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The Australians led for most of the match and comfortably held off every Slovenian challenge to score a 14-point win. 

Patrick Mills and Adam Gibson led the Australians in scoring with 15 points apiece. Brad Newley added 14 and Joe Ingles 12. 

For Slovenia Sani Becirovic led the way with 15 points, Jaka Klobucar added 13 and Uros Slokar had 10.

Boomers’ head coach Brett Brown was happy with his team’s defence against Slovenia.

“We played a very good team and I was happy with the way we guarded them as a group,” Brown said.  “They have an excellent scoring team, and some dynamic perimeter shooters including NBA guard Goran Dragic and an NBA centre in Primoz Brezec.  To hold Slovenia to 64 points for the game and 12 in the last quarter was a terrific effort.  This area must not waiver.”

“Slowly there is a comfort level with each other emerging and a recognition of our system.  There’s just nothing like playing games to expedite both improvement and recognition of weaknesses"

Brown was particularly happy with the effort of Gold Coast Blaze guard Gibson.

The win was all the more impressive because Boomers big man Matt Nielsen suffered a corked left thigh in the third quarter and did not play for the remainder of the game.

For full video of the match visit http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8582540

For match photos visit http://pic.bscup.tom.com/vw/211265-11.html#picchange

Australian Boomers 77 defeated Slovenia 63
Stankovic Continental Cup – Game 2
Liugang Gymnasium, Liuzhou, China

Quarter-by-Quarter
1st Quarter AUS 16, SLO 17
2nd Quarter AUS 24, SLO 17
3rd Quarter AUS 21, SLO 17
4th Quarter AUS 16, SLO 12

Top scorers
AUS – P. Mills 15, A. Gibson 15, B. Newley 14, J. Ingles 12
SLO – S. Becirovic 15, J. Klobucar 13, U. Slokar 10

[BOXSCORE]

The Raptors in a statement on their website elaborated, saying that they had “acquired centre David Andersen and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in exchange for a 2015 protected second-round pick obtained from the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Hassan Adams trade January 7, 2009.”

Andersen played 63 games for the Rockets last season, averaging 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds off the bench in 14.1 minutes per game.

“David is a skilled big that gives us some insurance at the backup centre position,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “He will also bring a veteran presence and savvy to a relatively young team.”

The 211cm centre was originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round (37th overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft but later had his draft rights acquired by Houston from Atlanta in exchange for cash and future considerations on July 14, 2009.

He signed a multi-year contract with the Rockets on August 12, 2009.

Last night Andersen scored the winning basket for Australia as they defeated China 64-63 in their opening game of the 2010 Stankovic Continental Cup.

Photo courtesy of www.tom.com

Photo courtesy of www.tom.com

The Boomers’ Australian NBA duo of David Andersen and Patrick Mills teamed up to score the winning basket for Australia.  With one second left to play, Mills drove to the hoop and found Andersen, who made an acrobatic lay-in. 

Mills top-scored for the Boomers with 13 points, while Matt Nielsen added 12.  Joe Ingles, Mark Worthington and Andersen all chipped in with eight points apiece.   For China, it was their NBA players who shone.   New Jersey Nets star Yi Jianlian had a game-high 17 points while former Dallas Maverick and LA Clipper Wang Zhizhi had 12.  

Boomers’ head coach Brett Brown said Mills and Andersen showed their NBA class with the final play.

“We called a time out and made sure we got the ball to Patty, and he made a great play to find David,” Brown said.  "David then made a difficult, skilled shot.  That was just two NBA players making plays.  They got us over the line.”

Brown was satisfied after earning a close win first up after an uneven first half.

“The first half we were very erratic, and it was really a typical first game after a tough training camp,” said Brown.  “Our rhythm was just not there yet and we were very scattered.  We had 11 first-half turnovers and sent China to the line 17 times because we came out a little too aggressive.  That’s a natural by-product of us coming off a very good training camp.

“We got down double digits twice, but to the players’ credit they persevered and the second half was much better,” Brown continued.  “We only had four turnovers, they only got to the line eight times and I was  happy with our defence in the second half.  Damian Martin and Adam Gibson particularly did a great job defensively in the two spot and Joe Ingles also did a good job getting out in front of their shooters.”
Australia outscored China 20-13 in the final period to earn the win.  The Chinese led 37-28 at the half.

