Anstey: 'Medals don't define success'

Photo: Basketball Australia

While the goal for the Boomers at this upcoming World Cup is, undoubtedly, to take home the gold medal, Australian basketball legend Chris Anstey believes a finish outside the medal places doesn’t necessarily have to be considered a failure.

Anstey was a member of the Australian Olympic sides of 2000 and 2008, and participated in the 1998 World Championships.

He says the sheer depth of quality across the board in the upcoming tournament could throw up some placing surprises.

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“We can [win it],” Anstey told SEN. “But we can just as easily finish fifth to eighth and play really, really well. It’s that good.

“The asterisk becomes if we don’t even make that final four, and we finish fifth and lose to a powerhouse European team by a basket – it still can’t really be considered a failure. 

“We’re going to put out the smallest team we have in a long time … against the much bigger bodies we’re going to need to come up the floor defensively, and our points of difference has to be full court basketball on both ends of the floor.”

The depth of quality at this World Cup doesn’t just come in the form of the competing nations. Competition for spots within the Boomers side is at an all-time high.

Olympic bronze medal winner Thon Maker, back-to-back NBL Most Improved Player Keanu Pinder and rising NBL star Sam Froling have already been trimmed from the initial squad of 18, and three more players will have to be cut from the remaining roster before the tournament begins.

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Anstey believes the final cuts will come down to a debate between running with experience or exposing the future to a tournament setting – and the two-time NBL MVP says there could be a battle between upstart Dyson Daniels and veteran Matthew Dellavedova for a spot.

“It’s an interesting one, in the biggest game Delly’s role was reduced against Slovenia and Matisse Thybulle got the matchup against Luka Doncic,” Anstey said.

“Probably the thing working against Delly is he hasn’t played much basketball over the last 12 months, he’s coming in without those miles under his legs.

“To get a major tournament into Dyson ahead of what is probably going to be the deepest and strongest Olympic games in 2024 we’ve probably seen in quite a while, I tend to think they’d probably lean towards Dyson and youth.

“What Delly does provide, of course, has always been and will always be invaluable, but you do have Patty Mills and Joe Ingles who can probably provide that culture piece.”

The Boomers will take on Venezuela, Brazil and South Sudan in a trio of pre-World Cup friendlies prior to the commencement of the tournament on August 25.