Pinder named in Boomers' initial Paris 2024 Olympics squad

The influential big man was named in a strong 22-player squad, which will be cut before training camp in July. 

A final squad 12 will then be selected for the Olympics, starting in late July.

Pinder has already tasted national team success after being a part of the Boomers’ gold medal-winning FIBA Asia Cup campaign in 2022. 

The 28-year-old averaged 13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals for the Wildcats in NBL24, having an impact at both ends of the floor. 

He’s one of 10 current NBL players to make the initial squad, which is littered with NBA stars including Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum and Duop Reath.

Former Wildcats Nick Kay, a two-time NBL champion now plying his trade in Japan, is another familiar face in the squad.

Kay was part of the Boomers’ bronze medal campaign at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

A part of ex-Wildcats assistant coaches, Matt Nielsen and Jacob Chance, are part of head coach Brian Goorjian’s staff alongside former player Adam Caporn.

“We’ve been actively monitoring the Aussie players across international leagues in USA, Europe and Asia as well as domestically in the NBL and we’re confident in the potential chemistry of this list,” Goorjian said.

“The complexity of international tournaments like the Olympics is that you have a relatively short window to train and prepare – so you have to identify and implement a style works fast and amplifies the collective skill set.

“There’s always a correlation made of our offensive play with European styles, which is interesting considering there isn’t a whole lot of exposure to the Euro system with our players.

“What we have experienced, is the emergence of Australians at the top level overseas and the evolution of the NBL as a world class league with high powered scoring offenses, so we want to drive a game that is familiar but unique to our group.”

Boomers squad: Chris Goulding, Dante Exum, Dejan Vasilijevic, Duop Reath, Dyson Daniels, Jack McVeigh, Jack White, Jock Landale, Joe Ingles, Johnny Furphy, Sam Froling, Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Keanu Pinder, Matisse Thybulle, Matthew Dellavedova