It was those qualities that Brown believed his team lacked when it fell to New Zealand on Tuesday in the second and deciding game of the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship.
Australia tied the series 1-1 but lost on a points countback and will now play 4 games in four days against Turkey, China and Angola in the round robin Stankovic Cup, starting on Friday at 5:30pm AET against Turkey.
The Boomers face host nation China on Saturday and Angola on Sunday before the tournament’s finals matches on Monday.
“On a group level we want to play with a spirit that is commensurate with pulling on a green and gold uniform for Australia and a tenacity that we didn’t display against New Zealand,” Brown said.
“But these games aren’t about winning or losing; they’re about examining individual players that we have with us and whether or not they can step up at this level.
“We want to see if James Harvey can be a lightning rod off the bench, whether Matthew Dellavedova can be a point guard for the Boomers in the future, whether A.J. Ogilvy can be a legitimate prospect in a talented group of Australian bigs, whether Liam Rush can be that lock-down defender that Sam Mackinnon and Jason Smith used to be, and whether Ater Majok can compete for a regular place in the team.
“This is the final piece of our program for 2009 and we’re going to finish it like we started, reaching out to players to find out what they can and can’t give us, and that starts on this tour tomorrow against Turkey.”
Ater Majok, a Sudanese-born Australian, will debut for the Boomers alongside former Sydney Spirit swing man Liam Rush and 17-year old Tasmanian Hugh Greenwood.
Turkey will field a strong side headlined by NBA players Hedo Turkoglu and Ersan Ilyasova as it gears up for the 2009 EuroBasket international basketball competition.
SCHEDULE OF GAMES:
Fri 28 Aug AUSTRALIA v TURKEY 3:30pm local
Sat 29 Aug AUSTRALIA v CHINA 7:30pm local
Sun 30 Aug AUSTRALIA v ANGOLA 3:30pm local
Mon 31 Aug AUSTRALIA v TBC 6:30pm local (3 vs 4) or 8:30pm local (1 vs 2)
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Event Name: 2009 Stankovic Continental Cup
Date: 28th August, 09 –31st August, 09
City: Kunshan, China
Venue: Kunshan Sports Center Stadium
Governing Host: International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
Organizers: China Basketball Association
Administration of Sports of Jiangsu Province
Administration of Sports of Kunshan City
Co-organizer: Hang Zhou Ideal Sports & Culture Consultants Co. Ltd.
Emperor Entertainment Group
Event Promoter: Asian Professional Basketball Management & Development Co. Ltd
Host Broadcaster: CCTV 5
Official Media: Basketball News
Titan Sports
Sina
Official website: http://bscup.sina.com.cn/
Teams: Angola National Team
Australia National Team
China National Team
Turkey National Team
Total of Games: 8 games
Competition Format: Single round robin format
Ranking No.1 will play with No.2 for Championship
No.3 will play with no.4 for Final ranking
