BOOMERS HOME ADVANTAGE
THE opportunity and significance of playing a major tournament on home soil is not lost on coach Andrej Lemanis and his current crop of Australian Boomers.
Lemanis, who doubles as Brisbane Bullets coach in the National Basketball League, and the majority of his squad landed in Cairns on Saturday afternoon as they prepare for their three pool games in the Far North of Queensland.
The majority of the Boomers’ success and growth over the past two years has been broadcast in the middle of the night for most Australians, usually played on the other side of the world.
The Lemanis-coached Boomers won the first Australian senior men’s FIBA gold medal at the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon in August of last year, and while the green and gold just missed a medal at the Rio Olympics, the fourth-place finish was seen as a sign of positive things to come from the emerging group.
The NBA stars who featured in Rio, like Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills, are not in camp this time but the NBLbased squad are tipped to claim the gold on the Gold Coast.
Australia won gold in both the men’s and women’s basketball at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and Lemanis can feel the drive in his playing group to repli- cate that on the Gold Coast.
Boomers veteran Brad Newley, who wore the green and gold in Melbourne, has been the experienced voice behind the new wave of Boomers, according to Lemanis.
“We spoke about it while playing at the FIBA Asia Cup, the opportunity we have to push through and play at the Commonwealth Games in Australia,” Lemanis said.
“We spoke about what that would mean as a team and for individuals.
“From that moment, the group committed themselves to being available for the Commonwealth Games.
“Brad Newley, who participated in the Melbourne one, spoke to the excitement and feeling they got from participating in a home Commonwealth Games and the way they spoke was powerful and emotive.
“We look forward to having that same kind of experience in front of our home fans and country.”
Mitch Creek, Chris Goulding, Matt Hodgson and Nathan Sobey, who on Saturday night played in game five of the NBL Grand Final series, will join the camp in Cairns tomorrow.
The Boomers open their campaign on Friday afternoon against Canada before facing New Zealand on Saturday, which is tipped to be a preview of the gold medal match.