The Boomers’ next game will be tomorrow night (Thursday 29 July) at 4:00PM local time (6:00PM AEST) when they face off against powerful European team Slovenia, who are ranked 20th in the world.   In the tournament’s earlier game, Slovenia beat Iran 107-74 behind Primo Brezec’s 13 points. 

The Stankovic Continental Cup is a crucial part of the Boomers’ preparations for the 2010 FIBA World Championships, which will be held in Turkey from 28 August to 12 September. 

The Boomers are the defending champions of the Stankovic Continental Cup tournament, after having defeated Turkey in the final last year to claim the title.

The official tournament website of the Stankovic Continental Cup can be found at http://bscup.tom.com/english/index.html.  

Photos from the game against China can be found at: http://pic.bscup.tom.com/vw/211059-1.html#picchange

Golden Star Australian Boomers 64 defeated China 63
1st Quarter – AUS 17, CHN 16.
2nd Quarter – AUS 28, CHN 37
3rd Quarter - AUS 44, CHN 50
FINAL - AUS 64, CHN 63.

[BOXSCORE]

Top scorers
AUS – P. Mills 13, M. Nielsen 12, J. Ingles 8, M. Worthington 8, D. Andersen 8
CHN – Y. Jianlian 17, W. Zhizhi 12, L. Wei 11.

Previously he was head coach of NBL franchises the Townsville Crocodiles and the Geelong Supercats.

Stacker was also head coach of the triumphant Australian under-23 team that won gold at the 1997 World Championships in Melbourne.

Stacker said he was delighted to be given the opportunity to work at arguably the best sporting institution in the world.

‘The AIS is regarded throughout the world as being at the forefront of elite athlete development and the Institute’s basketball program is testament to that reputation,’ Stacker said.

‘I’m looking forward to helping build Australia’s future in the basketball arena through the development of talented junior players.’

AIS Director Professor Peter Fricker said Stacker was well equipped to take the Institute’s men’s basketball program forward through his vast experience and expertise.

‘Ian is one of Australia’s outstanding coaches who will help build on the strength of a world class basketball program,’ Professor Fricker said.

‘With an intimate knowledge of Australia’s elite basketball pathways he is well placed to guide Australia’s talented young athletes in their quest for excellence.’

‘The AIS, through the partnership between the Australian Sports Commission and Basketball Australia, continues to help strengthen Australian basketball through the development of talented young athletes.’

‘The Institute’s proud record of developing players such as Andrew Bogut, Nathan Jawai and Patrick Mills is testimony to the quality of the program.’

Basketball Chief Executive Larry Sengstock welcomed the appointment of Stacker.

‘The quality of the applicants for this position was truly exceptional, with some top Australian and international coaches considered for the position,’ Sengstock said.  ‘Ultimately, Ian’s extensive experience and demonstrated success made him the preferred candidate and it is a selection that Basketball Australia is only too happy to endorse.’

The Stankovic Cup will serve as a perfect warm-up for the 2010 FIBA World Championship which will take place in Turkey in 32 days.

The Boomers grabbed the Cup last year by crushing Turkey in the final 69-52; and for the second time that tournament (won 70-54 in their opening match).

However, this year’s Boomers squad looks drastically different than it did a year ago with the only returning players being AJ Ogilvy (Besiktas, Turkey) and Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats).

This is mainly due to the fact that this year’s competition is a full month earlier then last year’s tournament. As a result many of the players who were unavailable due to commitments to their controlling clubs last year are now free to compete.

One of the biggest additions to this year’s squad is Patty Mills (Portland Trail Blazers, NBA) who will be in charge of running the offense for the Boomers.

Mills is coming off of a stellar month where he lead Australia in a preseason three-game sweep of the #1 FIBA ranked Argentina. He then followed that by lighting up the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas where some other Boomers weren’t as fortunate (see Summer League section below).

Mills lead the Trail Blazers’ summer squad to a 4-and-1 overall record where he tied for the team-high with 14.2 points per game.

Patty also was first on the team with 4.6 assists per game, third with 29.8 minutes per game, and fourth with 1.2 steals per game.

Mills is in a tough battle with 2010 draft pick Armon Johnson for the final guard position on the Trail Blazers roster.

Through the five Summer League games their numbers were practically identical with Mills having a slight advantage in points, assists, rebounds, and 3-point percentage; and Johnson the advantage in overall field goal percentage, steals, and less offensive turnovers.

A strong showing for Mills in the Stankovic Cup and the World Championships would go a long way in swaying this equation in his favour if the club has not made its decision.

