and Dejan Vasiljevic as part of the brutal cull.
Bogut admitted he was shocked with Thybulle’s cut from the Boomers squad, but conceded his shooting struggles may have cost him.
“‘Tisse’ (Thybulle) is a real interesting one. He’s arguably the best defender on that squad, one of the best defenders in the NBA,” Bogut said on the The Gold Standard podcast via the NBL.
“I think the ups and downs of his shooting was a concern, and how in the last campaign (the World Cup) I think he struggled a little bit with that, when his shot wasn’t falling.”
Bogut, stressing his Sydney Kings allegiance aside, also thought Cooks would be selected over veteran forward Nick Kay.
“X is the one I thought was interesting. A lot of people will say it’s the Sydney Kings’ bias (Bogut is a part-owner of the team) ... I was at the (Boomers) camps, I like to think I’m not biased and like to call it as I see It,” he said.
“I thought he outplayed Nick Kay a little bit, but Kay’s got the shooting arm over X.
“But then you’ve taken Jack McVeigh, so I thought that would nullify bringing in a Nick Kay and maybe going with an X. I think X did a great job at the five spot, grabbing the rebound, pushing it up as a five-man, creating a lot of crossmatches, going straight into that hand-off action.”
Bronze-medal winning veterans Patty Mills and Joe Ingles will compete at a fifth Games in Paris.
Mills will be retained as team captain.
The 21-year-old Josh Giddey will make his Olympic debut in Paris.
“It’s an absolute honour to represent my country,” he said.
“To make my debut in Paris is a childhood dream and I can’t wait to get on the court in front of my family and friends who have all made this journey possible for me.
“To be part of the Boomers legacy, well it’s everything. We have a really great group, we know what we need to do and we are just ready to get into it.”
NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova also survived the selection axe – and will appear in a fourth Games in Paris.
Bogut backed the decision to select Dellavedova.
“People will look at that and say how did Delly make it, but his squad didn’t lose a practice,” Bogut said.
“The team that he was on over the three or four days, even before I arrived, they said that his team was winning 90 per cent of the drills and the five on fives and all the stuff that they were doing.
“He’s a guy that if you have him as your 12 or your 11 and he hasn’t played two straight games, he’s got DNPs and you put him in that third game for a three-minute spurt because someone got in foul trouble, he’s going to go bat out of hell. I think that’s what they wanted. Obviously it does affect some of the younger guys in (Thybulle) and that not making the squad but I can see how Delly definitely deserved to make the team.”
The greatest Boomer, five-time Olympian and Australia’s leading scorer, Andrew Gaze was surprised with some of the selections, but he is backing the coaching staff’s calls.
“You could make really good claims for anyone that was cut,” Gaze said.
“It comes down to the style of play the coaching staff want to play and who they feel is the best fit.”
Bogut also declared it will be “very hard” for the Boomers to claim a medal at the Paris Olympics due to the “pool of death” they need to compete in.
The Australians look set to face Canada, Spain and Slovenia or Greece in a loaded Group A pool in Lille. The Canadians will feature the NBA superstar back-court of Jamal Murray (Nuggets) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC), Spain are international powerhouses while megastars Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo lead the Slovenians and Greeks respectively.
“I think realistically talking, I think the podium is going to be very hard, if we’re being honest,” Bogut said.
“We’ve got the pool of death.”
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