MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - Pretty much every basketball fan on the planet knows that the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in last year's NBA Finals. What's rarely mentioned is that was the point Andrew Bogut was forced to check out of the season.

After playing less than eight minutes in Game 5, in which he'd hauled in three boards and blocked three shots, the Bogey Man injured his left knee and was left in a race against time for the Rio Olympics.

Fortunately for Australia, he won that race and played a key role in the Boomers' best-ever international performance. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they did not win another game for the season.

That injury pretty much summed up the bad luck that has doggedly followed Bogut throughout his career, while this week's broken leg was just a plain kick in the guts for a guy who really deserves a different kind of break, given the selfless way he plies his trade on the basketball court.

It wasn't that long ago some Aussie fans strongly questioned Bogut's commitment to his national team, given he had missed three consecutive major international tournaments after playing in the first three of his senior career.

But in 2015 he dragged his debilitated back out of bed, limped onto a plane across the Tasman Sea and dominated Game 2 of the FIBA Oceania Series to lock in the Boomers spot in Rio.

Then, not only did he beat the odds to recover from his knee injury to make it to the Olympics, he produced some of the best ball by an Australian big man in our international history, making himself the glue that stuck Andrej Lemanis' offensive and defensive regimes together.

Many fans, including myself, hoped the 32-year-old could keep his body ticking over until the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where even limited minutes off the bench would be invaluable to a team likely to add young guns Ben Simmons, Dante Exum and Co.

While this week's injury doesn't really change that hope, which is against the odds but still a possibility, it does bring into sharp question 'who's got next' when it comes to Australia's big men.

With Bogut to be 34, Aleks Maric 35 and David Andersen 39 by China 2019, chances are they won't be in the mix. Aron Baynes and Nate Jawai will both be preparing for their 33^rd birthday parties, meaning they are no guarantees to be there either.

I'm sure you see where I'm going. After three golden ages of big men - which also contained legends like Luc Longley, Mark Bradtke, Chris Anstey and Matt Nielsen - the big man cupboard will be starting to look quite bare quite soon.

So the question becomes where are the Baby Boguts? There are three potentially exciting candidates in Isaac Humphries, Harry Froling and Jock Landale, but in hoops terms they literally are babies and only time will tell if their output matches their potential.


But between the top shelve of 30-somethings  and the bottom shelf of talented teens, what do we have in reserve? The straight up answer is not much when it comes to genuine bigs.

Adelaide's Matt Hodgson has shown indications at 26 that he could be a solid defensive-minded back-up if he continues on the current trajectory, ditto for 27-year-old Angus Brandt who was an important player in Perth's recent NBL title win, but neither of them is the answer.

Fortunately, I think the answer is a little bit different. When Lemanis took over the Boomers gig most keen observers were waiting for him to choose an Aussie version of Mika Vukona to fit his successful game plan.

Indeed, Lemanis looked closely at Anthony Petrie, Dave Barlow, Mark Worthington, Lucas Walker and Brock Motum to fill that role but for various reasons none fitted the bill.

It was a tale of Lemanis' coaching ability that he was not only able to adapt his system to fit a team of bigger, slower frontcourters, but he was able to absolutely make it hum.

Expect Lemanis to adjust again to the talent he has to work with, which is a whole bunch of talented, mobile bigs who actually suit his aggressive style extremely well.

Assuming Ben Simmons can get his body right he will be a multi-skilled power forward capable of switching almost any match-up defensively, a menace on the boards, an unselfish passer in the half-court and a player who can start and finish a fast break.

If he can continue to improve his jump shot then he will give Australia the advantage at the four-spot the USA have had in recent years - a player with the strength to defend opposing power forwards and too much mobility for them to counter at the other end.


Next to Simmons could be Cam Bairstow, whose combination of mobility, IQ, toughness and unselfishness make him a quality prospect as a role player. Given the right match-up, the Brisbane Bullets big can play centre and power forward and stretch the D to 18 feet.

Then there's Brock Motum, whose 12-point, six-board display in 16 Bronze-Medal-Game minutes against Spain showed exactly what he's capable of at the highest level. He continues to take his game to another level with Zalgiris Kaunas, and who knows what heights Thon Maker and Jonah Bolden will reach.

Maker has made some promising but small steps in his rookie season with the Milwaukee Bucks, while Bolden has been at times dominant playing for FMP in the Adriatic League. Both are extreme athletes who could give the Boomers a real point of difference against most international opponents.

Then there is Venky Jois and Majok Majok, two undersized big men who play significantly taller than their listing, and whose mobility could make them a good foil for Simmons and Co if their games continue to develop.

So while Australia's big man stocks will soon look very different to what we’ve been accustomed to, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Yes, there will be times when a genuine big is needed, and hopefully that will be a fully fit Baynes on his final go around in 2019 and 2020, but a versatile team of bigs being guided by Matthew Dellavedova should be an exciting prospect for all Aussie fans.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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