Having played six pre-World Championship matches against Croatia, Spain, Canada, Greece and Montenegro, coach Adam Caporn has drawn several positives from their preparation.
“We have gained great experience playing against the different playing styles of various nations and continue to build our team and culture both on and off the floor,” he said. “We finished the tour healthy, in great shape and well prepared for game one.”
A victory in their first match against Croatia was followed by a tough loss to Spain. The Emus then took care of Canada before Croatia exacted their revenge and Greece proved too strong. In their final match of the tour, they recorded a 12-point victory over the Under-20 Montenegro side.
Speaking on the players performances, Caporn was impressed with the maturity, professionalism and competitiveness of the entire team, especially the younger athletes who are playing internationally for Australia for the first time.
“William McDowell-White and Angus Glover, who are both two years younger than the top-age athletes, to come over here and play the way they have has been very exciting for our group and Australian basketball in general.
“The senior athletes in our team have also been very good with regards to their leadership of the group. Jack McVeigh, Tanner Krebs and Tom Wilson [who celebrated his 18th birthday during the week] continue to blossom as leaders.”
Looking at the World Championships, Caporn has a full schedule of film to prepare himself, his coaching staff and the players for their group stage opponents.
“After a psychically challenging preparation stage, one of our objectives is to prepare the team strategically but also freshen them up physically.
“Our biggest strength is playing with pace at both ends of the court. We are deep, mobile and versatile which lends itself to an up-tempo style of game.”
In the group stage, Australia will face Canada, Italy and Tunisia and those games as well as the Round of 16 matches can be viewed via live streaming through the FIBA YouTube Channel.
From the Quarter-Finals onwards, the games will be broadcast through livebasketball.tv.
