A few Boomers at risk of missing out on Australia’s 12-man squad have given their hopes of selection a big boost with starring performances in a commanding 91-58 win over China on Thursday night.
The second of Australia’s two warm-up games followed a similar pattern to Tuesday’s match-up, with both teams struggling to find their offensive rhythm early before the Boomers started to kick away late.
That started with Joe Ingles and Chris Goulding making the most of their minutes in the third quarter after neither featured in the opening half.
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Ingles impressed with his playmaking while Goulding, who had four 3-pointers in the first game against China, exploded for just as many triples in the third quarter alone.
Goulding’s hot shooting streak had Andrew Gaze declaring “he’s in” for Paris, while John Casey described him as a “game-breaker” as the pair debated what the Boomers’ 12-man squad could look like.
Ingles, meanwhile, has been a mainstay of Australia’s set-up but was no guarantee to punch his ticket to Paris without strong performances against China.
Gaze, though was convinced by what he saw even in limited minutes on Thursday night.
“There are some out there that have raised question marks… but in the last five minutes you have seen why he can be so valuable,” Gaze said, while Casey described Ingles as a “huge asset”.
The same is true for Jock Landale, who missed last year’s World Cup through injury but sent a reminder of just how important he can be for this Boomers team as he scored a team-high 19 points to go with nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and blocks blocks on Thursday.
That performance came without Duop Reath, who sat out Thursday’s game along with Matisse Thybulle, while while DJ Vasiljevic and Jack White were also DNPs.
That seems to suggest the latter two will miss out on selection as Goorjian looks to trim down the existing 17-man squad to just 12.
One player who is considered a lock for the squad is Patty Mills, although his form would be a cause for concern after the veteran guard went 1-for-11 from the field on Thursday night.
Mills struggled to get his shots falling at last year’s World Cup too.
The Boomers took a 16-6 lead after a sloppy first quarter which saw them shoot just 27 per cent from the field, although China at 23 per cent wasn’t any better.
China also committed seven turnovers but Australia was equally poor with its ball-handling, turning it over five times and struggling to get into an offensive rhythm.
Josh Green was one of Australia’s best in the first quarter, using his athleticism to make big plays on both ends while Jack McVeigh made his first 3-point attempt of the game to continue to establish himself as the Boomers’ most in-form shooter.
Overall though it was Australia’s on-ball defence that was the highlight from the opening stages of the game and it had to be given the team’s shooting struggles early in the piece.
It was much of the same in the second quarter as Mills forced a turnover which he converted into a layup on the other end and China continued to gift the Boomers more opportunities, although Australia was not always as clinical in capitalising on them.
The Boomers’ ball movement improved later in the quarter, with a string of drives and kickbacks ending with Dyson Daniels drawing a foul before Green found Nick Kay with a slingshot of a pass.
For China, Hansen Yang was the standout and causing all kinds of problems on both ends with his size at 7-foot-1, finishing the half with five points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks in just 12 minutes.
Goulding’s hot shooting start helped the Boomers to a commanding 65-34 lead after the first quarter and Australia was not bothered from that point, going on to claim a comfortable victory.
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