Dash Daniels gunning to match Bogut-inspired 2003 gold
The Emus have not been on the podium since an Andrew Bogut-led line-up broke new ground in 2003 as the only Australian men's team to win gold at a global FIBA tournament.
The current crop are eyeing their own glory but will have to overcome some significant early hurdles in Switzerland, starting with an opening match against eight-time champions USA early on Sunday morning (1.15am AEST).
European heavyweights France and African wildcards Cameroon also feature in Group D - dubbed the 'Group of Death' on FIBA's website.
While the tournament format dictates all 16 teams advance to the knockout rounds, the group stage can make or break a campaign.
But Emus guard and NBA prospect Daniels - the younger brother of Atlanta Hawks star Dyson Daniels - holds no fears.
"A medal is the least you can expect," 17-year-old Daniels told AAP.
"Gold would be fantastic and we've got the team to do it.
"We've just got to get out there and show the world."
Daniels, who will feature as an NBL Next Star with Melbourne United next season, will line up alongside star forward Jacob Furphy for the Emus under head coach Robbie McKinlay.
McKinlay's group are aiming to emulate Rob Beveridge's 2003 Emus outfit, which remains the only team from outside North America and Europe to win the FIBA Under-19 World Cup since its inception in 1979.
Future NBA No.1 draft pick and champion Bogut was the MVP of that 2003 tournament, alongside fellow stars-in-the-making Damian Martin, Brad Newley, Matt Knight, Rhys Carter and Brad Robbins.
The Emus have not reached the quarter-finals at the FIBA Under-19 World Cup since 2015.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
In-demand star shines as Saints see off North in AFL
Break-out star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera has underlined why he is the hottest property in the AFL after leading St Kilda to a thrilling nine-point victory over North Melbourne. A week on from his last-gasp match-winning heroics against Melbourne, Wanganeen-Milera was again the star of the show in the 11.12 (78) to 10.9 (69) win at Marvel Stadium. Cam Zurhaar kicked a goal with 96 seconds left to cut the deficit to three points before the Saints held on, with Max Hall goaling after the siren. Uncontracted South Australian gun Wanganeen-Milera, in demand from Port Adelaide and Adelaide, racked up the ball at will. He had 20 disposals, 11 contested possessions, six clearances and five score involvements in the first half alone and finished with 36 touches. St Kilda fans cheered his every possession, which include dazzling turns of pace, evasiveness and silky kicking. Nas 😮💨#AFLSaintsNorth — AFL (@AFL) August 3, 2025 St Kilda's second consecutive win came at a cost, with Mitch Owens suffering a hamstring injury in the third quarter. He was replaced by skipper Jack Steele, who was a surprise substitute - just the fourth captain ever to start as sub. Coach Ross Lyon told Fox Sports pre-game that Steele had battled with a sore neck last week and the Saints wanted to manage his loads. North's sixth straight defeat was made worse by Paul Curtis's report for inexplicably punching Angus Hastie in the throat on the quarter-time siren. The small forward appears guaranteed to be suspended. Zurhaar was lucky he didn't make high contact when he hit Rowan Marshall with a crunching bump in the second quarter. On his return from a right knee injury, Nick Larkey kicked three goals but appeared to re-injure himself when he marked on the lead in the final term. Saints Hunter Clark (25 touches) and Jack Sinclair (26) were also busy, while Jack Higgins and Max Heath kicked two goals apiece. North star Harry Sheezel (33 disposals) was typically prolific along with Colby McKercher (36). Paul Curtis was reported following this incident with Angus Hastie on quarter time.#AFLSaintsNorth — AFL (@AFL) August 3, 2025 Larkey kicked a goal on the quarter-time siren to send North out to a 14-point advantage, then delivered a 19-point lead early in the second term. But the Saints reeled off the next three goals to take a one-point lead into half-time. Kangaroo Zac Banch (ribs) was substituted at half-time while Owens made way in the third term. The Saints kicked four consecutive goals to lead by 23 at three-quarter time and North couldn't complete the comeback. St Kilda next play Richmond at the MCG on Saturday while North travel to face GWS in Canberra on Sunday.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stuart Broad's cheeky 'cheat' response after surprise Channel 7 gig for Ashes
