Tonight Australia tips off it’s title defence of the Stankovic Cup, facing the home team, China.
Patty Mills and David Andersen will have a further chance to show off their wares to attract renewed NBA interest, as they take on Yi Jianlian, Wang Zhi Zhi and the “Chinese Magic Johnson” Sun Yue.
The official Basketball Australia release follows:
The Golden Star Australian Boomers men’s national basketball team will look to defend their title at the 2010 Stankovic Continental Cup tonight when they face the might of host-nation China at the Liugang Gymnasium in Liuzhou at 7:30PM local time (9:30pm AEST) in their opening game.
The Boomers are the defending champions of the tournament, after having defeated Turkey in the final last year to claim the title.
Despite the recent loss of NBA stars Andrew Bogut and Nathan Jawai as well as the retirement of veteran CJ Bruton, the Australians will still head into the clash with plenty of firepower.
Fresh back from starring for his Portland Trail Blazers team in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Patrick Mills is expected to start at point guard, while fellow NBA big man David Andersen of the Houston Rockets will also play for the Boomers. Australian head coach Brett Brown, himself an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, can also call upon eight European-based Australians including former NBL stars Joe Ingles, Brad Newley, Matthew Nielsen, David Barlow, Mark Worthington.
Their first-up opponent is however not expected to be short of star power itself. Whilst China is yet to name their final team for the tournament, in their squad of 15 they have three players with NBA experience. Seven-foot forward Yi Jianlian averaged career-highs of 12.0 points and 7.2 rebounds for the New Jersey Nets last season, while former Dallas Maverick and LA Clipper Wang Zhizhi and ex-LA Lakers/New York Knicks guard Sun Yue are also in the squad.
China have emerged as an international force in basketball in recent years and currently are ranked as the number eight team in the world by the sport’s global governing body, FIBA. That perhaps should not be so surprising given the size of their talent pool. Current estimates are that there are now more than 300 million people playing basketball in China now.
When the Chinese line-up at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey this September, it will be the eighth time they have qualified for the world titles, and they have also been to eight Olympic Games. China have also won the FIBA Asia Championship on an amazing 14 occasions, so the quality of the opposition for the Australians at the Stankovic Continental Cup is not to be underestimated.
In Game Two of the tournament on Thursday 29 July at 4:00PM local time the Boomers will face off against powerful European team Slovenia, who are ranked 20th in the world. Australia will then take on Iran (ranked 21st globally) in their last preliminary game on Friday 30 July at 4:00PM local. All three of the Boomers’ opponents in the event have qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Championships.
The Stankovic Continental Cup is a crucial part of the Boomers’ preparations for the 2010 FIBA World Championships, which will be held in Turkey from 28 August to 12 September.
The official tournament website of the Stankovic Continental Cup can be found at http://bscup.tom.com/english/index.html.
Golden Star Boomers – 2010 Stankovic Cup Team
Name / Height / Age / Position / Most Recent College or Pro Team
David ANDERSEN / 212cm / 30 / Centre / Houston Rockets (US)
David BARLOW / 205cm / 26 / Forward / CAI Zaragoza (Spain)
Aron BAYNES / 207cm / 23 / Centre / EWE Baskets Oldenburg (Germany)
Adam GIBSON / 188cm / 23 / Guard / Gold Coast Blaze
Joe INGLES / 203cm / 22 / Forward / CB Granada (Spain)
Steven MARKOVIC / 190cm / 25 / Guard / KK Crvena Zvezda Beograd (Serbia)
Damian MARTIN / 188cm / 25 / Guard / Perth Wildcats
Patrick MILLS / 183cm / 21 / Guard / Portland Trail Blazers (US)
Brad NEWLEY / 198cm / 25 / Guard / Besiktas (Turkey)
Matthew NIELSEN / 209cm / 32 / Forward / Olympiacos (Greece)
AJ OGILVY / 211cm / 22 / Centre / Besiktas (Turkey)
Mark WORTHINGTON / 202cm / 27 / Forward / Brose Baskets (Germany)
China – 2010 Stankovic Cup Squad
Name / Height / Position
Wei Liu / 191cm / Guard
Yu Chenglong / 185cm / Guard
Li Xiaoxu / 210cm / Forward
Dong Hanlin / 210cm / Forward
Su Wei / 213cm / Center
Zhou Peng / 206cm / Forward
Tang Zhengdong / 213cm / Center
Yi Li / 206cm / Forward
Wang Zhizhi / 214cm / Center
Zhang Zhaoxu / 221cm / Center
Zhu Fangyu / 201cm / Forward
Wang Shipeng / 198cm / Guard
Yi Jianlian / 213cm / Forward
Sun Yue / 206cm / Guard
Ding Jinhui / 204cm / Forward