Another major addition is David Andersen who after having a strong start in the NBA with the Houston Rockets was plagued late in the year with a few nagging injuries.

Andersen can single-handedly change the way a defense plays because along with being a threat inside the paint at 212cm, but he can step behind the arc and drain outside shots as well.

Teams are stuck either leaving him open on the outside, coming out and guarding him and clearing a wide open lane for Patty Mills, or shifting their defense entirely and leaving one of the other potent shooters open.

Joining the two NBA Aussies are a plethora of talented players who at any moment can cause problems for opponents.

2009 NBL Defensive Player of the Year Adam Gibson will help bolster the defense as will a quadruplet of former NBL Rookies of the Year in Matt Nielsen-1997, Brad Newley-2006, Mark Worthington-2007, and Joe Ingles-2008.

In addition to being successful in the NBL all of these players have gone on to play exceptionally well in Europe for their clubs; Nielsen (Olympiacos, Greece), Newley (Besiktas, Turkey), Worthington (Bros Baskets, Germany), and Ingles (CB Granada, Spain).

Rounding out the Boomers 12-man roster are; David Barlow (CIA Zaragoza, Spain), Aron Baynes (EWE Baskets Oldenburg, Germany), and Steven Markovic (KK Crvena Zvezda Beograd, Serbia).

With the array of talent on this year’s Boomers squad I have a feeling they will be a force to be reckoned with in both the Stankovic Cup as well as the World Championships, and David Andersen agrees.

“We have a lot of talent and I think we can go far,” Andersen told the AAP.

"A lot of people are probably going to write us off as a chance of getting a medal but there is a belief inside the team, inside ourselves [that] we can do something special after getting into those medal rounds."

The Boomers tip off against China Wednesday July 28th @ 7:30pm. They continue their quest the following two nights against Slovenia Thursday July 29th @ 4pm and Iran Friday July 30th @ 4pm. 

All three of the Boomers’ preliminary opponents have qualified for this year’s World Championships in Turkey, so this will not be an easy string of games for the Aussies. Their opponents’ world rankings are as follows: China #9, Slovenia #20, and Iran #21. 

The Boomers have a mix of older and younger players who all have a ton of international experience. They are a hungry group who believe in themselves, which is always a dangerous combination when it comes to sports. Look for this team to surprise the rest of the world over the course of the next month.

NBA SUMMER LEAGUE – LAS VEGAS

•        Ogilvy (Chicago Bulls) - played in only three games and struggled in his time on court. Had totals of only three points (1-for-7 FG), five rebounds, two steals, and one assist in 25 total minutes.

•        Jawai (Cleveland Cavaliers) - played only one game and played only three minutes in that game.

•        Ingles (Golden State Warriors) – after a strong opening three games (where he saw 24, 19, and 17 minutes) he played only seven minutes in the fourth game and recorded only one steal.

Ogilvy, Jawai, Ingles, and Luke Schenscher (who didn’t see a single minute for Portland) didn’t see any time in their team’s final games.

WNBA

•        Lauren Jackson went 3-and-0 over the past two weeks and the Seattle Storm is now 19-and-2 and have won an impressive 10 games in a row. Jackson averaged 26.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, and 1.0 assists

•        Penny Taylor helped her team to a 3-and-1 record and averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.8 steals the past two weeks.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEK

•        Boomers in China to defend their 2009 Stankovic Cup

•        Lauren Jackson faces fellow Opal Penny Taylor Wednesday 11:30am AEST

-The investigation into the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park continues. It is reported that the main suspect is a security guard named Richard Jewell. It is subsequently revealed that Jewell was in a fact a hero: he had discovered the device and his efforts to clear the area assuredly saved lives.

-From the Olympic Stadium: controversy, acclaim and moments to savour. The men’s 100m final is won by Canada’s Donovan Bailey in a new world record of 9.84 secs. There is drama before the final, with three false starts leading to the disqualification of defending Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Linford Christie.

The women’s 400m final sees a classic duel between France’s Marie-Jose Perec and Australia’s Cathy Freeman. Perec eventually holds off her challenger to claim gold in a time of 48.25 secs, setting a new Olympic record. Perec would go on to win the 200/400 double.

The same double was also claimed by the United States of America’s Michael Johnson. His victory in the 200m, in a new world record time of 19.32 secs, produced this pearler from Bruce McAvaney ‘Look at the time. Unbeeeeliveeeeable!’

