No Off-Season For Vienna-Bound McCarron

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Adelaide 36ers guard Mitch McCarron has established himself as a mainstay for the Boomers in recent years.

Adelaide 36ers guard Mitch McCarron has established himself as a mainstay for the Boomers in recent years. Often named as captain of the side, he’s proven to be an integral part of the nation’s hopes in qualifying for major tournaments.

He’ll be pulling on the green and gold once again in one week’s time – but in a fashion in which he has never done before. Rather than representing the side in the traditional five-on-five format of the game, he’s heading to Vienna as a member of the country’s 3x3 squad.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">???? ???? ????? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/3x3WC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#3x3WC</a><br><br>? The FIBA 3x3 World Cup starts in just 1 WEEK ? <a href="https://t.co/9WmP28owxf">pic.twitter.com/9WmP28owxf</a></p>— FIBA3x3 (@FIBA3x3) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA3x3/status/1660993997417123841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Named the ‘Gangurrus’ – the Indigenous word for kangaroo – the men’s 3x3 side will be represented by McCarron, NBL23 stars Todd Blanchfield and Daniel Johnson, and 2017 NBL champion Lucas Walker.

“It’s pretty exciting,” McCarron said of the upcoming tournament. “This is something new that I’m not familiar with, but I have watched more and more over the years.

“I’m keen to go over and check it all out.”

The tournament tips off on May 30 in Vienna, Austria, and will run until June 4. This will be the second time Australia has a men’s side competing at the event.

The Gangurrus do, however, have a strong history in the format. Blanchfield, Walker and Johnson were all members of the silver medal winning side at the 2023 3x3 Asia Cup, while Johnson also took home a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“This is a World Cup, we’re going over earlier to play a lead-up event which will help us, but at the end of the day if you win the World Cup you qualify for the Olympics,” McCarron continued.

“There is another Olympic qualifying event later on this year, but you want to win and qualify straight away.”

Australia has been drawn alongside Latvia, Austria, Slovenia and the United States in Pool B for the event.

The Gungurrus are seeded 17^th for the tournament, while the United States are the pool’s highest seed – ranked second in the world.