Olympic basketball can be a cruel mistress.

You can wait three years for a chance at another medal, play four games, lead for the majority of your quarterfinals matchup, but then it’s just over. You go home, ready to wait four years until another opportunity presents itself.

It’s a reminder for the Australian Boomers, not to waste those opportunities, like the way they threw away the inbounds pass in the final moments of their quarterfinal against Serbia. The Boomers’ Paris Olympics campaign ended on a turnover; a disappointing yet fitting end to the tournament, burnt by the issue that’s been their Achilles heel all week.

This campaign revealed a lot. Josh Giddey is the present and future of the Boomers, and he’ll be better for a largely great – but imperfect – Olympic debut. FIBA Patty Mills gave us one last vintage display, combined with a reminder of father time, in what was likely his final time wearing the green and gold. Jock Landale re-emerged as a primary part of the program, while Dyson Daniels and Jack McVeigh announced themselves in their first Olympics.

These Olympics were revealing, for good and bad, giving us food for thought as the Boomers enter a new era with a plethora of unknowns.

Is it time to complete the transition?

The 2023 FIBA World Cup was a transitional tournament for the Boomers. Giddey entered the fold with the bulk of the team that won bronze in Tokyo; the young point guard slotting in alongside Mills in the Boomers’ backcourt. That was the slow-but-inevitable beginning of the passing of the torch of the program. Going into these Olympics, it was Dyson Daniels who was introduced into the rotation — becoming a regular starter — and he emerged as one of Australia’s most effective players. Of course, Jock Landale continued to be a reliable and productive force for the Boomers, playing a key role in Paris after missing the prior year’s World Cup with an injury.

At the same time, we saw Mills and Joe Ingles in their fifth Olympics. Both have been vital members of the Boomers over the years, helping to lift the program both on and off the court, and winning an Olympic bronze medal in the process. Father time is undefeated, though, and that’s the unavoidable circumstance all involved must come to terms with. Mills’ production in Paris was a material dip from his most recent major tournament appearances — outside of some heroics in the Boomers’ quarterfinals loss to Serbia — while Ingles was relegated to the end of the bench for the bulk of the campaign.

The 2027 World Cup is three years away. Ingles has already flagged that this was his last campaign with the Boomers. Mills would be 39 by that next major event. The indictment here doesn’t need to be spelled out.

Giddey’s 25-point game in the quarterfinals of these Olympics will end up as an important moment in time. It had been loudly brewing for a while, but there was a sense this performance officially gave the program licence to begin his era of Boomers basketball. His tournament was by no means perfect — he averaged 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists, but also 5.0 turnovers a game, while shooting 47.4 percent from beyond the three-point line — but his place as the head of the snake of the program is clear.

The future of the Boomers is in its young and emerging talent, and that means embracing and empowering them in as full-throated a way as is possible. The proof is in what we all saw: the Boomers’ most effective players were Giddey, Landale, and Daniels, and unabashedly moving into that era of the program — and, in turn, completely transitioning beyond that Rose Gold generation — is the healthiest and most sustainable course of action.

So, implement an offence — any offence, to be honest — that maximises the skillsets of the newer members of this playing roster, go and mend the relationship with Matisse Thybulle — it’s redeemable, sources told ESPN — and make sure Josh Green is empowered moving forward. Welcome Johnny Furphy, and Rocco Zikarsky, and Alex Toohey, and Tyrese Proctor, and whoever’s coming through the ranks with open arms. The Boomers only reach their ceiling if these guys are leant into and embraced.

The road may be bumpy in the beginning, but the culture of the program is begging for a fresh start, and that’s putting it lightly.

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Why it’s the ‘end of an era’ for the Boomers after Olympic exit

Kane Pitman reacts to Australia’s quarterfinal loss to Serbia in overtime.

Who will be the next head coach?

Brian Goorjian’s second stint as head coach has come to an end, so arguably the biggest question is who steps in to replace him. Which direction Basketball Australia’s board goes isn’t entirely known. There’s the conventional wisdom and expectation, along with a more creative route the program can take.

Matt Nielsen — the lead assistant under Goorjian — has been ‘next in line’ to take over as head coach for some time, so that would be an unsurprising decision. Nielsen, 46, is currently an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, and was a three-time Olympian as a player. Goorjian’s other assistant, Adam Caporn, would also be part of the consideration. The 42-year-old just completed his second season as an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets, and has a closer connection to the Boomers’ younger core, having coached at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence from 2014 to 2021.

