Australia's men's basketball team (The Boomers) will face Athens Gold Medallists, Argentina, and Beijing Gold Medallists, the United States, in the opening rounds at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

Australia’s pool matches, in order, will be against Jordan then Argentina, Germany, Serbia and Angola and if it is one of the top four placed teams from that group after five games it will then cross over against the top three teams in Group B.
The Boomers will meet the US in the non-knockout crossover pool round after America was drawn in Group B alongside Slovenia, Brazil, Croatia, Iran and Tunisia.

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Jacob Holmes and Liam rush and Steven Weigh have been brought into the side for tonight’s clash.

Brown has had to make six changes to his squad, most forced on him with several players either returning to or joining overseas-based clubs.

Dallas Mavericks’ big man Nathan Jawai has headed back to his NBA club.

Olympians Joe Ingles and Brad Newley, who top-scored in the two games against New Zealand, have flown to Europe to join clubs in Spain and Turkey respectively, while Aron Baynes is linking with Lithuania’s Lietuvos Rytas.

Forward Worthington, a late scratching from the New Zealand series with a heel injury, is unavailable, while guard Adam Gibson has been rested.

Brown has picked three debutants in 17-year-old AIS guard Hugh Greenwood, towering 208 centimetre Sudanese refugee Ater Majok and Swedish-based swingman Liam Rush.

“We are filling those spots with another crop of young players” said Brown, who has worked with around 60 players since being appointed following the Beijing Games.

“We want to see if James Harvey can be a lightning rod off the bench, whether Matthew Dellavedova can be a point guard for the Boomers in the future, whether A.J. Ogilvy can be a legitimate prospect in a talented group of Australian bigs, whether Liam Rush can be that lock-down defender that Sam Mackinnon and Jason Smith used to be, and whether Ater Majok can compete for a regular place in the team.

“This is the final piece of our program for 2009 and we’re going to finish it like we started, reaching out to players to find out what they can and can’t give us, and that starts on this tour tomorrow against Turkey.”

Ater Majok, a Sudanese-born Australian, will debut for the Boomers alongside former Sydney Spirit swing man Liam Rush and 17-year old Tasmanian Hugh Greenwood.

Turkey will field a strong side headlined by NBA players Hedo Turkoglu and Ersan Ilyasova as it gears up for the 2009 EuroBasket international basketball competition.

SCHEDULE OF GAMES:
Fri 28 Aug AUSTRALIA v TURKEY 3:30pm local
Sat 29 Aug AUSTRALIA v CHINA 7:30pm local
Sun 30 Aug AUSTRALIA v ANGOLA 3:30pm local
Mon 31 Aug AUSTRALIA v TBC 6:30pm local (3 vs 4) or 8:30pm local (1 vs 2)

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Event Name: 2009 Stankovic Continental Cup
Date: 28th August, 09 –31st August, 09
City: Kunshan, China
Venue: Kunshan Sports Center Stadium
Governing Host: International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
Organizers: China Basketball Association
Administration of Sports of Jiangsu Province
Administration of Sports of Kunshan City
Co-organizer: Hang Zhou Ideal Sports & Culture Consultants Co. Ltd.
Emperor Entertainment Group
Event Promoter: Asian Professional Basketball Management & Development Co. Ltd
Host Broadcaster: CCTV 5
Official Media: Basketball News
Titan Sports
Sina
Official website: http://bscup.sina.com.cn/
Teams: Angola National Team
Australia National Team
China National Team
Turkey National Team
Total of Games: 8 games
Competition Format: Single round robin format
Ranking No.1 will play with No.2 for Championship
No.3 will play with no.4 for Final ranking

2009 Opals Tickets.

Olympic Silver medallists Australia will take on China and New Zealand in August and September.

The Opals will play China, who finished fourth in Beijing, in Canberra, Geelong and Dandenong on August 11, 17 and 21 respectively.

The series forms part of Australia’s preparation for the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship against New Zealand on August 31 (Wellington, NZ) and September 2 (Canberra), with the winner qualifying for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for women.

It also provides the Opals with an opportunity to level the ledger with world number six China, who defeated Australia 2-1 in a three game series in China in May.

“China is a world class basketball playing nation and we wanted some tough matches before the Oceania Championship, so we’re very happy to have secured these games,” Opals Head Coach Carrie Graf said.

“We’ve toured China and Europe this year so it will be great to play in Australia and hopefully the Aussie public will come out and get behind the Opals.”

DON’T MISS OUT – BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW

August 11: Opals v China, 7.00pm at AIS Arena, Canberra – Buy Tickets

August 17: Opals v China, 7.30pm at Geelong Basketball Stadium – Buy Tickets
August 21: Opals v China, 7.00pm at Dandenong Stadium – Tickets from Dandenong Basketball at Dandenong Stadium.