-Carl Lewis wins his record-equalling 9^th gold medal with victory in the men’s long jump.

-Around the Grounds: Our hockey teams have mixed results: the Hockeyroos defeat South Korea 3-1 to win gold, while the Kookaburras again disappoint, finishing with a bronze medal.

At the tennis, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge win gold in the men’s doubles, defeating Britain’s Neil Broad and Tim Henman in the final 6-4 6-4 6-2.

Australia finishes the Games with 41 medals, the highest number of medals that Australia had ever won at a Summer Olympics to that time. We will now follow the efforts of the Boomers and Opals to add to that tally: we join them in the final round of preliminary matches...

July 29^th 1996: Group B Match: Boomers vs. Greece.

Final score: Boomers 103-Greece 62

The Boomers’ final group game sees them get a comprehensive victory over a curiously flat Greece team that had finished fourth at the European Championships the year before. Suspicions are immediately raised that Greece had planned not to play to their full potential in order to secure a seemingly more favourable match-up with Lithuania in the quarter-finals.  Boomers coach Barry Barnes waxed philosophical about the result ‘I know we would never try to lose a match...I think Croatia suits us better anyway.’ All twelve Boomers get on the score sheet, with Andrew Gaze leading the charge with 17 points. The biggest positive to come out of the game is the performance of Pat Reidy, who scores 12 points in 18 minutes of work while playing with a metal plate in his hand as a consequence of a serious injury suffered just prior to the team’s departure. When confronted with the allegations of playing dead, Greece coach Makis Dedrinios coldly replies ‘I don’t think that is right.’

July 30^th 1996: Group B Match: Opals vs. Ukraine

Final score: Ukraine 54-Opals 48

News Limited’s Mike Colman summed it up best when he wrote that ‘They [The Opals] could not shoot the side of a barn with a howitzer.’  The stats made for sobering reading: 15/68 (22%) from the field, including 2/12 (17%) from three-point range. The worst offenders were Robyn Maher (1 pt, 0/4 from the field), Sandy Brondello (1 pt, 0/7 from the field), Trish Fallon (9 points, 3/10 from the field) and Shelley Sandie (10 points, 4/15 from the field). This humiliating loss ended the Opals preferred path to a medal: to avoid meeting the United States until the Gold Medal match. For many observers, the abysmal performance indicated that all was lost and a repeat of the fourth place at Seoul was on the horizon. Coach Tom Maher was steaming mad and came up with some pearlers: ‘We had a couple of people out there today who didn’t do anything...Up until this game we were in control of our own tournament...Now that has all gone out the window...Now we are looking at maybe gold, maybe nothing...One thing about the Opals, they always seem to go better with their backs to the walls.’

July 31^st 1996: Men’s Quarter-Final: Boomers vs. Croatia

Final score: Boomers 73-Croatia 71

Front pages across the land were emblazoned with the news: The Boomers had won! And, oh, how they won. The Boomers started off like firecrackers, with Andrew Gaze cutting Croatia’s defence to ribbons through passes by Shane Heal on his patented back door cuts. Mark Bradtke was lion-hearted in the paint against his taller opponents while Andrew Vlahov and Scott Fisher constantly rotated and wore down NBA champion Toni Kukoc. With five and a half minutes remaining in the first half, the Boomers led by 16 and a major upset was on the cards. Slowly but surely, with a mixture of zone/man defence and a strong interior offence, the Croatians worked their way back into the contest. The margin was cut to eight by half time (41-33 Australia) and with 12:50 remaining in the game Croatia took the lead, 54-53. Josip Vrankovic had cut off Gaze’s perimeter options and the Boomers offence was starting to sputter.

The lead was slowly stretched until there were seven minutes to go; Croatia now led 64-56. Shane Heal was having an off night (he would eventually finish with 2/12 from the field) and with Mark Bradtke on 4 fouls, it all seemed bleak.  Now it was the Boomers’ turn to inch their way into the contest. It was 58-64, then 60-64, 62-66, 64-66 with 2:30 remaining.  Tony Ronaldson had the dangerous Dino Radja cocooned in a fire blanket (he would be held scoreless) and with 2:08 remaining Barry Barnes called time-out. Following the time-out, Kukoc threw up a three which hit the front of the rim and flew out of bounds. The ensuing Boomer possession saw the ball fed into Mark Bradtke, who was fouled. First one, then two: who would have thought it? Scores were level at 66, 1:24 remaining. Croatia worked it to Kukoc, who drove to his right against Fisher. There was a scramble, Fisher knocked it to Heal and the Boomers were away. Tony Ronaldson described what happened next:

‘If it was planned, it would never have gone to me...I knew I had to take the shot, I just made sure my feet were set. I put it up there, but then I got fouled, so I didn’t actually see the ball in flight. Then I looked up and saw the ball going in. It was the biggest shot of my career.’

