WHEN former NBA and Australia national team player Shane Heal recently described their squad in Window 2 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers as a ‘B Team,’ he wasn’t understating it.
The Boomers won’t be having their big guns such as FIBA Asia Cup 2025 MVP Jaylin Galloway and All-Tournament Team member Jack McVeigh for their clash against Gilas Pilipinas on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: Cone banking on home court advantage against formidable Aussies
Familiar names such as Xavier Cooks, Will Magnay, and William Hickey won’t be around as well, as only two players from that Asia Cup champion team got a call-up in Reyne Smith and Jack White.
Australia will instead lean on overseas-based players in Mitch Creek, Nick Kay, and White, who have stints in Romania, Japan, and Turkey, respectively.
The trio is also no stranger to international play, with Creek a member of the Boomers squad that captured the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 crown, the first time Australia competed in the continental tournament.
NBL backup
The rest of the Boomers players are from their domestic league, the National Basketball League (NBL), which will start its playoffs after the conclusion of the FIBA window.
The visitors, though, are without their top stars from the local league, particularly from the Sydney Kings (Galloway and Cooks) and the Adelaide 36ers, the teams which placed in the top two after the regular season.
From the nine local-based players, the leading scorer is center Sam Froling of the Illawarra Hawks, who is averaging 11.2 points. Froling had 13 points and 10 rebounds in their 93-80 win over Guam last Thursday.
The other Boomers for Window 2 are Isaac White, Kody Stattman, Tom Wilson, Tanner Krebs, Jacob Holt, David Okwera, and Elijah Peppers.
Krebs, playing for playoff-bound Melbourne United, was the top scorer of Australia over Guam last Thursday when he had 28 points, with Pepper knocking down five threes to finish with 23 points of his own.
Kay, the only holdover from the Boomers from the 2018 brawl, also had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Creek didn’t play for that game, but was called up for the face-off with the Philippines.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
