Australian men's basketball coach Brett Brown says Andrew Bogut will be the highest-paid assistant going around as the Boomers look to qualify for the Olympics without their NBA superstar.
Brown has urged the public to get behind his new look team as they start preparations for the FIBA Oceania Championship qualifying series with New Zealand, a task made all the more difficult with the Milwaukee centre unavailable due to the NBA player lockout.
With Basketball Australia (BA) unable to fully insure Bogut's multi-million dollar NBA contract, the former number one draft pick will instead work the sidelines with Brown.
"He'll be my richest assistant coach," laughed Brown when asked what Bogut's input would be against New Zealand.
"He's fantastic about wanting to play but with injury and insurance issues with the NBA lock-out he'll play his role from the bench next to me.
"He and David Anderson (recovering from knee surgery) won't be able to play but they'll be there in spirit and we'll have their support."
The Boomers and Opals will contest a best-of-three trans-Tasman series against New Zealand's Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns with double-header games in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney in September.
Brown has promised fans his collection of NBL and overseas players will deliver an exciting style of play with the Australian hallmark of toughness.
He said fans who had grown up watching legends like Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Luc Longley and Andrew Vlahov wear the green and gold would be surprised by the next wave of stars.
The likes of Patty Mills (Portland), David Barlow (CAI Zaragoza, Spain), Brad Newley (Lietuvos Rytas, Lithuania), AJ Ogilvy (Valencia, Spain) and world junior championships star Hugh Greenwood are expected to feature.
"Come and see them," said Brown when asked what fans could expect from the Boomers who infrequently play internationals at home because of the difficulty of getting teams to Australia.
"I think they'll be proud of what the country is producing, I think they'll be surprised at the level of talent of the players coming back from playing in highly competitive leagues in Europe.
"They'll see a very exciting new generation, players they haven't seen domestically as a group for a very long time."
Brown said one thing would not be any different from when Heal stood up to American superstar Charles Barkley before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
"There's an inherent culture bred into the country which has trickled down into my guys, it's trickled down into basketball, which makes it a pleasure to come back and watch our guys get after it," he said.
"There's a toughness to our payers which there needs to be.
"You combine that with some good talent and defence, which is our bread and butter, and it's a pleasure and an honour to coach this team."
While the Opals, losing finalists at the last three Olympics, are expected to breeze through qualification, the Boomers have typically had a much tougher time against the Tall Blacks, including losing a world championship qualifying series to the New Zealanders.
The first double-header will be played in Melbourne on September 7.
AAP
Tags: basketball, sport, new-zealand, australia First posted July 28, 2011 15:42:04
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