Lemanis’ Boomers choices a struggle

AUSTRALIAN coach Andrej Lemanis says cutting fringe NBA player Mitch Creek from the final Boomers squad for the FIBA World Cup was one of the toughest and most sleepdepriving calls of his national team tenure.

Lemanis yesterday unveiled the 12-man squad for the tournament in China that starts later this month and the omission of Creek was the major talking point.

Creek has bounced from the NBL to the NBA’s second-tier G-League to the NBA in the past 12 months after being an integral part of the NBL-based Boomers outfit that helped Australia qualify for the game’s showpiece tournament.

But ultimately, the lack of an outside shooting game and the eye-catching form of Germany-based Xavier Cooks at the four-day selection camp in Melbourne counted against Creek.

Five NBA-based players are in the squad with six survivors from the heartbreaking Rio Olympic campaign. Five NBLbased players made the cut.

Creek’s fellow fringe NBA player Deng Adel also missed out, with Lemanis saying the talented and athletic forward had a bright future with the Boomers when he got more experience under his belt.

He said the outstanding form of Perth Wildcat Nick Kay was also irresistible and won him a power forward spot over Brock Motum.

Lemanis said the “worst thing” about selection camps was having to cut players who were so “passionate about the green and gold”.

“All those conversations are tough and emotional for their own reasons. But yeah, for sure, telling Creeky was one of those ones that keeps you up at night,’’ Lemanis said.

“That was as heartbreaking as any of them.

“But at the end of the day — just for the skill sets we were looking for — we made the decision that other guys might help us a little bit more in a way that would benefit the team.”