Just when Australian cricket fans thought they had seen the last of Stuart Broad, the Ashes villain will be in our faces all next summer. The champion England fast bowler will part of Channel 7's commentary team and is preparing to cop it from the locals after finally accepting he was at fault for not walking after edging a ball to first slip during the Trent Bridge Test in 2013. His decision to stay at the crease sparked outrage in Australia, leading to calls for a "Broadban" while Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper refused to mention him by name. Broad will return 12 years later, wearing a suit not whites and wielding a microphone instead of a red ball. Seven's move to add the feisty Englishman to its line-up has not gone down well with locals, with one fan saying he's as popular as a mosquito at a BBQ. Former England captain Mike Atherton couldn't resist having a dig at Broad while the pair was commentating together in the England-India series at the weekend. "Well, Stuart, just to reflect on a bit of news that emerged from Down Under overnight that seems to have gone down like a bucket of sick with the locals, namely that you're going to be commentating on one of the local channels in the Ashes," Atherton said. "Just a reminder of how popular you are down there, the Brisbane Courier Mail couldn't bring themselves to put a photo of you on the front page and then called you a smug, pommy, cheat - Broadban. Are you looking forward to going down to Australia this winter to commentate on the Ashes?" Stuart Broad's hilarious response to Ashes dig A smiling Broad responded: "Well, I sort of obviously agree with the pommy and the cheat bit, but I don't think I'm smug. Since retiring from international cricket, I've received many well wishes and messages from passionate Australian fans, so to get the chance to speak to them directly on Seven is something I'm looking forward to. "I've always loved coming to Australia and feeling the love from every Australian cricket fan, and I anticipate this summer won't be any different. Both teams are matched up quite nicely. Obviously, Australia have had the better of England for a long time, over in Australia, but England are coming with a pretty strong team. It will be another epic Ashes series played in the right spirit, as all Ashes are. Aren't they? "I'm really excited to give my views on how I think the series will go." The five-Test Ashes series begins in Perth on November 21.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Good but not quite great reflections on what might have been for British & Irish Lions
From James Toney in Sydney Lions tours are famously as much about words as deeds, but they also come with a whole lot of hindsight too. It's the ultimate opinions game, and everyone has got one, but the facts don't lie. Andy Farrell's team achieved their goal of a Test series win in Australia, but the record books will show it was sandwiched between defeat in the first and final matches of their campaign. Good? Yes. Great? Not really. To think, in the build-up to the third Test in Sydney, there were questions about whether the Wallabies, down in sixth in the world rankings, even deserved to host future Lions tours, which Farrell quickly slapped down as 'insulting'. It doesn't take too many sliding doors moments for this tour to have gone very differently, Joe Schmidt's Australian team paying the price for their tepid first-half show in Brisbane. Pre-match talk in Sydney might have been about a rare Test clean sweep, but there remains something just a little unconvincing about the latest aspiring 'Invincibles' to fall short of legend status. But for a dramatic late try at the MCG, with a whiff of controversy about it too, the hosts were just one minute from claiming this series. They were ahead for the vast majority of the 240 minutes played and were edged out by a single point in the cumulative scores across three Tests. It was the closest aggregate Test score in Lions history, beating the previous six points in 1971 and 1993. Farrell quickly pivoted from disappointment to pride as he reflected on the last two months of toil and tussle. His players deserve this to be a moment of celebration, but there should be some reflection on the long way home too. He said there had been no let-up in training after the Lions had partied hard for two days following the series-clinching win in Melbourne. He did concede that, perhaps unconsciously, wrapping things up early might have taken some edge away from the final match. He also gave very short shrift to the idea the Lions lacked focus in their final engagement, especially when a lightning storm forced players from the pitch early in the second half. However, there was a marked contrast to