FOR TICKETS PHONE: 9794 7192 ***PRE-PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS USING YOUR CREDIT CARD AND COLLECT YOUR TICKETS FROM THE STADIUM ON THE NIGHT! *** PRE-PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT***
September 2: Opals v Tall Ferns – FIBA Oceania Championship, 7.00pm at AIS Arena, Canberra

No Pero Cameron. No Craig Bradshaw. And with that twin piece of bad news some would say you can now add ‘No Chance’.

Veteran big man Cameron has failed to recover from the ankle injury which has laid him low of late, while Bradshaw has commitments with his latest professional team in South Korea that prevent him suiting up for his country.

New Zealand Tall Blacks: Tom Abercrombie, BJ Anthony, Michael Fitchett, Casey Frank, Leon Henry, Jarrod Kenny, Rob Loe, Kirk Penney (captain), Alex Pledger, Lindsay Tait, Mika Vukona, Corey Webster.

Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum

OLYMPIAN Brad Newley will return to bolster the Australian men’s basketball squad for its Oceania Championship series against New Zealand.

Newley and Beijing Games teammates Joe Ingles and Mark Worthington form the experienced core of the Boomers training squad which goes into camp next week to prepare for the two-Test clash with the Tall Blacks in on August 23 and Wellington on August 25.

The series will determine seedings for the 2010 world championships in Turkey.

Dallas Mavericks power forward Nathan Jawai provides a formidable inside presence while Sudanese-born Australian Ater Majok will experience his first taste of Boomers culture after his first national call up.

Majok, a 208cm refugee from Sudan who lived in Egypt before moving to Australia with his family in 2000, will suit up for the University of Connecticut in the US later this year.

Boomers training squad: Aron Baynes, Jason Cadee, Peter Crawford, Matthew Dellavedova, Oscar Forman, Adam Gibson, James Harvey, Joe Ingles, Nathan Jawai, Ater Majok, Aleks Maric, Damian Martin, Brad Newley, Luke Nevill, A.J. Ogilvy, Liam Rush, Stephen Weigh, Mark Worthington.

Joe Ingles has put his NBA dream on hold to play professionally in Spain this season.

After failing to be picked up in the NBA draft in June, Ingles, 21, played for Golden State in the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas, where he made enough of an impression to be invited back for further camps in October.

But the former Southern Tigers player has opted against returning to the US, instead signing a two-year contract with Spanish team CB Granada.

Australia’s squad has been strengthened by the return of Olympian Brad Newley, who together with his Beijing team mates Joe Ingles and Mark Worthington will form the experienced core of the team.

Dallas Mavericks power forward Nathan Jawai provides a formidable inside presence while Sudanese-born Australian Ater Majok will experience his first taste of Boomers culture after his first national call up.

The Boomers will play the Tall Blacks at 6:00pm on Sunday August 23 at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre before heading to Wellington for the second and final match on August 25 to determine seeding at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum

A second half surge has lifted Australia’s men’s basketball team to a euphoric seven-point victory over Uruguay at the Super 4 tournament in Rosario, Argentina, 101-94.

Ingles top scored for Australia with 24 points, Nathan Jawai added 21 points and 4 rebounds while starting point guard Adam Gibson had his best game on tour with 17 points and 5 assists. Uruguay’s Martin Osimani led all scorers with 29 points.

Ingles and Jawai have been the stands for Australia during the tour so far, consistently posting over 20 points each game.

Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum

The Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team will depart for Australia on August 7 to play a six-game foreign tour on the east side of the country. The Gaels will play six games in 12 days, before returning to Moraga on Aug. 19. SMC will spend time in Melbourne, Sydney and on the Gold Coast, while playing games in Wollongong and Brisbane.

Saint Mary’s will feature new Boomers recruit Matthew Dellavedova who has been somewhat of a revalation in the Boomers recent games and looks the goods to fill the shoes left by Patty Mills

Australia Tour Game Schedule
Date Opponent Location
8/10/09 Wollongong Hawks (NBL) Wollongong, Australia
8/11/09 Australian Institute of Sport Melbourne, Australia
8/13/09 Dandenong Rangers (SEABL/ABA) Melbourne, Australia
8/14/09 Melbourne Tigers (NBL) Melbourne, Australia
8/17/09 Gold Coast Blaze (NBL) Gold Coast, Australia
8/18/09 Gold Coast Blaze (NBL) Brisbane, Australia

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Trailing by 30 points in the first half, the Boomers reduced the margin to 14 points in the final quarter on the back of three consecutive three-point shots by Joe Ingles before time expired with the final score, 98-78.

Ingles top scored for Australia with 22 points while Dallas Mavericks forward Nathan Jawai toiled hard for 19 points and 8 rebounds in an Australian team featuring five players on debut.

Australian U19 Emus captain Matthew Dellavedova was the most impressive of the Boomers debutantes with 13 points, five rebounds and three steals in a back-up role to starting point guard Adam Gibson.

Discuss at : Boomers & Opals Forum