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AT the risk of his team's chemistry and commitment as a group, Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis should prioritise securing Australian citizenship for NBL MVP Kevin Lisch.

As a wild card entry into the 26-man squad squad named yesterday, Lisch would bring intangibles and has a proven game which would succeed at international level.

Considering everyone is talking about "going for Gold", then let's be ruthless in selecting a team to get the mission accomplished in Rio.

With all due respect to Perth Wildcats captain and Larry Sengstock Medallist Damian Martin, and equally to Adelaide 36ers captain and London Olympian Adam Gibson, Lisch ticks ALL the boxes.

As much as many of us would love to see Damo harassing the bejeezus out of some of those international superstars - guys of that NBA ilk who already find Delly too hard to take - Lisch brings that but also can kill you at the offensive end.

Gibbo just hasn't had that great a year and while Lemanis highly values the camaraderie which has further evolved under his stewardship - strongly suggesting he would be reluctant to bring in a completely new face - Lisch is the only player outside the established guys who genuinely could make a difference.

Of course, that still depends on his Australian citizenship being processed in time to make him eligible which, frankly, now should be a Basketball Australia priority.

(BA didn't exactly pass Usain Bolt down the straight when it came to getting special dispensation from FIBA for Opals guard Leilani Mitchell, who had to naturalise to represent her mother's country! Of course now, with Kelsey Griffin naturalised, it means the Opals must choose between the pair, even though one of them has an Australian mother! That doesn't make sense to me and I'm not truly confident BA really explored its options on that. So expecting them to put some weight behind Lisch's citizenship? Hmm.)

AUSSIE KEV? If he's eligible, the Boomers would be mad to omit the NBL MVP. Picture: PAUL KANE, GETTY IMAGES.

Having had to coach and plan against Lisch in an NBL Grand Final Series when Lemanis was at the Breakers and the combo-guard at Perth Wildcats, the coach knows his value.

"Lisch is intriguing," he said of the prospect of adding him to his serious considerations.

Lemanis admitted yesterday the 26-man squad largely was for insurance purposes before it was reduced to 16 for the camp on July 5-10.

"This squad will never get together," Lemanis said. "We’ll bring 16 into camp with the purpose of this squad to ensure we’ll have depth in all positions."

So all those NBL guys whose names may have surprised you, or for that matter, the missing names such as Jason Cadee, Matt Knight or AJ Ogilvy, really don't figure much in the final calculations.

(And I'm not making a case for Cadee, Knight or Ogilvy. It's just that if Mitch Norton, Todd Blanchfield, Mitch Creek, Lucas Walker, Angus Brandt and Co are going to be in the 26, why not make it 29? Or 30? That said, if Ogilvy can't make a squad of 26 which ultimately will be reduced by 10, it says plenty for how far he alienated himself from the main core with some of his post-non-selection comments some years back.)

RIO HERE WE COME: Aussie assistants Luc Longley and Adrian Hurley, with Boomers 'certs' Matt Dellavedova and Ryan Broekhoff.

My Boomers team for Rio (in no particular order) would be:

Matthew Dellavedova
Patty Mills
Joe Ingles
Aron Baynes
Andrew Bogut
Kevin Lisch*
Ryan Broekhoff
Ben Simmons
Brad Newley
Cameron Bairstow
David Andersen
**Aleks Maric/Nathan Jawai
{Damian Martin for Lisch if ineligible; Chris Goulding for Simmons if unavailable}

**I would let Maric and Jawai battle it out in camp for the one spot. I can't split them at present because we haven't seen Maric play for a while. And Jawai's physical state is often parlous. So they can do their best at camp and we go from there.

Those also would be 15 of my 16 for the camp, with Brock Motum in that squad, and battling Bairstow for that spot in the final 12. 

If Simmons is an earlier withdrawal, Adam Gibson would complete the 16.

Even slight variations of those main guys gives Australia a team we can believe in. It can medal. 

But Gold?

Australia hasn't won a men's basketball medal in 13 Olympic appearances. The favourite USA has won 14 Olympic Gold Medals.

That's what makes many of us shake our heads when we see headlines such as the one below.

SERIOUSLY... I'm sure Kevin Durant is at home, mopping his sweating brow with $100 notes, he's so troubled by the Boomers... You have to wonder sometimes about headline writers.

The USA team wouldn't even have us on their radar, let's be frank, let alone be their potential "nightmare".

The only nightmare immediately imaginable is the Boomers DO get to the Gold Medal game and lose by 50.

What Lemanis has been saying is by having so many players competing in the NBA, the superstars of The Show have been demystified for them, so we won't start 15-25 points behind, as most nations have in the past.

ALL TOGETHER NOW: Andrej Lemanis conducting the Boomers choir.

That's still a long way from causing the Americans any undue angst. We're still ranked #11 in the world by FIBA and there's a few countries which already have qualified for Rio - such as Spain (#2), Lithuania (#3), Argentina (#4) and Brazil (#9) - who are rated higher.

And that was Serbia and France collecting the minor medals behind the USA at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

The USA is selecting from: Carmelo Anthony (Knicks), Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (OKC Thunder); Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan (Clippers); Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs); Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes (Warriors); LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love (Cavaliers); Dwight Howard and James Harden (Rockets); Anthony Davis (Pelicans); Paul George (Pacers); DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay (Kings); John Wall and Bradley Beal (Wizards); Jimmy Butler (Bulls); Mike Conley (Grizzlies); DeMar DeRozan (Raptors); Andre Drummond (Pistons); Kenneth Faried (Nuggets) and Gordon Hayward (Jazz).

That's 30 players and there was a time they could have picked three teams and gone Gold, Silver, Bronze. That day is done.

BOOM TIMES: Joe Ingles shows his style against international nemesis Lithuania.

Australia is very much in the medal hunt and its pursuit of Gold admirable.

It has players around the world being meaningful contributors in good programs and Lemanis' core group is committed to Rio success. Kevin Lisch would only add to that.

The Boomers squad is: David Andersen (ASVEL, France), Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls, NBA), Aron Baynes (Detroit Pistons, NBA), Todd Blanchfield (Melbourne United, NBL), Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors, NBA), Angus Brandt (Sydney Kings, NBL), Ryan Broekhoff (Lokomotiv Kuban, Russia), Mitch Creek (Adelaide 36ers, NBL), Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA), Dante Exum (Utah Jazz, NBA), Adam Gibson Adelaide 36ers, NBL), Cameron Gliddon (Cairns Taipans, NBL), Chris Goulding (Melbourne United, NBL), Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz, NBA), Nathan Jawai (Perth Wildcats, NBL), Daniel Kickert (Melbourne United, NBL), Kevin Lisch* (Illawarra Hawks, NBL), Aleks Maric (Buducnost Podgorica, Montenegro), Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats, NBL), Patrick Mills (San Antonio Spurs, NBA), Brock Motum (Zalgiris Kaunas, Lithuania), Brad Newley (Gran Canaria, Spain), Mitch Norton (Townsville Crocodiles, NBL), Ben Simmons (LSU, US), Clint Steindl (Townsville Crocodiles, NBL), Lucas Walker (Adelaide 36ers, NBL). {*Subject to citizenship}

PS

The reason I haven't included Dante Exum in any of the conversation is simply because he suffered an ACL injury last August and the Olympics are THIS August. As much as I'd love to believe Dante, at his fit best, would be available, an ACL historically is a 12-month absence and I cannot see him bouncing back from that by restarting his career at an Olympics. Or, for that matter, Utah Jazz being happy about it.