Portland Trail Blazers guard Matisse Thybulle won’t be playing for the Australian Boomers at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
ESPN’s Olgun Uluc shared that Thybulle was unexpectedly left out of Australia’s 12-player roster. Instead, newcomers Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay will join NBA players like Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Danté Exum, Jock Landale, Duop Reath, Dyson Daniels, Patty Mills, and Joe Ingles.
Matthew Dellavedova and Nick Kay will also be on the team after winning bronze with Australia in Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021). This decision is surprising because Thybulle is one of the top defenders globally . Now, Australia has to face Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray without his help.
Joe Ingles didn’t hold back his thoughts about coach Brian Goorjian’s choice to go with Daniels over Thybulle. “It’s the job he chose, but it is a f—g s–t job,” Ingles told ESPN. “It sucks.”
Coach Goorjian’s Tough Call:
Goorjian knows fans won’t be happy about leaving out Thybulle. He said, “Whatever comes out of this, there’s gonna be a lot of people that wanna put a bullet in my head.” He added that making such decisions is tough but trusts his staff to make the best choices for the team.
Fans might think this move could hurt Australia’s chances at the Olympics.
Thybulle was expected not just to make the team but possibly start. Now he’ll have to watch from home instead of competing on the world stage.
What do you think? Should they have included him?
