Jock Landale is ready to give the Boomers what they missed last year

After missing the 2023 World Cup through injury, Landale is back and is ready to be the vocal monster the team needs in Paris.

There’s no greater honour than representing your country. Athletes in Australia grow up dreaming of pulling on the green and gold someday, and once you’ve done it, you want to keep doing it.

When that opportunity is ripped away from you in the cruellest of ways, as it was from Jock Landale last year - to call it bitterly disappointing would be an understatement.

Landale, who badly sprained his ankle during the warmup games ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, had to watch helplessly as his teammates fell short of their goal of a first ever World Cup medal, and the feeling wasn’t something he enjoyed.

“Yeah, it was tough,” Landale told The Pick and Roll after the Boomers’ opening win against China on Tuesday.

“It was frustrating to really observe from afar knowing that you could be out there helping. There was a little bit of guilt involved – even though it was out of my control – because we prepared for life with me and then last minute it put a tremendous amount of pressure on Xav [Cooks] and Nick Kay and Duop [Reath] to handle that position.

“To their credit, they did a great job, but it was a completely different game plan with Xavier and Nick as smaller fives.

“But I learnt a lot from watching from afar. Watching Gidds [Josh Giddey] operate with Duop and learnt how to operate with Josh and Patty from afar just a little bit better I suppose. So, kind of took it as a growth and learning situation.”

Now, about eleven months later, Landale is healthy, coming off his third season in the NBA. He finished his season with the Houston Rockets in strong form, averaging 8.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 blocks, while shooting 58.8% from the field and 36.4% from three in 20 minutes per game over the final 23 games of the season.

When Boomers camp opened last Friday, Landale was back on court with his teammates and instantly reminded everyone how much of a difference maker he is for this team. It’s no secret how much he was missed at the World Cup last year, and he’s excited to be back with the boys.

“Just enjoying the situation for what it is, which is being around the Boomers again,” explained Landale. “Really embracing the culture that is the Australian Boomers – that’s always the most enjoyable part, first and foremost.

“The second thing is enjoying having the opportunity to be an integral part of a team and figuring out that process again. I think that on top of that, we had challenges last campaign which seemed to have ironed themselves out as far as style. We added some big pieces to the puzzle – not just Giddey, Josh Green playing extended minutes, there’re a lot of players that hadn’t played big minutes before that now had the opportunity to do so. And I suppose it’s easy for me, cos I just get to slot back into that.

“That part’s been really enjoyable for me, just seeing the growth within the group now versus 12 months ago. We’ve come a long way and I’m pumped for that.”

Landale sat out the opening game of the Ballin’ 24 series versus China on Tuesday, resting to give Goorjian a chance to look at other players, but will play on Thursday night. The final twelve Boomers will then travel overseas for more warmup games as they face Team USA and Serbia at the USA Basketball Showcase in Abu Dhabi on July 15 and 16.

Those two games will provide some great tests for the Australian Boomers who continue to transition their playing style with this younger roster, and Landale knows how important that showcase event is ahead of Paris.

“It’s huge,” he acknowledged.

“We still have so many areas we need to grow in and figure out. We have no expectations in those games, other than minute by minute, quarter by quarter, just take steps forward continuously and the results will be what they will be. We’re not too worried about those.

“It’s more about can we hit the ground running in Paris? Are we in the best possible position and I think that’s where we’re really evolved from this time last year. We’re not focusing so much on the results in these games, more so, are we taking steps game by game?

“I think for us right now, we’re doing a good job of honing in on the little bits and pieces, rather than the grand scheme and I think that those games are vital for us. Especially against elite teams. How do we match up? Are the steps that we’re taking really translating against the higher pedigree teams?”

It’s never easy to build chemistry in a short period of time leading up to a major tournament like this. The Boomers have an advantage in that all twelve players who were at the World Cup are back in the current squad, with Landale and Matthew Dellavedova also familiar faces from the Tokyo Olympics.

This gives the Boomers a leg up on a number of other national teams. Given the noticeable shift in personnel and playing style at the World Cup, having another camp together has only helped to get more comfortable from where they were last year.

Landale has been impressed with what he’s seen over the first five days of camp, and can see some clear areas of growth since the World Cup campaign.

“The simplicity of it is just that we’re gelling. Each player knows where they fit in and each player is starting to figure out what the other players want to do, and that is a massive piece of basketball.

“We’re not talented enough unfortunately to roll the ball out and play pickup, you know one-on-one style basketball.