A bad week for Aussies and Kiwis?

MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy’s View from Downunder) - The Australian Boomers and the New Zealand Tall Ferns didn’t play a game or even have a training session last week, but there were some worrying signs for both.

More on the Boomers in a minute …

A few weeks ago New Zealand’s men’s team received a draw that could see them drop out of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) without a win, or qualify for the Quarter-Finals undefeated and most likely avoid Russia, Lithuania and Greece.

In a tournament where there is no point finishing middle of the pack, that is exactly the type of draw you want.

Unfortunately for Kiwi hoops fans, their women’s team received a Group B draw that makes first place a near impossibility.

FIBA Americas silver medallists Argentina present a tough but winnable challenge, but the Czech Republic - 2010 FIBA Basketball World Championship for Women runners-up - are simply in another class.

Two wins would be a miracle greater than the Tall Blacks’ 2002 FIBA Basketball World Championship fairytale!

The good news is there are five spots available in the women’s field at the London Olympics, meaning getting one win and a Quarter-Final berth is all the Tall Ferns need to worry about.

So this week’s tough draw won’t be all despair Downunder for a low-budget Kiwi team incredibly aiming for their fourth-straight Olympics.

So what’s going wrong for the Boomers at a time when their stars and hopefuls should be tuning up for the Olympics in professional leagues around the world?

Sadly they are doing precisely the opposite, accruing splinters instead. Check out these numbers:

- Aleks Maric; two minutes in Panathinaikos’ Euroleague game against Milan and nine minutes in his last Greek league outing

- Brad Newley; 15 minutes for Valencia in the Eurocup and 11 minutes in the ACB last week

- Nathan Jawai; 10 minutes in UNICS Kazan’s overtime loss to Ulker, coming off nine minutes last start in Russia

- Joe Ingles; seven minutes in the Euroleague on Thursday, and a combined 13 minutes in last weekend’s Copa del Rey playoffs

- AJ Ogilvy; 15 minutes in the Eurocup, after just four minutes last start in the ACB

What’s worse, Boomers captain Matt Nielsen wasn’t on court last week for Khimky, superstar Andrew Bogut has a long-term injury and point guard Patty Mills doesn’t even have a club!

That’s not the sort of fine-tuning coach Brett Brown would have in mind for the players he hopes to carry his team to the podium in August.

There is some good news though.

David Andersen is having a super season for Siena; David Barlow has been steady in Spain; Matthew Dellavedova is setting the NCAA scene alight; and Mark Worthington, Adam Gibson and Damian Martin have been excellent in Australia.

Fringe players Jesse Wagstaff, Peter Crawford and 218cm giant Luke Nevill have showed some good signs Downunder too, while fellow hopefuls Aron Baynes, Steve Markovic and Daniel Kickert are probably having their best seasons in Europe.

At the moment, however, the good outweighs the bad. Unless more Boomers can get playing more often it will be a big ask for the Aussies to crack the top eight let alone challenge for a medal.

Most importantly, Mills needs to find a club quickly once he receives clearance from the Chinese Basketball Association, and all Aussie hoops fans should pray for a speedy recovery from Bogut.

The reality is the Boomers can’t afford too many more bad weeks.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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