The free throw made it 70-66 and from there the game was decided by free-throws. The players, the fans, the media contingent went a little crazy. Barry Barnes was even seen with a smile on his face. For the Boomers, having knocked off the team ranked second in the world prior to the tournament, it was onward to a battle with ‘Dream Team III’.

August 1^st 1996: Women’s Quarter-Final: Opals vs. Russia

Final score: Opals 74-Russia 70 (OT)

After the heroics of the previous day, it was difficult to see how the Opals could make their own splash. In the end, they too would own front pages across the country after surviving ‘a quarter-final in which it became apparent that mugging was legal in Atlanta’ according to Fairfax’s Martin Blake. Russia got off to a fast start, led by their gun player Elena Baranova and were up by six. Then Trish Fallon came in off the bench and sparked the Opals running game. The two sides ran even for the next several minutes. Michelle Brogan, who had struggled in the preliminary games, then found a rich vein of form. A quick six points and the Opals were level: at half-time the score was 38-38.

The second half again saw the Russians get off to a fast start and lead by 7 after three and a half minutes. The Opals jibbed and jabbed for a period, then picked up the pace again. A turnaround jumper by Jenny Whittle saw the Opals in front 55-54 with 9:19 remaining to play. The next few minutes saw nails being chomped off across the country as the two teams went score for score. When Yelena Pshikova fouled out with 5:30 remaining, the momentum had definitively swung towards the Opals. When Brogan hit a lay-up, drew a foul and hit the free-throw, Australia led 64-62 inside the two minute warning. A couple of crucial offensive rebounds ostensibly had the Opals on the cusp of victory. Then Baranova hit a push shot from the foul line to tie it with twenty seconds remaining. With the Georgia Dome crowd roaring, Rachael Sporn’s last-gasp shot went long, and the game went into overtime knotted at 64-64.

Soon after the start of the overtime period, Robyn Maher stole the ball and broke clear. As she drove to the basket, Svetlana Kouznetsova attacked Maher’s injured hand. With Maher being tended to on the bench, Sandy Brondello hit the two free-throws: Opals 66-64. Russia then scores the next four: 66-68. Jenny Whittle works the post, hits the shot, draws a foul and hits the free-throw: 69-68. Irina Soumnikova hacks Brondello, who hits the resulting two free throws: 71-68. With Dawn Fraser reprising her supporting role from Seoul behind the bench, Australia’s defence lifts and forces the miss.  Brogan loses the ball over the end line: 1:35 to go in overtime, 71-68 Opals. Russia goes down low again and Brogan forces another key turnover. The ball is kicked in to Whittle, whose shot is blocked. Russia turn on the speed and Baranova is all alone under the basket: 71-70. Under a minute to play, nerves are jangling.  Brogan takes it inside, is fouled, to the line. After a timeout, Brogan hits them both: 73-70, 36 seconds. Russia look harried as they attempt to tie. Timms fouls near halfway with 15.6 remaining, no shots. On the inbound, Russia can’t find an open player: the Opals defence is like a clamp. Sporn almost steals it: Brondello dives and forces a jump ball. Up it goes, the whistle blows: the Canadian referee has seen a violation, Opals ball!  Tom Maher calls time, Robyn Maher jumps up and down, a grin on her face, her hand wrapped in ice. There’s 5.1 seconds remaining: the ball is thrown in to Brondello. But wait, there’s action off the ball: Irina Routkovskaia has grabbed Michelle Timms, thrown her to the floor and given her a face massage. Timms’ motor mouth soon reaches full power, decrying Routkovskaia’s lack of sportsmanship. It’s a miracle Routkovskaia is still in the game: meanwhile, Brondello hits one of two free-throws. It’s all over, 74-70 and Timms points to the scoreboard in defiance.

The final word goes to Tom Maher, when asked about Robyn’s hand: ‘Her hand? I don’t know. I didn’t ask her. Who cares? We won, that’s all that matters.’

