Been a long time coming.

How do you feel becoming the 1st team to lose from 3-1 up? :lol:

Been a long time coming.

How do you feel becoming the 1st team to lose from 3-1 up? :lol:

The excuses will come out from the dubs now...oh but we were fatigued from going for the best regular season record...

Eat shit

After working out with the 76ers Ben Simmons has apparently been told they'll be taking him with the #1 pick.

So Ben Simmons as expected goes #1 and becomes the third Australian born #1 pick in the last 11 years. The real surprise though was Thon Maker going #10 to the Bucks, most mock drafts had him going the back end of the first round.

The Simmons pick also means Melbourne have had more #1 draft picks than any other city in the last 30 years. More than New York, LA and Chicago combined.

I gather Australia will have a fair bit of depth in specific positions soon.

But how about across the court. When you consider Delly, Mills, Simmons, Exum, Maker, etc.?

Boomers starting 5 for the next World Championships

Bogut-Simmons-Exum-Dellevdova-Mills

World U17 Championships: Australia progress to quarter-finals in Zaragoza


THE Australian U17 Men’s team looked on the verge of being knocked out the FIBA U17 World Championships, but a stunning shooting display from Dragan Elkaz made sure the green and gold will be on show in the quarter-finals.

The shooting guard has a hint of Balkan blood, so it was only fitting that his best performance of the tournament came against a tough Bosnia and Herzegovina side.

Down 47-52 heading into the final period, Australia’s Elkaz had just eight points.

By the end of the game, the Sydney-native had a team-high 25 points, to go with his six three-pointers and eight rebounds, as the Australians pulled off the stunning comeback: a 75-72 victory.

Australia managed to pick up the important win, despite 34 points from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Dzanan Musa, one of the tournament’s star players.

While the defensive effort on Musa was a difference-maker for Australia, it was the fourth quarter heroics from Elkaz that had the gym buzzing.

“I just wanted to carry my team. If they roll with it, then I roll with it; and we got out with a win,” Elkaz told foxsports.com.au after the win.

“If my team needs me to shoot, then I’m shooting it. All of my coaching staff wants me to shoot, so I gave it to them. I took my shots, they went in, and so I just rolled with it.”

With more than 50 college coaches in attendance – featuring the likes of Texas, Oregon, TCU, Drexel, Utah, and Hartford – along with a number of NBA scouts, Elkaz couldn’t have chosen a better time to erupt.

While the 16-year-old is only considered a mid-major talent, the coaches in the Utebo Arena seemed fixated on him; stunned by the Australian’s impressive quarter of basketball.

Elkaz put on a similar show in the fourth quarter of Australia’s tournament opener against Canada; the budding star slowly showing that his hot shooting streaks are no fluke.

“If that’s what it takes to get into college at a high level, then I’ll shoot the ball,” Elkaz said.

“It feels amazing. I’m representing my whole city, my metro team, and even New South Wales country as well. I feel very proud to be here representing my state, and also my country.”

Australia’s captain, Tom Fullarton, was tasked with guarding Musa, and while the Bosnian star finished with a game-high 34 points, the Queenslander held him to just 37.5 per cent from the field.

“Musa is a very good player,” Fullarton told foxsports.com.au. “I had to stay in front of him; he’s very hard to contain. He got me in foul trouble pretty early. Credit to him; he’s a great player on a great side, but we managed to get the job done.”

Fullarton has been Australia’s most impressive player throughout the tournament, but as the team’s leader, he was quick to heap praise on his hot-shooting teammate.

“He always manages to show up when he has to,” Fullarton said of Elkaz.

“He’s a great player, and a great shooter. I love having him on the side; love when he’s being aggressive. He showed up in that fourth quarter.”

Australia moves on to face hometown side Spain in the quarter-finals and if all goes to plan, a rematch against the United States may be in order.

The Aussies have had their ups and downs over the first week of tournament play, but they’re confident they can bring Australia’s U17 team back to a championship game; the country’s 2012 and 2014 teams both winning silver medals in this same tournament.

“If we play tough for 40 minutes, then we’ll make it all the way to the final,” Elkaz said. “No doubt about it.”

http://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/world-u17-championships-australia-progress-to-quarterfinals-in-zaragoza/news-story/e33dbd499b9dd8ae472e05f514ca3549