9 William MCDOWELL-WHITE (Australia)
17/02/2017
Paulo Kennedy's view from Downunder
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Rookies eyeing Boomers, Tall Blacks

MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - It's now just six months until Australia and New Zealand step out onto the Asian stage for the first time, and nine months until the first FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers against their new continental compatriots.

The Tall Blacks have a settled line-up, making August's FIBA Asia Cup 2017 in Lebanon a double opportunity to pick up some silverware and prepare for the qualifying windows in November and February as part of FIBA's New Competition System.

For the Boomers it's a slightly different story. The Rio Olympic team featured five players competing in the NBL this season, five in the NBA, one in Russia and another in Lithuania.

A number of those overseas players, and some others who missed out such as Dante Exum and Thon Maker, are strong chances to be available for Beirut. However, come November when the home-and-away stuff starts, the Boomers are likely to be made up of NBL stars.

That leaves a tricky situation for the Australian coaching staff, likely to be headed by Andrej Lemanis once again, to balance selecting a team that is planning for November, maintaining its strong existing core and also incorporating some important future stars into the team.

Given the top seven teams from the Asian qualifiers will progress to the World Cup - and effectively the top eight given hosts China get automatic berth - it is highly unlikely Australia or New Zealand will miss out.

That means selection for August should perhaps be about preparing for China 2019, which means picking some of the core group, some of the top NBL players who will lead the qualifying campaign and some youngsters who could be key components by 2019.

Here's a look at some NBL rookies who have impressed this season and whether their style of game puts them in with a chance of making their respective national teams.

Mitch McCarron (24, 1.91m, shooting guard)
This is the kind of guy any coach loves. Why? He competes on every possession, he is physically tough in the contest, he rebounds, blocks shots, hits triples at 43 per cent, can handle the ball, has a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, loves a floor burn or two and is fearless attacking the rim.


Most importantly, McCarron's not about how many shots he can get and he almost always seems to make a positive impact for his team - the Cairns Taipans are +84 with him on the floor this season and -102 with him off. He is an ideal player for filling the gaps around the Boomers' stars.

Shea Ili (24, 1.83m, point guard)
For those who follow international basketball closely this is a no-brainer. Ili's defence on Cory Joseph and Tony Parker at last year's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila was first rate for such an inexperienced player. Not only that, he had 9 assists to just 3 turnovers, including executing some complex late-clock plays.

The question on Shea has always been his composure under pressure and three-point shooting. His turnovers were still too high this NBL season and his handles must improve. However, after shooting 1-of-13 from long range to start the season, he knocked down 10-of-21 in his final nine games while also playing key shut-down roles. Expect Ili to be the first guard off the NZ bench in August.

Anthony Drmic (24, 1.96m guard/forward)
Remember when Drmic racked up 93 points in the opening four games of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2011? That was almost six years ago, but his 17-of-26 long-range shooting display and open-court prowess in those games is impossible to forget.


Strangely enough, after he returned to Australia from a successful Boise State career his stroke deserted him, shooting a woeful 13-of-47 in his first 22 pro games. Since then, the old Drmic has returned hitting 14 triples at 50 per cent in his past six outings.

However, given the small sample size and his tendency for hot-headed moments, I think Drmic needs a season of good basketball to put himself firmly into the Boomers mix.

Finn Delany (21, 2.01m forward)
The sight of Mika Vukona limping his way through this NBL season made it clear the Tall Blacks need to find a replacement for his incredible effort plays sooner rather than later. Well, they need look no further than his Breakers and former Nelson Giants teammate Finn Delany, whose rookie season wasn't impressive statistically, but certainly made hoops fans Downunder take notice.

The 21-year-old combines a desire for work with athleticism rarely seen from a Kiwi. He averaged 9 points and 6.7 rebounds in his final three games to give a glimpse of his potential and shot 47 per cent from the arc over the season to show he is more than just hustle and springs. With Vukona possibly unavailable, Delany should start packing his bags for Beirut.

Willie McDowell-White (18, 1.96m, guard)
When Australia's greatest ever player, Andrew Gaze, says you are a certain future Olympian, people take notice. That's what happened to McDowell-White when he debuted for the Gaze-coached Sydney Kings this year. A 1.96m combo guard with a cool head on 18-year-old shoulders, he impressed plenty of others too.

What McDowell-White didn't do was consistently play the game at a high intensity. That is not unexpected from such a young man, but he must rectify it before he can come into serious Boomers contention and add to his impressive FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017, where he handed out five or more assists and pinched three or more steals on four occasions.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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Paulo Kennedy

Paulo Kennedy

Paulo has joined our team of columnists with a weekly column called 'The View from Downunder', where he looks at pertinent issues in the world of basketball from an Oceania perspective, perhaps different to the predominant points of view from columnists in North America and Europe.