The 12-man Australian Boomers team to contest the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup has been confirmed ahead of their opening Group E game against Finland on Friday.
The Boomers will be co-captained by Patty Mills, playing his third FIBA World Cup, and Joe Ingles, who heads into his fourth campaign. Nine NBA players suit up in the green and gold, with head coach Brian Goorjian at the helm of the Boomers having taken Australia to three Olympic Games, including the landmark bronze medal in Tokyo.
Coaching at his second FIBA World Cup, Goorjian says he is excited about the mix of talent in the team.
"We're looking forward to the challenge ahead,” Goorjian said. “We've introduced some exciting new prospects into the group and developed a style of play both offensively and defensively that we'll take into the tournament.”
“It’s clearly a tough tournament, but we're confident in our blueprint on what we need to do to win gold.”
Co-Captains Mills and Ingles say the team is focused on a common goal.
“It’s been an incredible campaign up to this point, as a team we have been able to do great things while training in Cairns and playing practice games in Melbourne, Tokyo and Okinawa.
We have a great group of extremely talented players who have been working hard both on and off the court. We all share a common goal and that is to bring home the gold.”
“We are excited to go up against the best in the world and represent Australia.”
Following the historic bronze in Tokyo, the Boomers are aiming to claim their first medal at a FIBA World Cup. Eight players (Mills, Ingles, Thybulle, Exum, Green, Kay, Goulding, Reath) will back up from that Olympic team, while 20-year-old Josh Giddey leads a group of young guns, including Josh Green and Dyson Daniels.
Australia is currently ranked third in the world behind Spain and the USA, with the FIBA World Cup representing a key opportunity for the Boomers to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The top-finishing team from Oceania will qualify for Paris, Australia needing to finish higher than New Zealand to earn the quota spot.
The Boomers are coming off wins in practice games in Japan against France (78-74) and Georgia (86-81) and have been drawn to play Finland, Germany, and Japan in the first round of the Group Phase in Okinawa, Japan.
The FIBA World Cup will be held from August 25 to 10 September, with 32 teams spread across three host countries – the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, with the finals phase to be held in Manila from September 5.
| # | NAME | AGE |
| 5 | PATTY MILLS [C] | 35 |
| 3 | JOSH GIDDEY | 20 |
| 1 | DYSON DANIELS | 20 |
| 4 | CHRIS GOULDING | 34 |
| 11 | DANTE EXUM | 28 |
| 6 | JOSH GREEN | 22 |
| 2 | MATISSE THYBULLE | 26 |
| 7 | JOE INGLES [C] | 35 |
| 9 | XAVIER COOKS | 28 |
| 10 | JACK WHITE | 25 |
| 15 | NICK KAY | 31 |
| 26 | DUOP REATH | 27 |
HEAD COACH: Brian Goorjian
LEAD ASSISTANT COACH: Matt Nielsen
ASSISTANT COACHES: Adam Caporn, David Patrick
HOW TO WATCH
Every Boomers game, every Team USA game and all quarter finals, semi-finals, third place game and the FIBA World Cup Final will be made available LIVE and FREE on ESPN via Kayo Freebies - which does not require a subscription.
Fans in Australia can access Kayo Freebies and support the Boomers by watching ESPN’s coverage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
| AUSTRALIA’S WORLD CUP FIXTURES | ||
| Group Phase – Okinawa, Japan | ||
| Date | Game | Time |
| Friday August 25 | Australia v Finland | 6:00pm AEST |
| Sunday August 27 | Australia v Germany | 6:30 pm AEST |
| Tuesday August 29 | Australia v Japan | 9:10 pm AEST |
| Second Round and Classification– Okinawa, Japan | ||
| August 31 - September 3 | TBD | |
| Final Phase – Manila, Philippines | ||
| September 5 & 6 | Quarter-finals | TBD |
| September 8 | Semi-finals | TBD |
| September 10 | Final | TBD |
