Australia’s Boomers made a strong start in their quest for a FIBA Asia Cup three-peat, downing South Korea 97-61 in their opening game in Jeddah.
Jack McVeigh led the Boomers with 20 points including four straight threes at one stage in the second quarter. In total the team hit 15 threes and shot 50.7 per cent from the field.
Dash Daniels, the 17-year-old brother of NBA star Dyson, scored his first points in national colours having debuted in the warm-up games for this event. Daniels is eligible for the 2026 Draft after the upcoming NBL season at Melbourne United.
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All 12 members of the team scored points in a much younger-looking group under new Boomers coach Adam Caporn, including just a few veterans like McVeigh, Will Magnay, Xavier Cooks and Jack White.
The two-time defending continental champions are widely expected to advance through their group, which includes last tournament’s runner-up Lebanon (world ranking No.29), South Korea (No.53) and Qatar (No.87), and directly into the quarter-finals.
It is a trickier draw than it seems at first glance however. The Boomers only escaped with a two-point win over Lebanon in the 2022 tournament final, while South Korea went unbeaten in the 2022 group stage but lost to eventual third-placers New Zealand in the playoffs.
The other top seeds in the tournament are Japan (No.21), New Zealand (No.22) and hosts Saudi Arabia (No.65).
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