The past, present and future of the Boomers collided at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night, as the Australians wrapped up their series against the New Zealand Tall Blacks with a 93-67 romp.

The past was in the form of legendary Boomers star Eddie Palubinskas, who celebrated his recent induction into Basketball Australia's Hall of Fame by giving a free throw shooting exhibition to the crowd at halftime. Palubinskas, who holds the world record for the most free throws made in an hour and was the one basketball shooting coach who actually managed to help NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal improve his woeful efforts at the line, was a member of the Boomers team at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. He was recently described by respected basketball writer Grantley Bernard of the Herald Sun as "the greatest shooter this country has produced” and quite rightly so. For the record, he knocked down 27 freebies in one minute at the half, much to the amazement of the crowd who counted along with every make.

The present of the Boomers is undoubtedly represented by Brisbane Bullets star Sam Mackinnon. For all the talk of those Boomers who were not available for the series (I can hear Goorj now doing his best Gene Hackman ‘Hoosiers’ impression – “I would hope you would support who we are, rather than who we are not”), Mackinnon established himself through Games One and Two as the Australian team’s pre-eminent player and legitimate leader. He has carried his form from last NBL season on into his international commitments and, barring injury, come Beijing he will likely be a key component of any Boomers medal tilt.

The future... well, let’s just say I have seen the future and his name is Patrick Mills. Of course, I wasn’t alone. Last night, 4516 other people also witnessed the arrival of the future as Mills confirmed the promise he displayed in Game One by absolutely scorching the Tall Blacks at every opportunity.

Bold predictions that rookie players will become mainstays of the national team are always dangerous, but what Mills showed last night was that Australia now finally has a young point guard to run its offence. Not a shooting guard who can run the point, not a point-forward, but a real, pass-first floor general.

And what a difference it made.

As soon as Mills was injected into the game, he was like a shot of adrenalin coursing through the team. It was as if four different guys stepped on the court with him – guys who would fill the lanes and run the floor because they knew that, if they got open, Mills would get them the ball in the right place at the right time. And he didn’t always do it by making a flashy pass (although he certainly pulled off enough of those to have the fans cheering). A lot of what made his performance so impressive was that he just played great fundamental basketball. He made early outlet passes and he pushed the ball hard up the court with his amazing speed to test the Tall Blacks transition D, drawing defenders and then dumping the ball to open players for the easy two.

But it wasn’t just his offence that has people buzzing. Mills showed a willingness to put his body on the line on D in this series, taking charges and diving after loose balls with a reckless disregard for his own physical wellbeing. And the kid defends his man full court the whole game. That’s tough enough, but when you consider he's been marking the lightning quick Mark ‘Sparky’ Dickel in this series it says something about the toughness of the teenager.

At the start of the game, it was obvious that Mills had some fans in the crowd as there was a group of sixteen people in Boomers singlets high up in the stands that each held up a letter to spell out 'WE LOVE PATTY MILLS'. Towards the end of the match, Mills had evidently jitterbugged his way into the hearts of everyone else too. When the court announcer asked if there were any members of his fan club in the house, the entire stadium responded.

The excitement he generated every time he had the ball in his hands was palpable, whether it was fearlessly driving the lane against the Tall Blacks big men, taking a long three or making a pinpoint pass. Every time Brian Goorjian called his number to enter the game, there was a ripple of anticipation from the crowd. He has even already been dubbed ‘The Excitement Machine’ by some members of the media.

I prefer ‘The Future’ myself, but after Wednesday night, Mills is already pressing claims for ‘The Present’.

At the end of the game, Goorjian made it clear that the 12 players who helped clinch the Boomers’ ticket to Beijing shouldn’t necessarily all start practicing using chopsticks.

"Not all of us will be in Beijing but this group has a special place in Australian basketball,” Goorjian said, as a stark reminder to his team that there was plenty of star power set to return to the line-up. One player who is expected to be available for Beijing is Brisbane guard CJ Bruton, who has been a mainstay of the Boomers line-up for the past few years. What CJ’s return will mean to Mills’ chances of selection remain to be seen but, after Wednesday night’s performance, it would be a brave man who bet against Mills making the squad in 2008.

Another player who might well battle Mills for one of the point guard spots in Beijing is the man who has actually started at the one for the Boomers in this series (although it would be easy to forget that little fact given the hype Mills has generated) – Darnell Mee.

When Mee became an Australian citizen, there was genuine excitement that the Boomers would be able to call on the services of the five-time NBL Best Defensive Player. In Europe and in Game One, Mee had his struggles but in the second half of Game Two, he started to look more like the player who has terrorised the NBL for so long. He grabbed rebounds and snared steals and looked much more comfortable as Goorjian had him post up the smaller Mark Dickel. The result was that Mee staked his very own claim to be considered for Beijing, creating a potential quandary for the Boomers selectors down the track.

Of course, they should be used to that sort of problem. The selection of Boomers teams for an Olympics or a World Championship always causes controversy, as the argument of experience versus potential inevitably rears its ugly head over the choices for the last few places.

Still, it’s never wise to ignore ‘The Future’.