Basketball On The Internet.

FLASHBACKS, my irregular "lucky dip" where I just reach into my drawers of old Australian basketball stuff and transcribe or post whatever I find for you.

IT was a decade ago now that our Opals became FIBA World Champions when they won the Gold Medal in Brazil, and if that isn't a great omen for the Rio Olympics, I don't know what is!

I came across a series of Opals 2006 pix and given this is "Flashback 63", some shots also are from back in 1963!

And in an Olympic year, I even stumbled across some basketball pics from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

OMG, that's 60 years ago! There's some 80s NBL shots too ... yeah, it's quite the menagerie today.

I hope you enjoy it. (And if so, maybe take a look at what I've collated at the "Basketball On The Internet" Facebook page.)

Let's go...

OPALS CHAMPIONS: Back, L-R - Penny Taylor, Emma Randall, Hollie Grima. 2nd Row - Erin Phillips, Tully Bevilaqua, Kristi Harrower, Belinda Snell, Jenny Whittle, coach Jan Stirling. Front - Lauren Jackson, Jenni Screen, Laura Hodges, Emily McInerny.

IT AIN'T CHOCOLATE: Lauren Jackson kisses the Gold Medal.

TAILORMADE FOR GREATNESS: Penny Taylor, MVP.

WE DID IT: Hollie Grima, Laura Hodges, Jenni Screen ... their faces say it all.

ON THE DAIS: Hollie, Kristi and Tully enjoy the spoils of creating history.

JACKSON IN ACTION: LJ against Russia.

WE'RE COMING AGAIN RIO: Erin Phillips sends the message the Opals are on the march.

FALCON BEST: Newcastle's Ian Davies shows he could pass pretty slickly too.

CANNON-FODDER: Herb McEachin gets past Danny Morseu to find James Crawford waiting.

HALL OF FAME LEGENDS: Canberra's Phil Smyth finds a way around Geelong's Cal Bruton.

GOLDEN DAYS: The NBL has seen great times before, such as 25 years ago when it was the Prime Minister presenting Derek Rucker with the MVP award...

SA ACTION: Norwood-Budapest's Wayne Hoffman was too late trimming his sideburns to stop Glenelg's Brian Dixon here.

ACT-ION: Sabres' John Kinel scores during the 1963 Canberra A Grade final, watched by teammate Hans Siig and Bouncers' guard Zendko Horacek.

HEIGHT HELPS: Jaguars' 204cm Graham McKinney dunks despite Lithgow's Barry Hill wishing he was taller.

SEVEN WOOLLACOTTS: Norwood's Huba Nagy (4 medals) with a putback dunk despite West's Werner Linde (3 medals) imploring him to stop.

DYNAMIC DUO: Eastern Suburbs Colts stars Carl Rodwell and Paul Brettell.

BOOMER BOYS: Australia's John Hody (12) and Barry Barnes (8) can't stop this shot by Formosa in a 1963 tournament in the Philippines.

UP AND UNDER: Brazil basket versus Australia at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

MADE IT: Australia's Inga Freidenfelds gets the shot off against Formosa's Hor Kuay Loo in 1956.

COPYBOOK STYLE: Lindsay Gaze, with the picture-perfect baseball pass.

WHO'S THE YOUNG AUSSIE STAR? Why it's Golden State Warriors centre Andrew Bogut, circa 2002.

LET'S CLOSE WITH THE OPALS: The 2002 team which won FIBA Bronze, before Silver & Gold.