AUS - Boomers intent on making most of London experience

LONDON (Olympic Test Event/FIBA Oceania Championship) - The six countries in the field at this week's Olympic Test Event have covered some distance to be in London, but no team racked up the miles to be here quite like Australia.

The Boomers arrived in the UK capital on Sunday afternoon after a 22-hour trip that included a stopover in Doha.

As a way to fight off the jetlag, the team spent the remainder of Sunday and a good part of Monday taking in the sights before practicing on Monday evening.

The strategy seemed to work to great effect as they saw off China 71-43 in the first competitive game ever played at the Olympic Basketball Arena on Tuesday.

"We walked around, went to the London Eye and Buckingham Palace," centre AJ Ogilvy said of his team's sightseeing excursion.

"We practiced on Monday and were ready to play today."

Ogilvy displayed no sign of being jetlagged as he had 11 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of play in the win.

Like the rest of his team, he feels it is worthwhile coming as far as Australia have to face some strong opposition in preparation for their FIBA Oceania Championship series against New Zealand in September.

"This is a great event for us because we play against some great international teams and get a chance to get a feel for the arena and then hopefully get back here next year," Ogilvy added.

The 23-year-old stands to benefit probably the most from the London Test Event as he is getting a chance at some playing time with fellow big men Andrew Bogut and David Andersen ruled out.

"I have been in the team for the past couple of years, training-wise and got cut before tournaments," he recalled.

"With Andrew Bogut and David Andersen out, it's left a gap in the frontcourt so it gave me an opportunity to play a little bit and hopefully I can take advantage of it.

"I know a lot of the guys from junior teams and it's been fun catching up with them and good to meet the other guys that I haven't played with before."

Ogilvy is expected to split the majority of the minutes down low with Aleks Maric and Aron Baynes this week and during the FIBA Oceania Championship.

In order to get his game up to the level expected, he welcomes the opportunity to match up against the quality international big men on hand this week.

"Each team has different types of big guys - long guys, big strong guys. It's different playing against each team, but I look forward to the challenge that each of them will present," he explained.

Looking ahead to the series against the Tall Blacks, Ogilvy believes they will be ready to face the winners of the Stankovic Cup.

"Our preparations have gone well. Now it will be good to get some games under our belt," he said. "We will be in a good way to face them.

"It's always a tough competition. We think we have a strong chance and they think they have a strong chance. So hopefully we can come out and play our game and see what happens."

As far as what he hopes his team get out of the week in London, Ogilvy is in no doubt about what matters most.

"Obviously we are basketball players and are competitive so we want to get wins, but at the end of the day we need to win against New Zealand more than anything," he reasoned.

"So it's really about working on our team spirit, our chemistry and whatever helps us in the series is the most important thing."

FIBA