Well that was disappointing wasn't it? Like me, I hope you trusted the Boomers v Slovenia game to your Foxtel IQ, rather than waking up at one in the morning.

If you did watch live, you're probably kicking yourself knowing that you'll never get those two hours of your life back. It was one of the poorest efforts I've ever seen from an Australian national team. It was uglier than Nenad Krstic's receding hairline.

What was so disappointing wasn't the fact that the Boomers lost to Slovenia. After all, that's a country that takes its basketball seriously and has had at least six players in the NBA at one time or another.

But the way the Boomers lost was quite another thing. Yes, the Slovenians shot the lights out, hitting 50 per cent from the field. The Boomers, on the other hand, shot a miserable 31 per cent, making just two of 19 from beyond the three-point arc. They also had a measly five assists (compared to Slovenia's 18) and on defense, the Slovenians rarely had to work hard to get a decent shot.

So what's the washup from this tournament as we look ahead to London 2012?

Let's start with the good news. The Brett Brown era began with a commitment to up-tempo basketball, and athletic guys like Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and Brad Newley showed flashes of great play.

We also can't forget that this young squad was missing its best player, Andrew Bogut, still recovering from a broken arm.

But there are some major deficiencies and this tournament showed them in a glaring light.

The defense is probably the most obvious weakness. Time and time again in Turkey, Australian defenders were slow to react to screens, going under, instead of over the screen, and were beaten off the dribble.

Basic fundamentals were also lacking. I can't tell you the number of times players failed to block out their man or didn't provide help defense when a teammate was beaten.

Against Serbia, with a couple of seconds left in the half, and the Serbians taking the ball out under their basket, the Boomers allowed a simple inbounds play to work against them. In the lucky win over lowly Jordan, only good fortune - and some Jordanian inaccuracy - kept the Boomers from the tournament's biggest upset.

But these should be fixable things. Brown is an experienced coach who will be confident that he and his staff can change the mindset and solidify the defense.

The bigger question might be who exactly will run the show in London. There's no doubt Mills is our most talented point guard, but he waffles between the drive-and-dish mentality and the Allen Iverson shoot ‘em up style. He threw up 16 shots against Slovenia, hitting just six.

Part of me thinks that despite his small stature, Mills is much better as a two guard. But then who runs the point? Damian Martin had a great NBL season, but barely saw the floor in Turkey. Matthew Dellavedova of St. Mary's College in the US might be an answer in two years' time.

Ingles raised his standard of play significantly from past Boomer contributions, and there's no doubt his year in Spain helped immensely. He's stronger and more confident, but is still prone to turnovers, driving and leaving his feet, with no shot and no one to dish to.

Adam Gibson, who has worked as hard as anyone in the past few years to make himself a better player, is not a world championship quality starter. I love Gibbo - worked with him at the South Dragons - but he struggles to match up with the world's best.

Matt Nielsen and David Andersen gave their usual solid contributions - Andersen was dominant against lesser opposition - while Aleks Maric will be much better in 2012 after a few more years of European professional experience. Bogut's presence will make it easier for these other big men.

This was the first go ‘round for Brown and assistant coaches Shane Heal and Andrej Lemanis, and they'll need to take a hard look at personnel as well as playing style as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics.

There were plenty of critics of former coach Brian Goorjian after a seventh place finish in Beijing. At this point, after watching the Boomers in Turkey, I think I'd be happy with a seventh place finish in London.