August 2^nd 1996: Men’s Semi-Final: Boomers vs. United States

Final score: USA 101-Boomers 73

The main interest in this game, apart from the result, was whether Shane Heal and Charles Barkley would renew their warm and friendly relationship that had opened in a friendly held in Salt Lake City just prior to the Games. For a while, the Boomers paced their opponents, with Andrew Gaze and Heal hitting every shot in sight. Gaze would finish with 21 points for the first half with the U.S. leading 51-41 at half-time.

Then U.S. coach Lenny Wilkens made two decisions that sealed the game: he switched Reggie Miller onto Gaze (who hit only four free-throws in the second half) and he gave Barkley a signal to run riot. Charles would eventually finish with 24 points and 11 rebounds (on 7/7 shooting and 9 from 11 from the free-throw line) as the deeper team finally won out. The loss of Luc Longley prior to the tournament due to a necessary ankle operation left a huge hole in the Boomers front-line: in this encounter they were outrebounded 53-31 and outscored 67-23.

August 3^rd 1996: Women’s Semi-Final: Opals vs. United States

Final score: USA 93-Opals 71

These two teams had met earlier in the tournament, with the U.S. running out winners by the score of 96-79. The Opals fought and clawed for every advantage or loose ball, but it was the interior strength of their opponents that eventually bore fruit. Lisa Leslie top-scored for the Americans with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Katrina McClain was just as impressive, racking up 18 points and 15 rebounds. For the Opals, Michelle Timms again played a lone hand with 27 points, including 5/10 from three-point range. Despite the defeat, the team’s mood was summed up by Alison Tranquilli: ‘In the change rooms the girls were defiant...We believe we can get the bronze medal.’

August 4^th 1996: Men’s Bronze Medal Match: Boomers vs. Lithuania

Final score: Lithuania 80-Boomers 74

The reason that the Boomers missed out on the bronze medal in Atlanta runs two words: Arvydas Sabonis. No-one in the Australian team could make any impression on the Lithuanian superstar who scored 30 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, produced 3 assists and blocked 5 shots. Mark Bradtke, who was exhausted after struggling manfully for two weeks against taller and heavier opponents, said ‘I was a bit of a distraction to him and that’s all’. Despite Sabonis’ mastery of the middle, the Boomers kept it close and were behind 72-73 with a minute to play. In the end, however, free throws and exhaustion were enough to extinguish the Boomers’ hopes of a first-ever Olympic medal. Coach Barry Barnes looked at the positives afterwards, saying that ‘I don’t think we let anybody down.’

August 5^th 1996: Women’s Bronze Medal Match: Opals vs. Ukraine

Final score: Opals 66-Ukraine 56.

On the final day of the Games, the Opals faced their nemesis from the pool games for a chance to make history. The game started evenly on the scoreboard, but Australia was making the running. Michelle Brogan was again causing havoc inside while the team defence was forcing Ukraine into putting up some poor shots. With 8:35 remaining in the first half, it was level peggings, 18-18.  Then the Opals put together a crucial 12-1 run, mainly through Brogan’s two-step drives through the lane that either drew fouls or scored lay-ups and drew fouls. Shelley Sandie was also having her best shooting performance in some time. The Opals’ defence had already forced 11 turnovers and with a half-time lead of 33-24, the Promised Land was in sight.

After the interval, the Ukrainians came out firing. Nataliya Sil’yanova had the hot hand shooting wise and the lead was cut to 43-40 with twelve minutes remaining to play. Then the Opals frontline stepped up: Jenny Whittle hit a couple of long range shots, Brogan was ferocious at both ends and suddenly, the score was 53-42 in Australia’s favour.  For those who were there and for those who were watching at home, the next eight minutes were the longest minutes of their lives. As the teams went basket for basket, miss for miss, the realisation dawned: the medal could be ours! A Sandie free-throw, followed by a Brogan jumper with four seconds left set off the biggest party in Australia’s basketball history. As the siren sounded, the Opals stormed the floor, their tears and smiles shared in equal measure. Tom and Robyn Maher embraced, the dreams of a lifetime fulfilled. The team then made their way, Pat Cash like, into the stands to share the moments with their families and partners, who were shedding as many tears as the team were. It was a moment to be shared with all of Australia’s basketball community: a moment to be savoured for all time. Michelle Brogan top-scored for Australia with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Two final quotes: firstly from Tom Maher “It would have been a tragedy, if some of the older players didn’t end up with a medal”. Secondly, Sandy Brondello “A few of the girls have headed off in search of a daiquiri and I don’t walk to talk too long before I catch up.” Amen to that!

