EMUS READY TO TAKE ON THE GLOBE AT FIBA U19 WORLD CUP
Following a training camp in Melbourne and a three-game warm-up series which saw them defeat Latvia, Lithuania and Russia, the Emus are ready to tip off their campaign on Saturday night.
The team consists of ten players from the side that won gold at last year’s Under-18 Asian Championships which qualified them for the Under-19 World Cup as well as Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Alex Ducas.
An impressive front court line-up will reunite after starring last year, including Samson Froling who paced Australia with 14.2 points and two blocks per game.
He will be joined by Kyle Bowen who averaged a double-double of 13 points and 10.8 rebounds, Callum Dalton (8.3 points per game) and Keli Leaupepe (7.2 points, 7.2 rebounds).
Isaiah Lee will lead the guard rotation after finishing second for the team in assists with four per contest while Kody Stattmann hit 13 three-pointers (sixth best overall) for the tournament.
Tamuri Wigness and Swaka Lo Buluk bring experience after competing in the 2018 Under-17 World Cup while a Victorian trio of Josh Gatbel, Sean Macdonald and Tyler Robertson, who claimed the Australian Under-20 Championships gold medal earlier this year, round out the team.
Ranked tenth in the world, the Emus will face Canada (ranked 2nd), Latvia (13th) and Mali (27th) in the group stage and while every team will advance to the Round of 16, the tournament enters a knock-out stage from that point on.
FIBA will live-stream the entire tournament via their YouTube channel and you can bookmark the Emus’ first game against Canada here.
Stats are also available via the official tournament website.
Following success with a silver medal in 1995 and a gold medal in 2003 with a team that included Andrew Bogut, Damian Martin and Brad Newley, this current crop of Emus will now be aiming to create their own history in 2019.
The Australian Emus Team for the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup:
NAME | STATE |
Kyle Bowen | Western Australia |
Callum Dalton | Queensland |
Alex Ducas | Western Australia |
Samson Froling | Queensland |
Josh Gatbel | Victoria |
Keli Leaupepe | Victoria |
Isaiah Lee | New South Wales |
Sean Macdonald | Victoria |
Tyler Robertson | Victoria |
Kody Stattmann | Queensland |
Wani Swaka Lo Buluk | Western Australia |
Tamuri Wigness | Queensland |
STAFF | |
Darren Perry | Head Coach |
Robbie McKinlay | Coach |
Chris Anstey | Coach |
Chris Ohlback | Team Manager |
Greg Macleod | Doctor |
Ryan Carroll | Physiotherapist |
The Australian Emus Schedule for the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup (all times AEST):
June 29: Emus vs. Canada at 10.30pm
June 30: Emus vs. Latvia at 11.00pm
July 3: Emus vs. Mali at 1.15am
July 4: Round of 16
July 6: Quarter-Finals
July 7: Semi-Finals
July 8: Medal Games
Basketball Australia
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