Basketball On The Internet.

BOOMERS boss Andrej Lemanis isn't too fired up about who will captain his World Cup team but he is excited his players have "bought in" and are targeting a podium finish in Spain.

Lemanis and his coaching staff - assistants Luc Longley, Trevor Gleeson and Mick Downer, and mentor-coach Adrian Hurley - are ambivalent about the national captaincy, leadership in the past leading to splits in some Boomers teams.

"(The captaincy), it's not something we've addressed as yet," Lemanis said.

"I haven't spoken to the team yet (about it) but my philosophy is everybody has a responsibility to lead at different times, in different situations.

"Sometimes people can hide behind that (the captain) and maybe not step forward when they could."

Lemanis said the role - which does carry some off-court responsibilitites - would be addressed when the team leaves for its preparatory games in Europe ahead of the World Cup.

But it was likely to be a shared responsibility and not as clear cut as it was in the past with players such as Matt Nielsen and Andrew Gaze.

Lemanis knows he has a potentially great team on his hands, despite the absences of the two players who would have been the first selected - Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills - and Aleks Maric.

"The team has very good chemistry," he said.

There also has been an attitude shift from the hopeful and tentative days of medal dreaming to a more confident and forthright approach.

Ask any of this team what its medal chances might be and the answer comes back very firmly - excellent.

Dual-Olympian and Euroleague champion Joe Ingles was outspoken about Australia's medal chance a month ago and losing Bogut and Mills hasn't dampened that.

"We're not afraid to say it's going to be hard and we're not afraid to say it's going to be our goal over there to get a medal," he reiterated this week.

"We're not going to change our goals after a few injuries."

Lemanis loves that his young team is fearless about what lies ahead, confident but not cocky, assured and focused on a goal.

This is a goal-oriented group and has an excellent run of lead-up matches in Europe to get its game in shape for a run at something special.

Nathan Jawai's return from injury is the "feel good" story of this campaign.

Since his devastation of the NBL in his 2008 Rookie of the Year season, a season in which he also snared MVP honors at the All Star Game and averaged 17.3ppg and 9.4 rpg - so much has been expected of the 27-year-old.

But the 208cm giant's road hasn't been an easy one.

In fact last year it looked as if his career might even be over when he was hospitalised with neck and back pains causing dizziness while playing for Turkey's Galatasary.

That was after his NBA fortunes almost were cut down when it was discovered he had a heart irregularity during his medical ahead of his stint with Toronto Raptors.

He played six games for the Raptors and 39 more at Minnesota Timberwolves before heading to Europe where he eventually teamed with Ingles at Barcelona in its 2012-13 Euroleague Final Four run.

The neck and back issues though looked the most threatening to Big Nate ever fulfilling his undoubted potential.

"Sometimes you need a major event that scares you and makes you realise what's important to you," Lemanis said.

Jawai headed to Canberra and the AIS for a painstaking six months of rehabilitation. Returning to full health and then winning a berth on the World Cup team were his goals.

Mission accomplished.

"I was thrilled by his attitude over the past six months," Lemanis said.

"He really did what was necessary to get to this point."

And it isn't as if the affable giant with the thunderous dunk wasn't grateful.

"Big THANKS to the @australian_institute_of_sport and @basketballaus for your patience and support during these past 6 months. Shout out to (Brad, Jono, Andrej, Aaron, Adam,Marcus, Amanda, Megan, Toni Ward, Casey ..) and the rest of the staff. And the COE boys. My recovery wouldn't be the same without you all. THANK YOU!!" he posted on Facebook.

A fit, healthy Jawai adds a new dimension to the Boomers' frontcourt. Put simply, there's no-one else quite like him.

Apart from his obvious size and physical gifts, he also is a deft and smart passer out of the post.

"Nate is a difference-maker, no question," Lemanis said.

"We don’t have a body type like that."

While Jawai's success arguably is the most notable, some have been quick to pounce on Ben Simmons' omission as equally notable.

The high school prodigy is projected as a high NBA draft pick - some even have him at #1 - after he logs some time at Lousianna State University.

But the fact he only consistently has been competing against other high school bodies worked against him at this juncture in what no doubt will be a stellar career.

"Ben just wasn't ready yet," Lemanis said. "He will be a good player and will certainly feature in Boomers campaigns in the future.

"But he has been competing against high school kids.

"He is not far away."

The Rio Olympics are just two years away, after all.

"To be honest, everybody could have made it," Lemanis said of his previous 17-man squad.

"The coaching staff had a lot of discussions about the (selection and combination) possibilities.

"It wasn't an easy team to pick."

But it's a beaut and it has a podium finish in its sights.

Finally we have a team that believes.

World Cup bound are: David Andersen, Cameron Bairstow, Aron Baynes, Ryan Broekhoff, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Adam Gibson, Chris Goulding, Joe Ingles, Nathan Jawai, Brock Motum, Brad Newley. Coach: Andrej Lemanis. Assistants: Luc Longley, Mick Downer, Trevor Gleeson. Mentor: Adrian Hurley.