For the Non-Aussies who want a sense of how big basketball is here... The sports that are just ingrained into Austalian culture are Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL, Cricket, and probably Netball. I would say after that, Soccer and Basketball are competing for the next spot on an amateur level. In terms of junior and streetball, etc, basketball is hugely popular in Australia. That-being-said, there is not much support for the National League (NBL) as compared to the top sports in Australia, and Australia's Soccer A-League is also much more popular than the NBL. The NBL was very popular in the 90's and early 2000's. It was the Jordan effect. I would argue our talent was actually not t as strong back then, and that meant that more of the best Aussie players stayed in Australia to form a stronger league. As Australian talent improved in the 2000's, more and more players left Australia for Europe, which diluted the talent in the NBL. Viewership declined, many teams became bankrupt and had to leave the NBL, making the league smaller and smaller. At this point, NBL is improving again, however I generally don't see the sentiment from basketball fans here that it is a league really worth watching. There are many Aussie basketball fans, but they all just watch the NBA.
Just tuned in to this Australia vs France olympic basketball opener, and I gotta say, very impressed with the way the Aussies are moving the ball and their grit. Beautiful to watch
A great first game. On paper, , most would probably expect France to win. But the Boomers kicked butt
Yeah they were great. They have a custom of losing the first game at the Olympics, smashed that in a major way. Will be tough to keep them out of the medals, Bogut and Baynes close the whole paint down.
Great showing for the Aussies. Apparently we've only ever won our 1st game of the Olympics whilst Gaze was playing (until yesterday!). Thought we'd struggle against the French who had Parker, Gobert, Diao and Batum. Really impressed with the bigs in Baynes and Bogut.
Delly with a flashback to last years finals.... Aussies claim another big scalp in Serbia, and malakas gets his hopes up that Delly might be worth 39 mill
New reports in Australia now saying $39mill is a bargain for the Bucks. But the Bucks have the athleticism and length to just make Delly a really good player with his passes for the alley oops.
I really under-estimated the Boomers. Coming into the Olympics and looking at the draw, I saw USA/France/Serbia/China and thought we wouldn't stand a chance of advancing out of the group rounds. I thought we were on par with China and Serbia at best. As long we beat China (and I don't think we can underestimate them), I think we are a lock to make it to the next round. The only thing that could stop us is a shock upset where one team beats the USA.. That won't happen!
It will be the next two Olympics where we really start to look good. So many really good players coming through now, its amazing to see.
Well, China looks that way now... but Australia and China have battled it out many times and they've had close contests over the past 4 years. The reason I under-estimated Australia is that the young guys aren't in the team for this Olympics (Exum/Simmons/Maker). This is essentially the same team as the World Championships plus Bogut. The real difference is the NBA experience that has helped Delly and Ingles improve.
That is the Oz team with local only playerd where Chin gets close. Add in the 7Nba + Euro players and ummmm China sux.
Curious if there is a 2nd Maker? I can only think of Thon Maker, who is from South Sudan. Unless I'm getting my facts mixed up?
