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‘They refer to Delly, not the coach’: Goorjian sees Rose Gold Boomers influence on next gen; Boomers beat China
By Roy Ward
The “Rose Gold” Boomers from the Tokyo Olympics aren’t on the court for Australia this week but coach Brian Goorjian can feel their imprint on his inexperienced side.
Playmaker Matthew Dellavedova is the only bronze medallist suiting up for the Boomers but the NBA championship winner has imparted much of the team’s best qualities to a group that has six debutantes out of 12 players.
Matthew Dellavedova in action for the Boomers on Sunday night.Credit: Getty Images
Dellavedova, who now plays with Melbourne United in the NBL, has been actively and vocally leading the side as they scored a gutsy win over China on Thursday night and thrashed an understrength Japanese side on Friday night.
They finished this window with another victory against China at John Cain Arena on Sunday night and with wins carrying over to the second and final round of qualifying, the team was keen to make it six wins from six games.
In the first win over China, Dellavedova was the driving force as his team fought off a comeback in the last term while he was vocal early in the Japan game before taking a back seat to NBL-based young guns like point guard Will McDowell-White and centre Sam Froling.
Following the Japan game, Froling offered an insight into Dellavedova’s leadership.
“Before the game, Delly said we had to be relentless, no backward step,” Froling said.
“For guys who are having their first experience of the Boomers or are new to this, it’s just great leadership. We followed him and took care of our business.”
Goorjian spoke before Tokyo about leaving the likes of Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Dellavedova and Aron Baynes to motivate the team while he focused on the tactics and details.
“You listen to Sam speak and he is referring to Delly, not to the coach,” Goorjian said with a smile.
“It’s different to the NBL. He’s a coach within the group and this is something I haven’t experienced in my time with this national team when you talk about the leadership group and their power.
“I learned real quick coming into this [before Tokyo] to keep my mouth shut, step back and let them control this.
“I said to Delly, your job is to make sure these guys are ready to play. That is your job because I can’t do what you do. I focus on practice and don’t worry about that aspect as they take care of it.”
What Goorjian has been happy to see is that team captain Dellavedova has had lots of help from the likes of Mitch McCarron, Jack White and Thon Maker and it has seen a very inexperienced group come together faster than expected.
Froling has played for Australia at underage level but this window with the Boomers has left him wanting more.
“There is nothing like this culture, you can’t put it into words,” Froling said.
“The foundation that guys like Delly and Joe have set over this last decade, coming into this and seeing what it’s like – hopefully I get more opportunities to keep putting on the green and gold in the future.
“But right now, we are just focused on winning this next game.”
Jack White looks to pass for the Boomers on Sunday night.Credit: Getty Images
The Boomers withstood a physical barrage from China in Sunday night’s clash before bolting away to victory, making it the six wins from six in the first round of FIBA World Cup qualifying.
The Boomers beat China 71-48 in front of 9043 people, the biggest basketball crowd in Melbourne since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final-term flurry saw Dellavedova, White and McCarron all make threes before Delladevoa threw an alley-oop pass for Maker to slam home the ball and effectively end China’s hopes of a win.
White led the Boomers with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Maker and Dellavedova had 13 points each.
“That is hard to do to anyone in international basketball,” Dellavedova said. “The boys dug in and made sure we executed well.”
Both sides will join Japan in progressing to the second round and the teams will take their wins with them, leaving the Boomers in prime position to make it to next year’s World Cup.
China hit the Boomers with everything they could in the opening term, bringing a physical style of play which kept scoring low.
But China coach Du Feng went too far with his protests, receiving a technical foul after pointing demonstrably at one of the referees.
China led 18-16 at quarter-time and extended that lead to 23-16 early in the second term before the inclusion of Will McDowell-White sparked the home side as he found Maker for a basket and Maker followed that with a three-pointer as the Boomers led 30-29 at half-time.
The Boomers were struggling with their outside shooting until McDowell-White caught fire, nailing two threes in a row as the two sides were tied 45-45 going into the last term.
The Boomers’ 12-0 run to start the final term, punctuated by Dellavedova’s alley-oop pass to Maker, put the home side in command, winning the final term 26-3.
St Mary’s guard Alex Ducas made his Boomers debut after coming into the side for Jack McVeigh (shoulder), who is expected to need a few weeks to recover after his shoulder popped out in Friday’s win over Japan.
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