Boomers building as team

AUSTRALIA might have already secured its place at next year’s FIBA World Cup in China, but Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis says it’s only the start of the job ahead.

The Boomers locked in their place at next year’s World Cup with a 76-47 win over Iran on Friday and will be aiming to finish unbeaten at home when they face Qatar in tonight’s qualifier at Margaret Court Arena.

The Boomers will be aiming to consolidate their position at the top of Group F before they go to Kazakhstan and Iran for the last round of qualifiers in February.

Lemanis said the Boomers needed to take advantage of every chance they had to grow as a team.

“They rightly took a lot of pride from that (World Cup qualification) but now we turn our attentions to Qatar,’’ he said.

“We want to play well no matter what the situation and that’s what has been so pleasing with this group.

“What we’ve done so far defensively has been wonderful, we’ve locked in at that end of the floor and that’s what I expect from us against Qatar.

“There are always things to improve and work on as we continue to grow as a team.

“We’ve got time from now until the World Cup to keep playing international basketball and to develop ourselves in that space.”

The Boomers had a 95-43 win over Qatar when they last met in September.

Boomers point guard Jason Cadee said the team was determined to keep building on its form.

“It doesn’t really feel like we’ve qualified yet because we still have games to go but it has been a different and new process that we’ve all enjoyed and it is nice to have that locked away,’’ Cadee said.