AUS - Emus depart for Spain

CANBERRA (FIBA U19 World Championship) - The Australian U19 men’s basketball team, the Emus, departed Sydney on Tuesday afternoon bound for Spain, Serbia and World Championship glory. The Emus will contest a four nation pre-World Championship tournament in Caceras, four hours south-west of Madrid, against France, China and Spain before continuing on to Serbia.

There they will contest the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship in Novi Sad, Serbia, from July 12 to 22 – and the young Aussies are a hot chance at medaling.

The team will be led by AIS star point guard Patrick Mills and Castle Hill’s 210cm giant Andrew Ogilvy, who has already been earmarked for America’s NBA, and coached by Tasmania’s Marty Clarke.

The 2007 Emus:

Ben Dowdell
Forward, 201cm
North Nowra, NSW
“I feel good about going on tour again. We’ve been preparing for this moment for quite a while and it’s just good that it’s finally here. My Mum and Dad are travelling in Europe now and they’re going to meet up with us, so it’s going to be great to play in front of them. I’ve never been to Serbia before and obviously the culture is going to be different, so it will be good to see some sights and to learn about their history. I’ve heard it’s hot, but that’s just something we’ll have to adjust to. I’ll be using my speed up and down the floor and trying to defend well and doing the little things."

Cameron Gliddon
Guard, 191cm
Bunbury, WA
“This is my third tour with the team and my role is to bring energy, shoot the open shot and to rebound. My expectation is to win a Gold Medal, for sure. Make sure you write that, for sure. I’ve never been to Serbia, so I’m not sure what to expect, but my Mum and Ben Smith’s Mum are good friends and they’re coming over to support, so that will be really good."

Chris Goulding
Guard, 190cm
Brisbane, QLD
“My role is to bring energy, sprint the lanes, play containment defence and to hit the open shot. We’ll look to come together as a group in Spain and once we hit the tournament we’re looking to get into the medal round and then we’ll see how we go from there. We’ve got Turkey in the first game and it would be good to start a winning streak against them. I’ve never been to Serbia before but I hear it will be hot and it will be good to see the differences between Australia and Serbia."

Daniel Jackson
Forward, 200cm
Wollongong, NSW
“My role on the team is to bring energy when I get on the court and to rebound hard and to defend. We played the French before and they’re pretty tough and you never know what the USA will bring, so they’ll probably be our toughest opposition. I have pretty high expectations of us as a group and I’m just looking to play well and have some fun."

Daniel Johnson
Forward, 208cm
Perth, WA
“There’s a few of us from Perth, which is good. This is my fifth tour with the team and my first World Championship so I’m very excited. My role is to rebound well, run the floor and be a post target. France have beaten us before and we beat them on the last tour, so they’re probably our main opposition. I’ve never been to Serbia before, but I hear it’s hot and there will be lots of loud fans, so it should be good."

Ben Louis
Guard, 190cm
Narre Warren, VIC
“My role is to play the 2 spot, to run the lanes, to apply pressure and to be a spark for the team – a bit of electricity I guess. My expectation for the team is to come back with a medal, but I’m not sure which colour yet. Obviously we want the Gold but we’ll see how far we can get. It’ll be my first time in Serbia and I’ve heard that it’s a bit of a strange place with the history of war that they've had, but I’ve heard a lot of good things and that there are a lot of really nice people, so hopefully when we get there we can learn a bit about the culture as well as playing basketball."

Pat Mills
Guard, 181cm
Monash, Canberra, ACT
“My role is to be another coach on the floor and a leader of the group. Assists and making sure that the other boys get involved in the game and getting their confidence up is probably more important than scoring for me. The top two teams from Europe, France and Lithuania, will definitely be our toughest opposition, but we had competitive games against them on our last tour and we have to make sure that we do the same thing again. It’ll be hard to defend the World Championship, but we’re aiming to compete and bring back a medal. I just want to say hello to my family and friends and to thank them for all the support they have given me."

Andrew Ogilvy
Centre, 210cm
Castle Hill, Sydney, NSW
“We’ve got pretty high expectations after our last tour to France. Getting a couple of wins against the French and Lithuanian teams stands us in good stead for the tournament but we’ll have to wait and see how we go when we get over there. I’ve never been to Serbia before and I think the culture will be quite different so that will be good to experience. I’m a rebounder and I provide an inside presence, but as long as our team gets the W, that’s all that I really care about."

