A side shorn of key players like David Andersen, Glen Saville and Chris Anstey through injury, and Matthew Nielsen because of an insurance dispute with his club side in Lithuania, Lietuvos Rytas, the Australians have turned to Mackinnon, a player whose career had been in jeopardy because of a knee problem but now appears to be fully fit.

Mackinnon led the Boomers to the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year and now, due to the absence of others, is a key man in Japan.

He is starting at power forward, despite being small for the position at just 1.97m in height.

After scoring 15 points in Australia¡¯s 83-77 win over Brazil on Saturday, Mackinnon said: ¡°It¡¯s great for me. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been here (with the national team), and I¡¯m loving it.

¡°Goorj (coach Brian Goorjian) gave me a great opportunity, so I¡¯m trying to reward him and play well.¡±

Goorjian had called Mackinnon the ¡°surprise package¡± even before the Brazil game.

¡°He was dynamic in the Commonwealth Games,¡± Goorjian said. ¡°England and New Zealand were a challenge, and he was our go-to guy at the position."

Goorjian said that once Anstey got hurt in the Al Ramsey Shield against New Zealand in the build-up to Japan, the power forward position became Mackinnon¡¯s "rightful spot".

¡°It would be hard to do with Nielsen and Andersen there, but without them, instead of playing him at a three but at a four, he¡¯s a better player. And he knows it.

¡°He talked about it even when we had Anstey ¨C the three of them together, we seemed very slow up the floor and very lethargic and in the half-court, very stationary."

Goorjian concedes that Mackinnon may have a disadvantage when he is on defense, but Mackinnon has been a warrior on the boards.

He had six rebounds against Brazil, and was tenacious on defense with one block.

Mackinnon actually blocked two other shots and appeared to get all ball, and was unlucky to be hit with two fouls. He eventually fouled out after having played 29 minutes.

¡°(Andrew) Bogut¡¯s our guy, but he¡¯s (Mackinnon) been our surprise package at this level and he¡¯s done it on the glass, too. ¡°

Confidence in the Boomer camp is soaring after the win over Brazil.

¡°We beat France (in the Stankovic Cup), we¡¯ve just beaten Brazil,¡± Mackinnon said.

¡°We just need to keep the intensity up for 40 minutes. I think we can do well, I just hope that other people start to believe in us as well.¡±