Second Olympics for Landale

By Daniel Briggs

Jul 26, 2024

Jock Landale battles with Joel Embiid for the ball in the pre-Olympics showcase in Abu Dhabi. Photo by EPA/Ali Haider. Photo by ALI HAIDER

Jock Landale is in France for his second consecutive Olympics with the Australian basketball side.

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Landale - the son of Clive and Suellen Landale, who run the family properties in Deniliquin and district - has been a star on the courts in Australia, Europe and America.

He featured well at Tokyo in 2020 and received the call-up to the Boomers side again this year.

Landale and his Boomer teammates have been drawn into what many people are calling the “group of death“.

Each nation in the group will play each other once, meaning the Boomers will play three games at the very least.

The top two teams will advance through to the knockout stages, with the two best third placed teams from the groups.

Our local star and the Aussies will take on Spain in the first of the group matches on Saturday.

The game will be televised on the Nine Network at 7pm Australian time.

The Boomers will then take on Canada on July 20 (9.30pm Australian time) and Greece on August 2 (9.30pm Australian time).

The Boomers will want to get off to a strong start, considering the limited number of games and being drawn into a group with top nations like Spain, Canada and Greece.

All three are littered with NBA and Euroleague talent.

The Boomers squad (from left) Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Will Magnay, Matthew Dellavedova, Jock Landale, Patty Mills, Duop Reath, Jack McVeigh, Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Nick Kay and Dante Exum. Photo by AAP Image/James Ross. Photo by JAMES ROSS

But the Boomers have had a good warm up to the Olympics, having been tested against three of the highest touted teams going into the games.

In matches against the USA, Serbia and France, the Boomers had two wins and one loss.

Our local star shone particularly bright in his side’s loss to the USA, recording 20 points and getting seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Despite launching a miraculous comeback against the USA in the match in Abu Dhabi - after trailing USA by 24 points midway through the third quarter - the Boomers went down 98-92.

A talented centre, Landale began his professional career in Europe playing in Serbia and Lithuania before returning to Australia.

Landale took the NBL before him in his sole season with Melbourne United in 2021, his dominant post-season form netting him the Larry Sengstock Finals MVP.

His dominant campaign caught the eye of several NBA clubs, and he was signed by the San Antonio Spurs, where he made his debut alongside fellow Aussie Patty Mills.

In January 2022, he recorded his first NBA career double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points as the Spurs starting centre against the Clippers.

After 54 games with San Antonio, Landale was traded to Atlanta and then traded to the Phoenix Suns, playing 69 games in 2022-23 and a key role in their Western Conference semi-finals series against eventual champion Denver Nuggets.

In July 2023, he signed a four-year deal with the Houston Rockets.

He heads in to the Olympics after a strong season for the Rockets, taking part in 56 games for the regular season and contributing significantly in at least three.