If the desire is to keep with an Australian at the helm, there aren’t many obvious options. Dean Vickerman is the most seasoned Australian currently coaching in the NBL, and has led the Boomers in a non-major-tournament setting. Trevor Gleeson — a five-time NBL champion — is about to begin as head coach of the Chiba Jets in Japan, and, while qualified, it would be surprising if he’s part of the consideration.

The program could also opt for someone who’s not Australian. Now, the two times Basketball Australia has done this, it’s been someone with a significant Australian or NBL connection: Goorjian is an Australian citizen, while Brett Brown spent his formative years in the country. Scott Roth is someone who would be an intriguing choice; an American who’s currently having success in Australia, and is primed to settle in the country.

Then, there’s a direction Basketball Australia has never ventured into, and could maybe be part of the discussion, considering the makeup of the Boomers’ roster. That would be to go and get the best available; perhaps a head coach in the NBA or at a high level in the college ranks, with no connection to Australia, but widely considered in the basketball community as among the elite of the elite. Canada, for example, has this with its men’s and women’s teams, both of which are coached by Spaniards. Jordi Fernandez — currently the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets — heads up the Canadian men’s program.

Why not go down the route of someone like Joe Mazzulla (Boston Celtics), Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder), Charles Lee (Charlotte Hornets), or James Borrego (New Orleans Pelicans)? Perhaps Will Hardy (Utah Jazz), or head coaches at powerhouse schools like Dan Hurley (Connecticut) or Todd Golden (Florida)? A coach like that would, of course, be on the other side of the world for his or her professional job, but so would either of Neilsen or Caporn, so the geographical element isn’t some untraversable roadblock. It’s food for thought, and an innovative direction the program could go in.

Then, there’s the question of what’s needed on the court. We saw how stagnant the offence got over the course of games, and how often the group reverted to iso-ball; there was a lack of personnel to be a consistent offensive team, but it did become clear how much more creativity there needed to be on that end. The roster moving forward projects as one that will be led by Giddey, surrounded by versatile, dynamic wings, so whomever the next head coach is will need to maximise those skillsets.

The program has theoretically just gone through its transitional phase, and will enter the start of its new era; not quite a rebuild, but the team will be younger for the next major tournament cycle. The goal should be to find a head coach who can help guide them through the expected early teething, before being prepared to potentially contend with the team down the line.

How realistic is it to compete without a top-10 player in the world… or a 20-points-per-game-guy?

Have a think of who the Boomers came up against during these Olympics.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and then Nikola Jokic were all part of the path toward a medal. That’s three of the top-four finalists for the most recent NBA MVP award. The other member of that top-four is Luka Doncic, whose Slovenian team effectively knocked the Boomers out of the World Cup last year.

In the last few minutes of their overtime loss to Serbia, we saw the way Jokic was able to take over the game on both ends of the floor. Players of that level won’t just keep you in games, but they’ll win them for you.

Moving forward, the overwhelming likelihood is that the Boomers will continue to face multiple top-10 players en route to any medal game in a major tournament. If not that level of player, then it’ll be a consistent 20-points-a-game sort of guy; think Dennis Schroeder in Germany, or what Mills was for the Boomers in the past.

Theoretically, the next Boomers player who fits into that mould is Giddey, who’s still just 21 and has shown glimpses in the NBA and FIBA game of being a nearly-max contract type of talent. He had 25 points in the Boomers’ quarterfinals loss to Serbia, showing throughout the Olympics that he can effectively score at all three levels. It could’ve – should’ve? – been Ben Simmons, but injuries have seen him drop off significantly, and there shouldn’t be an expectation he plays for Australia until, well, he does.

Over the last few Olympics, there’s been a player like Mills, who can keep the scoreboard ticking over. Moving forward, who’s that guy for Australia? The Boomers are effectively a team of NBA-level role players, so where do they turn? Giddey’s high-level ability to create is the start, but then what?

How Giddey continues to develop, and what Daniels, Furphy, or Green can turn into on the offensive end in the international game may determine the ceiling of the Boomers moving forward, or that may potentially come with an addition of Proctor or Toohey. Without that reliable scoring punch, consistently competing with the type of talent the Boomers will continue to be confronted with may be a difficult task.