MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - Would you think less of me if I said Adam Gibson's offense and Brock Motum's defense are crucial to Australia's chances of direct qualification for Rio?

It's a bit like getting caught between the moon and New York city, I know it's crazy, but it's true.

Firstly though, following the sad injury to Dante Exum, I hope Patty Mills and the Boomers hierarchy can sort out what needs to be sorted to get Australia's favourite guard into uniform to tackle New Zealand's Tall Blacks.

There were reasons for Mills' original omission, I think they missed the mark, Patty probably does too, but the best thing for Aussie basketball is to have a great player in the line-up to face a very tough opponent.

Secondly, let me ask you a question. Do you pick the country's best 12 players for the national team or the players who best fit your team?

Traditionally Australia has gone with the former, then looking to mould a bunch of stars into a team with a variation of roles.

But the Boomers' team at last year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup, their lead-up games to this year's FIBA Oceania Championship, and the continued competitiveness of New Zealand seem to suggest there are better ways to skin this cat.

In Australia's final outing before taking on the Tall Blacks, coach Andrej Lemanis spent plenty of time with a small, mobile line-up featuring small forwards Brad Newley and Ryan Broekhoff in tandem in the two forward spots. At other times there were two bigs with three guards

The defense was five players on a rope for much of the night, moving as one, covering for each other, being proactive, aggressive, unpredictable and disruptive. Switching, helping, recovering.

It was a stark contrast to the three previous lead-up games where, with few exceptions, the Boomers' bigger line-ups were reactive, slow and unable to generate any pace out of their defense.

Now rewind back to the selection announcement for Spain 2014.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only basketball observer Downunder surprised by the team that was picked.

Of course, there was plenty of talent on the team, plus two international projects in Exum and Nathan Jawai with significant potential upside.

The reason I was surprised was Lemanis had come into the job with a clear plan, one of aggressive but calculated defensive disruption that would lead to fast-paced but measured offense.

It was a plan that required a specific type of player, particularly at point guard and power forward.

But when the team was picked three of the players best suited to executing that style - Damian Martin, Mark Worthington and Lucas Walker - had missed the final cut.

Now Martin and Walker don't make the most talented 12, but in the Boomers' current style of play they could certainly make the team better.

We saw it with Martin late in both clashes against Slovenia, leading a late revival in game one and being one of the triggers of the defensive effort the next night.

We also saw the ability of Broekhoff and Newley to make the team better by helping, covering and recovering as mobile power forwards. It’s the sort of role Walker and Worthington do for a living.

But at last year's World Cup, and heading into next week's Olympic qualifiers, Australia has four big men who aren't capable of playing such a role.

And that's why I say Motum's defense is going to be hugely important.

The Boomers are at their best when making opponents do things they're not comfortable with. That requires some defensive risks, picking their poison on who they want to be the opposition's playmaker and backing their ability to aggressively rotate and recover.

Lemanis will probably repeat those undersized line-ups, but that negates their size advantage and leaves them exposed to the offensive rebounding prowess of Mika Vukona and Isaac Fotu.

Motum is the only mobile power forward, he needs to play big minutes and be a leader of the defensive charge.

He did that well at times in the early lead-up games, aggressively defending the inbound pass to get delay, then putting doubt into the ball-handler’s mind.

He watched teammate Anthony Petrie do it all season for Adelaide, and he embraced that style more and more in his time with the 36ers. He knows what it’s about, now it’s time to be that guy at the next level.

So what about Gibson's offense?

There’s a lot to like about Matthew Dellavedova, but his point guard play in a high-paced scheme is not one of them. Delly is measured, watchful, patient and even cautious.

Those traits are great in certain situations, but in many others they don’t fit what the Boomers are trying to achieve.

In contrast, watch Gibson grab an outlet pass, push the ball and kick it ahead, barking out instructions to get his teammates into offence if no easy basket results in transition.

His ability to get his team playing at pace and flowing into offense meant he was every bit as effective as Delly at Spain 2014.

Strangely, Gibson was scarcely used in the Round of 16 loss to Turkey as the Boomers became mired in a halfcourt slog.

The Tall Blacks are a clever team. If allowed to set their defense they will have schemes to cover their size deficiencies. But if the Boomers keep their defence moving from early in the shot clock the lane will open up for big guys rolling to the hoop or sealing smaller opponents.

The efforts of Motum and Gibson to inject sizzle into the Boomers will be important, but the entire team must have electricity in their feet to put the game on Australia’s terms.

If they don't, this New Zealand team has the players and the systems capable of stealing Oceania’s berth at the Rio Olympics.

I know it's crazy, but it’s true.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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