Ingles, Mills headline Australia's 12-man World Cup squad
Joe Ingles of the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs' Patty Mills headline Australia's final 12-man squad for the FIBA World Cup, the country's governing body for basketball announced Tuesday.
Fellow NBAers Jonah Bolden of the Philadelphia 76ers, Aron Baynes of the Phoenix Suns, and Matthew Dellavedova of the Cleveland Cavaliers also made the cut.
Former No. 1 overall pick and unrestricted free agent Andrew Bogut rounds out the list of notables on the 11th-ranked Boomers.
"It is an exciting time for the program as we now settle on our team for China," head coach Andrej Lemanis said in a statement. "There are a number of guys getting their first experience of a World Cup, which is exciting for them and for us as a team. Of course, we also have a solid core of veteran players who understand what it will take for us to succeed in China.
"As a staff, we’re really pleased with the mix of skill sets we have to utilize and look forward to watching it evolve over the next couple of weeks."
Sixers star Ben Simmons and Thon Maker of the Detroit Pistons are sitting out to prepare for the upcoming NBA season, while Dante Exum of the Jazz is recovering from knee surgery.
Australia finished 12th at the last World Cup and fourth at the 2016 Olympics.
The Boomers begin Group F action against Canada on Sept. 1, followed by Senegal on Sept. 3 and Lithuania on Sept. 5.
The full 12-man squad is listed below:
Player | Current Club |
---|---|
Aron Baynes | Phoenix Suns |
Andrew Bogut | Sydney Kings (NBL) |
Jonah Bolden | Philadelphia 76ers |
Xavier Cooks | SIG Strasbourg (France) |
Matthew Dellavedova | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Cameron Gliddon | Brisbane Bullets (NBL) |
Chris Goulding | Melbourne United (NBL) |
Joe Ingles | Utah Jazz |
Nicholas Kay | Perth Wildcats (NBL) |
Jock Landale | Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) |
Patty Mills | San Antonio Spurs |
Nathan Sobey | Brisbane Bullets (NBL) |