Now for the two squads:

Opals: Robyn Maher (c), Alison Cook (later Tranquilli), Sandy Brondello, Michelle Timms, Shelley Sandie, Trisha Fallon, Michelle Chandler (later Cleary), Fiona Robinson, Carla Boyd, Jenny Whittle, Rachael Sporn and Michelle Brogan.

Boomers: Tony Ronaldson, Brett Maher, Scott Fisher, Pat Reidy, Sam MacKinnon, Tonny Jensen, Andrew Gaze (c), Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, John Dorge, Andrew Vlahov and Ray Borner.

Next week in ‘Back in the Day’ we return to your normally scheduled reading pattern. Before we go, this column gives a hearty “Hurrah!” for the Rollers, now Paralympic and world champions. Onwards, onwards to London!

This is another in a regular series of articles that will take note of the historic events of the modern era of Australian basketball (1979-today). If you have memories to share, or topics that should be discussed, send an email to Nicholas.Way@Basketball.net.au and put in the subject line ‘Back in the Day.’

JUNIOR ASSISTANT

During the 2000 Olympics a very successful program was instigated which saw the AIS athletes at each of the basketball games as sweat wipers. This ensured that talented athletes were among the elite environment of the Olympics. It’s with this in mind that Basketball Australia has opened up an opportunity to a few select athletes (or shared by a team) to assist at the Boomers Camp.
Junior Assistant Position Description

ASSISTANT MANAGER

One of the ever increasing roles has recently become that of team manager. In February of this year Basketball Australia held its second National Team Manager Workshop. It’s goal was to up skill the managers. One of the areas this process identified was the need to up skill managers at an earlier stage. Be it state team managers, managers of a junior national team or representative managers. The attached job description is an invitation to those managers that may learn from the experience of being around the Boomers. This position is not a token opportunity, Basketball Australia will be relying on them heavily in the lead up and during the actual camp.
Assistant Manager Position Description

Contact Nic Mercer, National Men's Teams Operations Manager for more information: nic.mercer@basketball.net.au

The Australian inside pairing of Tayla Roberts and Gretel Tippett was too much for the Spanish to handle; Roberts led all scorers with 25 points and grabbed a game high 14 rebounds, Tippett had 14 and six rebounds.

It was a fantastic effort from the young Australians to recover from a disappointing loss yesterday and pull together to win seventh place with 11 of the 12 Australian players scoring, as well as the team dishing 18 assists to Spain’s nine.

Spain scored the opening four points before the Australians got on board with an Olivia Thompson free throw. Roberts and Tippett soon got in on the act but the Spaniards held on to their four-point lead at the first break, 12-8.

The Australians found their range in the second quarter, with Tippett and Aneeka Smith both nailing a 3-pointer from deep, and Spain started to struggle with their shooting, allowing the Aussies steal back the lead for a six-point advantage at halftime, 30-24.

A 16-0 run by the Australians to open the third quarter closed the door on a Spanish comeback and the green and gold ran out winners by 26 points.

In other games today Japan edged Russia for fifth place, 74-68, while overnight China and Belgium will battle for Bronze and host nation France will take on the United States for the title.

After the Australians’ final game both Roberts and Tippett ranked in the top five players at the championship in scoring; Tippett fourth with 18 points per game and Roberts fifth with 16.1 points.

[Box Score]

Quarter by quarter:

1: ESP 12 AUS 8
H: AUS 30 ESP 24     (22-12)
3: AUS 50 ESP 29     (20-5)
F: AUS 74 ESP 48     (24-19)

AUSTRALIA 74 (T Roberts 25, G Tippett 14, S Blicavs 10) def
SPAIN 48 (Y Castellano 14, A Aragones 12, M Gonzalez Grueso 10)
In Toulouse, France

Australian U17 Women World Championship Schedule

Friday July 16:          Australia 58 def Spain 57    
Saturday July 17:      China 92 def Australia 75
Sunday July 18:        Australia 77 def Argentina 57
Tuesday July 20:       Australia 88 def Mali 39
Wednesday July 21:  Belgium 67 def Australia 61

Friday July 23:         Quarter Finals: France 69 def Australia 59
Saturday July 24:     Classification Final: Japan 95 def Australia 92
Sunday July 25:        Seventh place playoff: Australia 74 def Spain 48