Exclusive: Matt Nielsen Q&A

The captain of the Australian Boomers, Matt Nielsen, opens up about playing in Europe, being the team's leader and the Olympic Games in an exclusive Q&A.

Matt Nielsen in action against China in the YouYi Games (Getty Images)

He is one of the veterans of the Australian Boomers squad and heading into his third Olympic campaign, Matt Nielsen is ready to lead the next generation of Aussie stars to the biggest event on the planet.

With the turnaround between your European club commitments and the Australian Boomers preparations for London only small how do you feel mentally and physically?

Matt Nielsen: When you’re still in the season and you know that you’re going to go home and eight days later it’s going to start again it’s a little bit daunting. Really once you get back in here with the boys it’s just a matter of finding that balance.

Mentally it’s really not that big of an issue. I feel like there is so much ahead of us that is exciting and I want to be a part of, so that’s fine, it’s just you have to make sure you look after yourself.

I’m not as young as I used to be as well, so I think it’s just a matter of looking after the body, pushing it hard enough, but getting that important rest as well.

Talk about your role as captain, particularly how you view that role and what you want to bring to the group. Do you enjoy the challenge?

MN: As captain I’m pretty much just trying to be myself, I don’t try to overdue things. I think we’ve got a good leadership group, the guys who have been around the program long enough are all confident in their roles to help the younger guys.

Looking forward into the actual campaign I don’t see it any differently than what I’ve done all the way along. I’m not great on speeches or revving the boys up too much.

I really feel like its actions that are better used and I try to play the way I play, as hard as I can and just go from there.

Tell us what it’s like playing in Europe. For some of the Aussie fans it’s pretty difficult to find video and to find games online. What’s the standard of competition like? For a lot of the Boomers playing over there, how do you think it’s going to prepare them for international play?

MN: It’s really different. I just finished my eighth season over there and I’ve been over there a long time now. It’s definitely just like a different sport, the whole style of play is different. Coming back into camp now, it just highlights that it’s two very different styles.

Europe obviously has a lot of talented players, the money has attracted those fringe players that used to stay in the NBA, and they’ve come over pretty quickly these days. It’s not uncommon that most of the top teams guys who could go and play on NBA squads.

Now when you talk about the Boomers and our experience, I think it’s great. Guys like Brad (Newley), Joe (Ingles), Dave (Barlow) and AJ (Ogilvy) all playing in Spain, that’s huge because I’ve played in Spain myself and that’s a top level league.

Chris Anstey said the biggest distraction at the Olympic Games is the Olympic Games itself. Do you get better at avoiding those distractions and focusing in on what you need to get done?

MN: Yeah, I think so. I’ve wanted to go to the Olympic Games since I was like six years old, the Los Angeles Olympics lit a fire in me before I even had a sport to channel that energy into.

I wanted to go to an Olympic Games, I wanted to be a part of that. So I know the feeling, at Athens, trying to lock in. As much as I’ve always wanted to go to an Olympic Games I feel like I channeled the energy the right way once I got there to give everything I could and play as well as I could.

I also don’t think there’s a problem with embracing how big the event is and running with it and using it in a good way to say, “You’ve got to this point and you should be proud,” and having as big a crack as you can. I think it’s just about finding that balance of really just enjoying what’s going on and channeling it in the right way.

Is it the pinnacle for basketball?

MN:  For me, for sure. Green and gold, there’s no prouder thing for playing basketball than to actually put it in the Olympic Games. It’s awesome and there’s no way you could top it.