Do you come from a land Down Under? A lot of the Nets answer yes.

In the lobby of HSS Training Center, just off the practice courts, is a metallic map of the world with magnetic (and thus easy to remove) tiles that mark the hometowns of Nets players, coaches, staff and even the owner whose tile is bigger than the rest.

In recent years, though, one corner of the map, lower right or down under, is getting filled up. The Nets are becoming Australia’s team.

The list is long. There’s Patty Mills and Kyrie Irving (born in Melbourne where his father played pro ball.) Then, there’s the “Melbourne Mafia” aka the performance team. Daniel Jones is the head of strength and conditioning; Les Gelis is director of sports medicine; Dan Meehan is director of sports science. Nearby, across the Tasman Sea on the map, is Sean Marks tile. (New Zealand is a separate country from Australia of course, but many geographers count New Zealand as part of the Australia the continent.)

It doesn’t end with the Nets map. The head coaches of the Long Island Nets, Adam Caporn, and the New York Liberty, Sandy Brondello, are Aussies. Thon Maker, just signed by Long Island, holds an Australian passport and played for the Boomers in FIBA competition. He’ll be working with the Long Island’s head of strength and conditioning, Karl Trounson, who formerly worked for Mills. On the Liberty roster are two Opals — Australia’s women’s basketball team — Rebecca Allen and Sami Whitcomb.

When we noted in a tweet that Maker is the latest Aussie to join the Nets larger organization, it got some attention from Down Under, including likes from various basketball writers, the official account of the Sydney Kings basketball team and even a member of Australia’s parliament. Our favorite contained this graphic...

The Nets have had some fandom in Australia in the past. Aussie fan favorite Mitch Creek fulfilled his NBA dream by playing three games with the Nets a couple of years ago. Four games, 3.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

A lot of this, of course, is about familiarity and connections. But also Australia has a very good reputation in sports internationally. Years ago, Australia decided that if it was going to succeed on the international stage against more populous countries like China, Russia and the U.S, it would have to invest in things like performance, sports science, development, etc. The result was things like the bronze medal the Boomers won in Tokyo.

Anyone else in the Pacific Pipeline? Hey, isn’t Ben Simmons Australian? Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?