the way both teams approached this 40-minute delay as sodden Sydney went from shower to downpour to monsoon, leaving those playing and watching more drenched than if they'd taken a dip in the harbour. Schmidt admitted his team had discussed how to approach such a break, having looked at the pre-match forecast. The Lions, in contrast, didn't know the rules, a strike within close range of the stadium forcing the players off the field for a mandatory 30 minutes followed by a ten-minute warm-up. "That's rubbish," was Farrell's two-word response to enquiries that the Lions appeared to switch off when forced from the field. Cameras showed Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii meditating in the Wallabies' rooms while Nic Frost studied laptop footage with coach Geoff Parling. In contrast, the Lions chilled on beanbags while Finn Russell scrolled through his phone. TV footage from the dressing room suddenly cut when assistant coach David Nucifora threw a towel over the prying camera. When allowed back on the pitch, the Wallabies were out several minutes ahead of their rivals, hitting tackle bags with focus. They flew out of the blocks at the third time of asking, winning two Lions line-outs and forcing errors with flair and stubbornness. Teeming rain was no time for champagne rugby; this match required some mongrel. The Wallabies are not the kind of team to become a footnote in someone else's story, and when Max Jorgensen intercepted to open up the lead to 13 points, it was a long way back in such difficult, attritional conditions. Winning three Tests on the spin is not meant to be easy — the Lions haven't done it since 1974 and they've not even had the chance to do it for 28 years. It was clear in Sydney that one team wanted to win, and one team desperately needed to win — and that was the key difference. However, Farrell hasn't done too much wrong on this tour. Maro Itoje has been a captain from central casting and has stitched together players from four rival nations flawlessly. Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne — Farrell's two most debated selections — rewarded their coach by pushing each other very close to the player of the series prize, won by the latter just ahead of the former. But the Lions coach resisted the temptation to freshen up his team for their last stand, and they looked weary, edged out on every key metric, soundly beaten in scrum, breakdown and line-out. Sport is not really about marginal gains but marginal calls, and this one missed the mark. In contrast, Schmidt's slew of changes — some enforced but some tactical — all paid dividends. 'I don't know if we ran out of gas. Everything's in hindsight, isn't it?" said Farrell. However, he is surely the frontrunner to coach in four years when the Lions travel to New Zealand for what will always be the ultimate test of this cherished sporting anachronism. He gets the Lions, and there is simply no other coach in the reckoning, if he wants it again. "Everyone knows what I think about this concept. I suppose that says it all. I absolutely love everything the Lions is about," he added. "I've loved every single minute of it, but that's a long time off, isn't it? I've thoroughly enjoyed the last eight weeks. There's always ups and downs, but the inner circle is a special place to be. "Read into that what you want, but four years is a long time between drinks." That's a classic non-denial denial and certainly not a no. There is no tomorrow for the Lions, but Australia look to South Africa for the forthcoming Rugby Championship with just a smidgen more confidence. Schmidt may have lost the series, but he has accomplished one of the basic ambitions he had when he succeeded Eddie Jones after the Wallabies' disastrous World Cup campaign. He hands on to Les Kiss later this year — who will lead Australia in their home World Cup in 2027 — with some optimism that they at least won't be embarrassed, an admittedly low bar for a proud sporting nation. Australian sports teams are honed on their fighting spirit, and the Wallabies were best when they took their visitors to their own 'hurt arena'. What could have been if the influential Will Skelton hadn't missed out in Brisbane; there was a big difference between the scorelines when the bruising brute was on the pitch and off it. However, rugby union in Australia remains a sport in crisis, squeezed out by the dominant AFL and league codes who suck the oxygen from sporting debate in their winter months. The next two years might be the last chance to resuscitate it, otherwise perhaps the Lions — whose fans are clamouring for matches with France and Argentina — may not be back so quickly.
