ADELAIDE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Australia marked a new era in international basketball by marching to the title in a first-ever appearance at a FIBA Asia Cup this summer.

In a month's time, Adelaide - the capital of South Australia - will help the Boomers write another new chapter. The national team's first home FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifier against Japan will be staged in the city at the Titanium Security Arena on November 27.

"We put tickets on sale a couple of weeks ago without much fanfare, just to get started and our media campaign in the local market will kick off next week," Basketball Australia Chief Executive Anthony Moore said to FIBA.basketball. "Really, we should see a significant spike in sales. The numbers have been pretty good so far, but Adelaide is a massive basketball town and the support that the city puts behind the 36ers in the NBL and the Lightning in the WNBL, always draw pretty large crowds.

"I THINK THE KEY FOR ME AND WHY I'M SUCH A CHEERLEADER FOR THE NEW SYSTEM IS THAT IT CREATES NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR ATHLETES."MooreMoore

"I think with three local boys, 36ers, in that Boomers team, I think, the local fans will get behind the Boomers in a big way and will make a lot of noise in the stadium."

Indeed, Adelaide will see three of their very own NBL players take on the Japanese with 36ers Mitch Creek, Matt Hodgson and Nathan Sobey named on the 12-man roster on Tuesday.

Creek slammed and jammed his way onto the highlight reels at the Asia Cup in Beirut and also played relentless defense as Andrej Lemanis' team reached the top of the podium.

"I think the key for me and why I'm such a cheerleader for the new system is that it creates new opportunities for our athletes," Moore said. "All nations in the new system, we don't have access to our players in the NBA (for the first two windows in November and February) and that's the same all over the world.

"So Australia is no different in that regard. What it does do is give us an opportunity to create new national heroes. What we just witnessed at the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon was just a fantastic team performance where we were able to win the gold medal.

"You look at the performance of someone like Mitch Creek. Now in basketball, we all know he's an outstanding talent and the casual sports fan got to see that on display. To be able to showcase that at home does amazing things for our sport.

"The NBL will be a key beneficiary as well because we'll have more and more Australian Boomers running around at club level, so the connection to the fan will just be amazing for our sport."

"WITH THREE LOCAL BOYS, 36ERS, IN THAT BOOMERS TEAM, I THINK, THE LOCAL FANS WILL GET BEHIND THE BOOMERS IN A BIG WAY AND WILL MAKE A LOT OF NOISE IN THE STADIUM." MooreMoore

Australia is a great sporting nation. It has produced its share of world class basketball players, including NBA champions like Pat Mills and Aron Baynes when both were with the San Antonio Spurs, and Andrew Bogut when he was a Golden State Warrior. They have other players competing in the NBA, and at the highest level in Europe.

What the Asia Cup showed is that Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) oozes with talented players. All 12 members of the team were NBL players, and there was hardly any drop-off in talent when Lemanis changed made substitutions. Nine Asia Cup winners have been named on the Australia roster.

Australia may be a perfect example of why FIBA and its member federations chose to have the World Cup Qualifying system. The domestic league will benefit, as Moore said, when fans see the connection between their NBL players and the national team. The players will clearly benefit with increased exposure.

The World Cup Qualifiers will put the team, and the players, in the spotlight.

"The Australian sporting public was fantastic supporting the Opals and the Boomers every two years against New Zealand but then we disappeared again," Moore said. "The opportunity to showcase the Boomers in the qualifying system on a more regular basis, I think the Australian sporting public will get behind them like they've done with the Socceroos on their campaign for their world events. It's going to be a terrific exposure opportunity for our national team."

Australia, if they qualify for the World Cup in 2019, can expect to have traveling fans but also bigger viewing audiences on television.

"The fact that China is in our time zone means that when we pick our final team for China, which means we will pick our NBA players, our players in Europe as well our local players, the ability to actually engage with our athletes as they take part in China in prime time for us is such a significant opportunity for our sport," Moore said.

"Our diehard basketball fans are up in the middle of the night watching us play, but with China and looking ahead to Tokyo in 2020, it's right in our time zone and we expect the Australian sporting public to really get right behind the team. The exposure that the qualifying system has creates more national heroes out of our players."

FIBA