AS things stand, Australia is on its way, if not already there, to becoming the new China in FIBA Asia Cup. Since the country was fused with the Asian cluster in 2017, it has played in three finals and won all of them, the last one a few days ago against China itself.
Australia is chasing China's record, but it will take decades for the Boomers to even come within a breath of Asia's behemoth which won 13 of 16 FIBA titles, previously known as the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship.
Australia's domination has been the talk of the continent as it continued to run roughshod over the region's best basketball teams, oftentimes with scores so lopsided even the players from Down Under are perhaps embarrassed of having to beat their smaller, slower and slender rivals so handily.
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Their record speaks for itself: 18 wins, 0 losses. In the 2025 edition, the Boomers had an average winning margin of 21.39 points.
But that domination did not manifest itself in the last two gold-medal games where Australia barely managed to squeak by, beating Lebanon in 2022 by two points, 75-73, and China by one, 90-89, last Monday morning. On both occasions, Australia's opponents had chances of winning with the games' final shot.
It was only in their first FIBA Asia foray in 2017 that Australia won with a flourish, beating Iran, 79-56.
But recent performances by Asian and Middle East teams, particularly during the finals, have given hope that Australia may have a chink in its armor. They're big, fast and possess the qualities of Western-style basketball, but they can be vulnerable and beatable, as shown by Lebanese and Chinese teams.
In 2022, the Cedars came close behind Wael Arakji's hot hands and nearly inflicted the first blemish on Australia's record had Ali Haidar not missed a potential game-winning shot.
Three years later, it was Team Dragon which put up a grand challenge, with Hu Mingxuan almost playing the hero's role before missing what could also have been the game-winner.
Looking at the numbers, only five Asian nations have drawn Australia twice in a span of three editions of the FIBA Asia Cup and it is no surprise that Lebanon (7.5) and China (13.5) own the closest point differential against the Boomers.
The others who've had the chance to meet the Boomers for more than one game are perennial Asian contender Japan (15.0) and Oceania member New Zealand (18.0), which have made the games competitive.
Iran also twice played Australia but lost by an average of 33.5, with the number jacked up by its 44-point semifinal humiliation, 92-48, in the 2025 edition.
As for those who've had only one crack at Australia, Jordan owns the closest mark, falling by 18 points, 78-60, in the opener of the 2022 edition, followed by Gilas Pilipinas' 84-60 quarterfinals defeat this year and Saudi Arabia's 76-52 defeat in the prelims in 2022.
Blowouts have also been few and far between, the worst being the aforementioned semis win against Iran and a few 40-point routs when Australia initially joined eight years ago when they dealt Hong Kong a 99-58 mugging and a 90-50 decimation of Chinese Taipei.
But those were eight years ago.
Granted that this team that Australia sent to the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 only had two players - from Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay - from the Boomers side that competed at the Paris Games led by NBA players Josh Giddey, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles and Patty Mills, the title game against China still revealed cracks in the Aussies' armor.
Taken down to the wire by a young and irreverent Chinese side, the Boomers started missing defensive coverages and flubbing free throws. And the three-point shots that hit the mark with eerie regularity in the game against Gilas suddenly missed the mark.
So what does this say?
Well, even as Australia is the world's No. 7 ranked team and currently remains the standard in the FIBA Asia Cup, beating the Boomers isn't really that far off.
With Asian teams now getting familiar with the Boomers', and also the Kiwis' brand of play, while also improving their techniques, training and coaching, it may not be long before the playing field becomes equal.
And the gold medal attainable for far more teams.
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