Matthew Dellavedova and Australia go for a 2-game sweep of Gilas Pilipinas when they play in Bulacan on Monday. Courtesy of FIBA website

Former Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut knows a thing or two about playing with a target on one's back.

So he's the perfect person to urge a basketball program that has long seen itself as a David play a lot more like a Goliath.

As Australia churns out one NBA-caliber player after another in recent years, the Boomers' reputation as a title challenger has grown.

Bogut, who won an NBA championship with the Warriors in 2015, acknowledged that Australia's swagger hasn't exactly caught up yet with its growing stature in international basketball.

“We are going to be a top dog and people are going to be punching out for us, so we’ve got to come with a different mindset to what we’ve had in the past,” Bogut said in an article posted on the Australian Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

Australia, which will play the Philippines in their final Group B game in the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers on Monday, arrived in Manila Saturday afternoon.

The Boomers are coming off a shock 79-78 loss to lowly Japan on Friday night.

"It was a tough one for us tonight," Australia guard Matthew Dellavedova said in an article posted on New Zealand news website Stuff, referring to the defeat in Chiba city, a loss that tied the Australians and the Filipinos on top of their group with an identical 4-1 record.

"We didn't play very well on either end but you have to give Japan a lot of credit.

"They played really well, they knocked down shots and their big fellas played well."

Australia head coach Andrej Lemanis has long held the Gilas program in high regard, offering high praise even in the aftermath of the Boomers' 84-68 win in their first meeting in Melbourne in February.

"We spoke before the game about the fact that this would be a tough game and that we would need to play with a discipline and chemistry and be prepared to get into the grind for 40 minutes," Lemanis said in an article posted on the Herald Sun at the time.

For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.

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