The Australian men’s basketball team will compete at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a 12-player strong squad that is comprised of top-tier players from the National Basketball League.
WATCH NOW: The Boomers cheer on the Matildas.
On April 10th, Basketball Australia announced the first intake 22-player squad that will be up for selection following a final training camp in early July.
From there, 10 would-be Olympians will be cut from the roster until only the best will remain to compete against 11 other nations including Canada, France, Germany, and the United States of America.
How does the men’s basketball Olympic tournament work?
The men’s Olympic basketball tournament will see the 12 teams split into three groups, with four teams in each group.
At the end of the group stage, the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The two best third-place teams from all four groups will also progress, while all remaining teams are eliminated.
From there, knockout rounds will occur where teams will be randomly pitted against each other. Teams from the same groups cannot be drawn against each other, however.
Winners then progress to the semi-final. The two teams that secure victory in those games will advance to the gold medal game while the losers will go head-to-head for the bronze medal.
Who is in the Boomers Olympic Squad?
Ten players from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medal team have been named in the 22-player initial Boomers Paris 2024 Olympic Games squad.
These include Joe Ingles, Patty Mills (who was also the opening ceremony flagbearer that same year), Josh Green, Matisse Thybulle, Dante Exum, Jock Landale, Chris Goulding, Matthew Dellavedova, Duop Reath and Nick Kay.
They will compete for their spot on the squad against newcomers Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Jack White, Xavier Cooks, Johnny Furphy, DJ Vasiljevic, Will McDowell-White, Will Magnay, Sam Froling, Keanu Pinder, Jack McVeigh, and Rocco Zikarsky.
Head Coach Brian Goorjian said the team was “really excited” to compete on the global stage once more.
“The consensus is that the tournament will be at an unseen level with the talent and international NBA star-power across the teams.
“I will emphasise and instill with the group that we’re not aiming to match or replicate the style of [the] game heading our way from other nations. Our goal is to beat them,” he added.
“We’re going to play Aussie ball. And we’re going to go at them with all we’ve got.”