Kevin Probert
Guard, 183cm
Bendigo, Victoria
“My role is to be a leader and to bring energy off the bench. I’d definitely like to get a medal and hopefully we’ll win Gold. I’ve been to Germany, Taiwan and France before with Basketball Australia, so this will be my fourth tour. I’m very excited and I can’t wait to get going. My family are coming over to support, so that will be good."

Shannon Seebohm
Guard, 190cm
Millicent, SA
“This is my fourth tour with the green and gold and it feels awesome to be going to a World Championship. It’s been something I’ve been dreaming of doing since I was a kid, so it’s fantastic. My role is to be a defender and to shut down members of the other team and if I pick up a few points here and there, that’s great. I don’t know what to expect from Serbia, but I know it's going to be hot and there might be some crazy crowds, but other than that I’m not sure what it will be like. Hopefully we’ll make the top four and see what happens from there."

Ben Smith
Forward, 203cm
Perth, WA
“This will be my fourth overseas tour with the team, so I’ve been on a few. My role is to be a team player and to rebound the ball and to screen hard and play hard. Our biggest match up will be with France I reckon, later in the tournament, and hopefully we’ll get to play them in the finals. I’m very excited and can’t wait to get over there. It’s going to be good."

Nate Tomlinson
Guard, 189cm
Sutherland, Sydney, NSW
“I came up playing for the Sharks and it’s really good to be playing for Australia. I went to France with the team last month so this will be my second tour. My role is to bring energy, play hard and to get the guys going. We went pretty well in France so hopefully we’ll finish this tournament number one. France and the US are going to be our toughest opposition I reckon. I’ve been in the US for a year playing high school so I know most of the guys and it will be tough."

Martin Clarke
Penguin, TAS
Head Coach
“After the recent tour to France the guys have some self belief, because they proved to themselves that they were equal to anyone else in the world. With tournament play there’s obviously a bit of luck involved and hopefully we’ve done the work to earn the luck that will come our way. First things first though – we’re looking to get through the first round and get to the crossover games against the Spanish and the Argentineans. It’s a good group of guys and a top four finish is within our reach."

Damien Cotter
Assistant Coach
Wantirna, Knox, VIC
“I’m the rookie coach on this tour so I’ll be trying to fulfill my role to help the group be successful, but after our last tour of France we feel very confident that we can do quite well in this tournament. I’ve never been to Serbia and I’ve got no idea what it’s like, but I’m pretty good about keeping an open mind and that’s what I’ll maintain throughout this trip. You can ask me when I get back."

Tony Ward
Physiotherapist
“This is my second World Championship and there have been too many tours all up to count them. On the tour I’ll hopefully do very little. In 2003 I did practically nothing which was good and if we don’t have any injuries I’m a happy man. Based at the Institute, everything we’ve done with these guys over the last two years has been in preparation for this. We’ve got them into shape and they’re ready to go."

Dr Graham Lee
Team Doctor
“This is my second World Championship with the Emus. I went to Greece four years ago with the team which was good and it will be nice if this tour is remotely as successful. Overall, the team’s physical condition is pretty good. We’re going into a southern European heat wave so recovery, hydration and food intake will all be very important. We’re trying to be very pro-active about that and it starts from the plane onwards. We’ll keep a very close eye on that but invariably there are acute injuries that occur and we have to manage them as we go. I hope to do as little as possible. That’s the ideal trip."

Bob McGugan
Team Manager
Newcastle, NSW
“I’m the organizer and I do all the pre-game stuff. It’s not just about being on tour; there’s been a lot of work done over the past months. How many tours for me? A lot. This is my seventh or eighth World Championship, something like that, and I couldn’t tell you even a ballpark figure for how many tours. I’ve never been one for collecting data."

Brad Giersch
Australian Officials Representative
Sydney, NSW
“I’ll be the sole refereeing representative at the tournament from Australia and I’ll be officiating the three Australian trial games in Spain before we go our separate ways. How many friendly calls will I give the Australian team? [Laughs] None. They won’t need any.They’re a good side. This is my fifth international tournament and I can’t wait. Serbia will be a bit different and they love their basketball over there, so the crowd might be quite full on, so I’m looking forward to it."

Basketball Australia