AN NBA player, an NCAA Division 1 player, and the reigning domestic league MVP spearhead the Australia squad that will take on Gilas Pilipinas on Monday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers in Perth.
Tyrese Proctor, Alex Condon, and Bryce Cotton are some of the players that could give Gilas a headache in its bid to finish the first round of the World Cup qualifiers on a high note after its 106-102 double-overtime defeat to New Zealand.
Proctor was called up by the Boomers for the first time since playing in his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers recently where the 22-year-old, 6-foot-4 guard played for 50 games in the regular season and averaged 5.4 points.
Expected to man the paint for the Boomers is the 6-11 Condon, who plays for Florida in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of the US NCAA. Condon was part of the Gators team that captured the national title in 2025 and is coming off a 2025-26 NCAA season where he averaged 15.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks.
Cotton is seeing action in his first FIBA window with the Boomers after winning six National Basketball League (NBL) MVPs including the recently-concluded 2025-26 season where the 6-foot guard played for the Adelaide 36ers that lost the championship to the Sydney Kings coached by Brian Goorjian.
Proctor topscored for the Boomers in their 124-52 blowout win over Guam last Friday with 22 points and six of the team’s 24 threes. Cotton had 18 points and five assists, while also making four threes, while Condon had seven points, four rebounds, one steal, and one block against Guam.
Former NBA player Matthew Dellavedova, meanwhile, is not part of the Final 12 although he has been spotted training with the Boomers during this window.
This Boomers iteration for Window 3 is essentially a new-look line-up for Gilas, having only four players that went up against the Philippines in recent times.
Only Mitch Creek and Reyne Smith were called up after being part of the Boomers team that routed Gilas, 93-66, last March 1 at the Mall of Asia Arena. Elijah Pepper, who scattered 28 points and made five threes in that game against Gilas, is not part of the team’s roster for this window.
Jack McVeigh, Josh Bannan, and Smith were also with the Boomers during their title conquest of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 where they faced Gilas Pilipinas in the quarterfinals.
Completing the Boomers side are Angus Glover, Taran Armstrong, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Keanu Pinder, and David Okwera.
Glover had 19 points and five threes in their rout over Guam.
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