AUS/FRA - 'A' Team players get their chance

PARIS/PERTH (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - A national team program needs depth to be successful because year in and year out, first-choice players are not always available.

Both France and Australia have announced the names of players and plans for 'A' squads this year.

Players involved may be diamonds in the rough and could end up contending for spots in the France and Australia squads that will compete at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Nanterre boss Pascal Donnadieu has been rewarded for his efforts in the French Pro A and the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by being put in charge of the French 'A' team that will have practices and games in June and July.

Nanterre went on a stunning run to the LNB Pro A title last year and earned a chance to compete in the 2013-14 Euroleague.

While Australia have not classified their group for this month's Sino-Australia Challenge in Perth as an 'A' selection, most of the players are looking to stake claims for spots in the World Cup preliminary squad.

Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis will lead the team in training and against the Chinese.

Among those invited to play for the France 'A' team are a player from Pro B, Hyeres-Toulon's 22-year-old Axel Julien, and the American college player, 23-year-old Florida Gators standout Wilfried Yeguete.

The youngest members are 21-year-olds Hugo Invernizzi of Le Havre and the player named as the fifth replacement, Vincent Poirier of Paris Levallois.

Paul Lacombe, 24, and 22-year-old Axel Toupane, who both play for Strasbourg and senior national team coach Vincent Collet, are in the 'A' squad.

The French will train at Vichy 16-22 June and Italy 24-26 June.

Les Bleus will then have a tour of China from 29 June to 12 July and play in tournaments in Suzhou, Chengdu and Guangdong.

The rest of the 'A' squad includes Jonathan Rousselle, Nicolas Lang, Jordan Aboudou, Nobel Boungou Colo, Jean-Frederic Morency, Pape Sy, Louis Labeyrie, Adrien Moerman, Ousmane Camara, Ferdinand Prenom and Fernando Raposo.

In addition to Poirier are replacements Antoine Eito (No. 1), Abdoulaye Mbaye (No. 2), Bandja Sy (No. 3) and Landing Sane (No. 4).

As for Australia, the most established of the 14 players in the Sino-Australia Challenge group is two-time Olympian Mark Worthington, who also featured at the 2006 and 2010 FIBA World Championships.

Guard Damian Martin, another member of the 2010 squad that played in Turkey, has been named.

He helped Perth Wildcats capture the NBL title this season in Australia.

Worthington has recovered from a serious shoulder injury and after a strong season with the Melbourne Tigers is ready to press his claim for a spot in Australia's FIBA Basketball World Cup squad.

"There are only 16 positions available for the FIBA Basketball World Cup selection camp set for July," said Lemanis.

"This means there are going to be some tough decisions made in terms of who gets the opportunity to be a part of the camp - the Sino-Australia Challenge will provide some clarity moving forward.

"The series presents a great opportunity for the staff to get in a rhythm and re-establish our routines for this year.

"It also provides the opportunity to build on the culture of the Boomers and allow players who haven't previously been part of the program to understand what being a Boomer is all about."

From the squad of 14, a team of 12 will be selected for the four-game series against Team China.

The first two games will be at Perth's Challenge Stadium on 29 and 31 May and the next two in China's Jiangsu province.

This is year two of the Sino-Australia Challenge after a four-year agreement was reached between Basketball Australia (BA) and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) with funding support from the Western Australian Government.

“My first game as head coach of the Boomers was in Perth against China, so I look forward to continuing the tradition," Lemanis said.

Three of the 14 players invited into the Australian group have been playing American college basketball.

They are Angus Brandt (University of Oregon), Anthony Drmic (Boise State University) and Hugh Greenwood (University of New Mexico).

Foreign-based Ryan Broekhoff (Besiktas, Turkey), Brock Motum (Virtus Bologna, Italy) and Luke Nevill (Taiwan Mobile, Chinese Taipei) are also included.

In addition to NBL players Worthington and Martin are Australia-based Cameron Gliddon, Chris Goulding, Matt Knight, Rhys Martin, Clint Steindl and Lucas Walker.

FIBA