There will be a slew of Huskies in Paris this summer when the Olympics get underway at the end of July, but former basketball star Matisse Thybulle won’t be among them.
On Friday, the Australian national team announced their final cuts, and coach Brian Goorjian shocked not just the Boomers, but the Australian basketball community by leaving the Portland Trailblazers guard off the roster. Thybulle played well for the Blazers last season, shooting 34.7 percent from three-point range and averaging 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.
“The exclusion of Matisse Thybulle from the Boomers team is staggering,” Jack Powell, a producer for Channel 7 in Melbourne said. “It’s incomprehensible that he misses out. Aussies deserve an explanation for this decision.”
Although littered with NBA talent, including former top-five pick Dante Exum and Charlotte Hornets guard Josh Green, the Boomers lack an elite defender, which is Thybulle’s claim to fame. During his time with the Philadelphia 76ers, he was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive second team after both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
One of the country’s best basketball players, former No. 1 overall pick and All-NBA center Andrew Bogut, offered an explanation.
“Matisse is a real interesting one, he’s arguably the best defender on the squad,” Bogut said on the Gold Standard podcast. “One of the best in the NBA, I think the ups and downs of his shooting was a concern.”