Aussie Alex Ducas gets ring as OKC Thunder beat Indiana Pacers to win NBA championship
Amid the celebrations and euphoria of the Oklahoma City Thunder winning their first NBA championship was a little-known Aussie who has the potential to be a future Boomers great.
The two young Australians whose NBA teams did battle in this year’s NBA finals should both be Olympians, one day, one of the country’s finest junior development coaches believes.
Australia’s eighth NBA champion, Oklahoma City’s Alex Ducas and Melbourne’s Johnny Furphy, the Indiana Pacer who the Thunder defeated in Monday’s game 7 NBA championship decider, have all the makings of long-time Boomers, Marty Clarke says.
Both players ended up on the two best teams in the NBA in their rookie seasons, Ducas going undrafted before signing with the Thunder on a two-way contract, while Furphy was selected by San Antonio with the 35th pick in last year’s draft before he was traded to the Pacers.
“It doesn’t surprise me that both have found a way to make it to the highest level and should both be Olympians, If everything goes right from here,” Clarke said of the two talents he helped mentor at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence.
“I can see them both breaking into the Boomers squad for LA, definitely, and then it’s up to whoever’s selecting the final team.
“It depends on a lot. What they do with guys like Josh Green and Matisse Thybulle, we’ve got Dyson (Daniels) in there, you’ve got Dash (Daniels) coming up behind them, (Tyrese) Proctor. Australian basketball is loaded with good talent in that generation, that four-year cycle to the Olympics.
“There’s injury, there’s contract negotiations, availability, there’s so many things that go on around that time.
“The big guard play in Australia, there are so many good ones, but these two are wings, who can play three-two. They’re wings who can play like guards.”
Ducas, 24, the “larrikin country boy” was ineligible to take the court in the playoffs or finals, but will still get a championship ring after appearing in 21 regular season games for the Thunder.
The Thunder’s 103-91 game 7 win clinched a 4-3 series thriller, ensuring Ducas joined Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Aron Baynes and Jack White as Australians who have won NBA titles — unless you want to count Kyrie Irving, who was born in Australia but is, by and large, considered American.
Furphy, 20, “a little bit more conservative” played sparingly in 50 regular season games and did get on the floor in three finals games, albeit for a total of 12 minutes.
Incredibly, Furphy once wasn’t deemed good enough to make Victoria’s U20 National Championships first team.
“He was in the U20 B team for Victoria when I first saw him and the first thing we thought was “who’s that and why haven’t we seen him before?’,” Clarke recalls of Furphy, who plundered his NBA Global Academy side for 19 points and 13 rebounds at the 2022 Nationals in Mackay.
“He just stood out. Long, athletic, straight line, played hard.”
Clarke said the two boys — Ducas is 201cm and Furphy 206cm — have similar basketball traits, comparing them to great Australian wings like Joe Ingles and Brad Newley and even mentioning the great Andrew Gaze.
“They both play hard, they play straight lines, they’ve got good athletic bodies, they defend multiple positions and they can both shoot,” he said.
“They’re both great teammates and they’re good to coach.
“I guess they’re similar in Joe’s capability at that size with maybe Brad Newley’s athleticism, and you even think Andrew (Gaze), that big guard, and no one’s comparing them to Andrew yet, but just the physical tools.
“I think that’s where some people underestimate the sheer size of them both, because they’re both so big and skilled.”
Clarke said both were late bloomers, particularly in their physical development.
“Ducas came through WA country, Geraldton, it’s a good basketball town but it’s obviously very isolated and people didn’t see or know enough about him early,” he said.
‘But he grew late, he grew while he was at the CoE and he kept growing while he was at St Mary’s (NCAA college).
“Furph’s obviously a little bit different because he’s from Melbourne, so there’s thousands and thousands of good kids, so it’s easy to get missed.”
HALI HEARTBREAK
It was the pop that essentially ruined any hope the underdog Pacers had of pulling off a game seven shock.
Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton hit the deck during the first quarter and the double fisted floor punches indicated it was something severe.
Replays then confirmed it.
You could almost hear the ‘twang’ through the TV as slow-motion vision showed Haliburton’s right Achilles give way, rippling up through his calf.
While it might have meant an already tough task became impossible, the Pacers stuck at it, leading 48-47 at the half, before the Thunder blew it open with a 34-20 third quarter blitz.
SGA’S GLORY
Oklahoma City star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off an all-time great season by becoming just the ninth player in NBA history to claim the single season treble of league MVP, finals MVP and championship.
The Thunder had a cast of players step up throughout the series but none had the consistent impact of the Canadian dynamo who averaged a gaudy 30.3 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds points, rebounds, assists, while shooting a near perfect 91.4 per cent from the free throw line — a place where he continued to land, despite tricking the referees with incessant flopping that has threatened to overshadow his sterling season.
Young bloods will tell you he’s already better than Michael Jordan — but he’s still got a long way to catch the GOAT’s four trebles.
GIDDEY’S OLD MOB
It’s a small footnote to the title but, for Aussies, this is the team that traded our country’s most-talented player in the off-season.
When Josh Giddey was shipped to Chicago during the off-season, it shocked many, not least the young Boomer, who would go on to put together a fine season for the Bulls.
The man he was swapped for, Alex Caruso, helped OKC to the title with his elite defence.
There’s no sour grapes for Giddey, though.
He shared a post on his Instagram story moments after the game seven win — a simple “congrats to the guys” with a trio of love hearts.
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