OKINAWA, Japan -- It sure got tense, but the first round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup is over and the Australians have progressed.
The Boomers had to seal the deal with a do-or-die game against one of the tournament's home nations, Japan, with the prospect of going home a legitimate possibility hovering over them.
Then, of course, reality stepped in.
The Boomers were just too big, too strong, and too skilled for this Japanese team -- which is obviously what we expected going into it -- walking away with a 109-89 win. It's a tough one because there isn't too much that one can take away from the game from an analysis perspective, because of the nature of Japan's team, but there are still some indicators worth pointing out that have been becoming noticeable trends over the course of the World Cup.
"I'm happy to move to this next stage with this group, because I think we're getting better as the tournament went on," Boomers head coach, Brian Goorjian, said.
"I know we lost to Germany but, I thought of the games I've watched, our game with Germany was one of the best games played in this whole tournament.
"We went up another level tonight... when we say [we're] trying to win gold, we're playing a team [like] Germany, Slovenia, those teams can do the same thing. We're gonna have to be on point, and I'm very excited we get this opportunity by winning this game."
There's some good and also some not-so-amazing indicators thus far, but there's an overwhelming positive in the idea of continually making progress, which the Boomers have clearly done.
Australia's win over Japan saw them finish second in Group E, then progress to the second round of the World Cup and be placed in Group K. They must win their two games in this round in order to progress to the quarterfinals, so here are some things to ponder as we go into that pair of high-stakes contests.
Goorjian has his 'blueprint'
Even before Jock Landale's tournament-ending ankle injury, Goorjian made one thing very clear: he absolutely loves the long and athletic make-up of this team and plans to lean into it.
With guys like Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Danté Exum, Matisse Thybulle, and Xavier Cooks likely set to jump into more prominent roles, the plan was to maximise their respective skillsets, and we've seen exactly that.
This is as versatile as any Boomers team in the program's history. There's size and athleticism across the board, which then lends itself to a heap of switching on the defensive end; something that's had its ebbs and flows from an outcome perspective, and is still being refined. We saw the Boomers' ability to junk things up against Finland, some issues with lineups when choosing to be switch-heavy against Germany, and causing some chaos that led to transition points against Japan.
"The blueprint for our success -- what we've talked about -- leading in this, is the small ball, switching, the defence," Goorjian said on Tuesday.
"The blueprint was the first half. I've talked a lot about the change, from the experience we had at the last Olympics, we're going through evolution. Some guys get spit out, some guys get moved in. Three big pieces tonight: Josh Giddey, Josh Green, and Xavier Cooks are three guys... that's what we've been talking about for the future of the team."
Now that the first round of the Group Phase is over, and the level of urgency continues to grow, look for a lot of those lineups to be tightened. Goorjian has generally played a 10-man rotation over the course of this tournament, but don't be surprised to see that turn into eight players who end up getting legitimate minutes.
We have to talk about Josh Green and Xavier Cooks
Why will those rotations become more refined? The answer is these two guys.
We'll start with Green, who was inserted into the starting lineup -- the plan all along, according to Goorjian -- and made an immediate impact. The Boomers had been plagued by slow starts over the course of the World Cup, but didn't fall into that trap, largely due to the activity and offensive skill package of Green.
Defensively, Green picks up full-court as well as anyone and is also an on-ball terrier. He's the Boomers' most effective point-of-attack defender and it's clear the coaching staff knows it.
There's also what he does on the other end of the floor. Green is more of a traditional three-and-D player, so his ability to legitimately stretch the floor really opens things up for Josh Giddey and Patty Mills to operate more effectively. He's also being able to lead transition offence for the Boomers; an area they have so much potential because of their personnel, but haven't really leaned leaned into too much. One thing's for sure: Goorjian is a fan of what Green brings to the table for Australia.
"I think [Josh] is better on the defensive end, of the Delly job, of picking the ball up and putting pressure up the floor," Goorjian said.
