Spurs’ Mills: Boomers will be unsatisfied with anything short of podium finish in Spain

0

Patty MillsFor San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, finishing with anything short of a medal in next year’s World Cup will be seen as a failure.

Mills told stuff.co.nz that after rebuilding for four years and finishing seventh in last Summer’s Olympic games, Australia is ready to go after a medal.

“That's got to be our mentality. It's the one we had in London and it has to be the mentality in every tournament we play in. Whether it's the next world championships or the Olympics, our goal has got to be to win a medal.”

Mills made waves with his performance with the Boomers during the Olympics, making him a hot commodity in the free agent market last Summer before the Spurs re-signed him.

Mills will be joined on Team Australia with fellow Spur Aron Baynes. If the team is able to get Andrew Bogut back on the national roster, that should go a long way in assuring Australia gets to the podium at the FIBA World Cup, a feat they have never accomplished in 10 appearances.

“There's no point going into tournaments just to compete … we have to believe we can do it. Deep down inside, I think we can get to that point at some stage in the near future.”

Mills will be with Australia when they play New Zealand in the second game of the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship series on August 18.

The series will be the first time Australia will be without their longtime coach and Spurs assistant Brett Brown as Andrej Lemanis takes the reigns as the national team’s new head coach.

“I can't say enough personally for what Brett has done for me personally and our team,. He came in after the Beijing Olympics and said this is our unit, we're going to start from scratch and build this team, try and form a powerhouse.”

Mills said Lemanis will continue where Brown left off and keep the same system as the Boomer look to achieve new goals.