Rival act proves Giddey theory; ‘blueprint’ to stop NBA superstar: Boomers talking points
It wasn’t meant to end this early and it didn’t. But for a team coming off a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic, expectations were high and Goorjian was acutely aware of that. “It’s an interesting world this international basketball,” the Boomers coach said post-game.
When Xavier Cooks was first substituted in for the opening quarter of the game, Australia was already up 16-11. But in a matter of minutes, the 28-year-old had quickly proven why he has emerged as such an important member of the Boomers in what is his World Cup debut. As five-time NBL championship coach Trevor Gleeson said on ESPN: “He’s just telling everybody, ‘I belong’.”
Although even at Washington Cooks is in a battle for minutes having only recently joined the team, while in the NBL Sydney’s offence often ran through the 28-year-old. “I just thought he had such an impact. We were at a higher level to start the game but when he came in, the switching went to another level because the big fella was hurting us on the rolls the first five or six minutes then we could switch instead of drop when Xavier came in and it changed the whole game.
Now Cooks could have a similar role against Doncic. But whatever role he plays on Friday, Gleeson said Cooks just needs to keep leaning on the intangibles that make him such a valuable asset for the Boomers.“He was sensational and that’s what Australia needs. They need that spark off the bench and he filled that role superbly. I think you still bring him off the bench but he can finish the game if he’s playing that well.
Green did show those glimpses last season at Dallas, stepping up without Doncic and Kyrie Irving to record three-straight games of 20 points or more in March.“I saw it when I came back from the camp, the guy that I met for the first time a year ago and the player that came into camp the first couple of days, I told him, I said I was so proud of the development,” Goorjian said after the win over Japan.
While Green will be given the task of defending Doncic early in Friday’s game, his offensive production will also continue to be important if Patty Mills has a few off shooting nights. Touching on Giddey, one of the biggest questions entering the tournament was what sort of role he would play and whether the offence would primarily run through him or Mills.
“There was a German player who got the ref’s attention, grabbed Giddey’s arm and showed the ref, ‘Look there is blood on this guy’s arm’. It hasn’t all been perfect from Giddey though and it would be unrealistic to expect that anyway from a 20-year-old in his first World Cup. That in itself showed a serious level of maturity from the 20-year-old, who was not fazed by the early turnovers and pressure but instead reassessed how he needed to change his game.
Speaking of focal points of an offence, that is obviously what Doncic is going to be on Friday night and his presence alone presents an interesting dilemma. Goorjian himself said after the win over Japan that leaning into those two strengths is the “blueprint” for success, creating stops on the defensive end and transition points.
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