"Then, when we bring in the switching lineup, Matisse is long and playing with Xavier and Giddey and that group, and he can switch. I thought the adjustment today really helped us. We got a lot from the group that we started, and the switching group is of the level.
"You're just seeing a glimmer of what's coming. He's, along with Josh Giddey, the next stage of this thing. And, a tremendous person and tremendous part of the team and the culture. I was excited for him tonight, and this is another piece to add that's really important as this tournament gets tougher and tougher.
Green suffered an elbow injury during camp, and then an ankle sprain toward the end of the warmup game schedule, so it's been tough for this coaching staff to get him reps with the starting unit, but things clearly look to be changing. Green is the Boomers' obvious starter at the three-spot, and it would not be surprising if he gets the bulk of those minutes too.
You can say the same with Cooks, who's emerged as one of this team's most important players. The dynamic way Cooks attacks his role has just been conducive to the Boomers being successful. He's the head of the snake of the Boomers' small ball lineups, which switch one-through-five, and has also made a significant impact on the other end of the floor. Cooks creates off slips, times his rolls extremely well, and his energetic rim-running opens up so much for Australia.
"Matty [Nielsen] does a lot of the subbing during the game," Goorjian said after the Boomers' win over Japan.
"I called a timeout and I said, 'make sure Xavier's not out too long'. It's one-through-five, the switching, when he's on the floor. 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.
"Then we could switch instead of drop, when Xavier came in, and it changed the whole game. The rebounding and the running; he ran that middle line, he stayed attentive on the offensive glass, he passed it, he was a really unique piece, really, versatile in this, and really exciting down the road in our development."
There'll be real consideration put into starting Cooks over Kay as the tournament progresses but, even if that doesn't eventuate, it's likely we continue to see the NBL's reigning MVP dig into a lot of those front-court minutes going forward.
"'X' did an amazing job with second chance points and it carried with the whole team, gave us momentum," Green said of Cooks.
"It was what we needed to do, and make sure we have that same energy moving forward into the next game, be aggressive and ready to go.
"Somebody like Xavier, who rebounded everything tonight. It impacts the game and it's great for him, but it also impacts every single other guy that's on the court. Playing fast is fun, and it's way basketball is moving, and I think we have a great team to be able to do that."
The Giddey-Mills partnership may dictate the Boomers' ceiling
As an idea, Josh Giddey playing alongside Patty Mills is a match made in heaven.
You have a prodigious distributor next to one of the greatest scorers in FIBA history, so there's no blaming fans of the Boomers from having somewhat mixed feelings about what's manifested thus far. Theoretically, it's supposed to be perfect.
The offence has looked stagnant at times, and the Boomers have fallen victim to some multiple slow starts over the course of this World Cup. It seems like, while the ball is still whipping around, players don't have a real idea of where their shots are going to come from, causing a level of clunkiness on that end of the floor.
"It comes with experience and playing games with the guys," Giddey told ESPN on Tuesday.
"A lot of us haven't played together before. It was evident in the warmup games; things were a split-second off. The more time we spend together playing on the court, these things will clean up. It's slowly getting better and better; we're starting to all flow in the offence a little better and knowing where looks are coming from.
"It comes with time, but it's getting better and better. We want it to be perfect toward the back-end of the tournament."
Thankfully for the Boomers, Mills found his rhythm in their tournament opener against Finland -- after struggling throughout the team's exhibition game schedule -- while Giddey has had a lot of success going downhill, especially late in games. Both are among the tournament's top-15 most prolific scorers, and there are enough indicators to suggest the partnership will work; the main question is whether that cohesion happens in time.
We've seen great individual moments -- whether it's Mills' impressive overall game against Finland, or Giddey's big double-double against Japan -- but yet to see things really click between the two.
There's a chance that Goorjian's most recent change to the starting lineup -- Green in for Thybulle -- could help boost what the Boomers want to do on the offensive end, and thus maximising both Giddey and Mills. The Boomers need to have a level of sustainability in order to continue progressing in this World Cup, and that begins with maximising the respective skillsets and figuring out how the pair could work best with one another.