Australia’s Opals have a prime spot for the medal rounds at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but the Boomers have a mountain to climb to repeat their Tokyo Games heroics – and Shane Heal believes a highly controversial selection could come back to haunt them.
While the Opals secured second place in their group and avoided a clash with the mighty United States ahead of a potential semi-final showdown, the Boomers limped through to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Losses to Canada and Greece put their Olympics on life support after they also exited last year’s World Cup early, and only other results allowed the Boomers to advance to the round of 16.
The Tokyo bronze medal winners have come under intense scrutiny for those losses after coach Brian Goorjian controversially left out Portland Trailblazers star Matisse Thybulle.
Boomers fans were stunned by that decision, as Thybulle is the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and has twice been named to the best second unit in the best league in the world.
On July 4, it was reported that Thybulle had been “dropped” from the Australian team in favor of Dyson Daniels, Dante Exum, Josh Green and Matthew Dellavedova.
Goorjian acknowledged at the time that it would be a difficult decision, saying, “There are going to be a lot of people who want to put a bullet in my head.”
Shane Heal, who famously matched Charles Barkley at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said the Boomers would need a major turnaround in form to make the medal rounds.
Boomers fans were shocked when NBA Defensive Player of the Year Matisse Thybulle was left off the team for Paris.
There were reports that a veteran player would boycott Paris if another veteran player was not chosen, which led to Thybulle being kicked out of the team. The Boomers have denied this.
Last week, a member of the Boomers’ coaching staff denied claims that a senior player had threatened to boycott the Games if a teammate, reportedly Joe Ingles, was not selected.
To add fuel to the fire, Ingles has only played two minutes in Paris, in the opening match against Spain.
Former Boomer Shane Heal, who stood in the same position as Charles Barkley at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and now He works as a basketball expert for Stan Sport.He said questions deserved to be asked about why Thybulle was not chosen for Paris.
“I have not heard anything more than what has been speculated and published in the press, I have no data to add to that,” he said.
“But these are certainly interesting times. There are many questions about why Matisse was not selected.
‘You can see in every game how valuable Matisse would have been.
“He’s one of the best defenders in the world and his athleticism would certainly have helped this Boomers team.
“There are certainly questions about the team, about how they did it, about where they are now and why Matisse isn’t there.”
Thybulle was part of the historic Boomers team at the Tokyo Olympics that won a bronze medal, Australia’s first in men’s basketball.
Boomers coach Brian Goorjian has come under fire for his selections after the Boomers lost two of their group games and barely made it to the quarter-finals.
Waiting for the Boomers are three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and a powerful Serbian team
While hindsight shows Ingles’ selection would have been better had he gone to Thybulle, Heal said it was not necessarily a clear indication of a rift between team members and manager.
“It’s very difficult to play with everyone,” he said.
‘I think the last two players are more of a safety than actually being able to play minutes.
‘You can even see it with Team USA. (Boston Celtics superstar) Jayson Tatum didn’t come in the first game, so they’ve been rotating with two players who haven’t come in the game.
‘If Matisse had gone, he would probably have had to decide between choosing Matthew Dellavedova or Joe Ingles in that (last) position.
“I don’t have much confidence that either of them will play, but it’s a role for sure.”
Heal is optimistic about the Opals’ chances of success in their quarter-final against Serbia after they turned things around following a shock defeat to Nigeria in their tournament opener.
“Their first two games were really disappointing and it was difficult to watch their best players,” he said.
‘The way they took care of the ball, their defense, their free throws, but today’s game (a 79-72 loss to a previously undefeated France) gives you hope.
‘They were exceptional, they turned the tables in front of a big crowd in France and played great basketball.
“I think their matchup is really good, I don’t think Serbia has the depth or quality to be able to match the Opals.”
The Opals started their tournament on the wrong foot, but bounced back with a big win over Canada to seal their spot in the quarter-finals.
Heal believes the Opals, as they stand, have a great chance of reaching the medal rounds and even challenging for gold.
Heal is less confident about the Boomers’ chances against Serbia, which features three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.
“He’s a superstar, one of the best players in the world,” he said.
‘I think probably what separates Serbia from Greece, which has had a lot of problems (despite having Giannis Antetokounmpo on its team), is that they have other scorers, in particular (Atlanta forward) Bogdan Bogdanović. He has shown that he can shine at the Olympic level.
‘We’re going to have to pay a lot of attention to Jokic, but they have other people who can hurt you as well.
‘We know he’s a great passer and that makes them even more dangerous.
‘This is a confrontation that I am not as comfortable with as with women.
“We are certainly capable of winning this game, but we will have to improve some aspects of our form.”
Shane Heal is a basketball expert on Stan Sport’s Olympic Games programming. The only place to watch all the Paris 2024 events ad-free, live and on-demand in 4K. With exclusive features including international channels in multiple languages and miniseries, visit Stan.com.au/Olympics for more information.