star Patrick Mills is spending his days

watching TV from the couch, strumming

his guitar and keeping in touch

with his 1000-plus Facebook friends.

In his afternoons he visits the AIS

to shoot a few baskets with the

institute squad, but mostly he's

enjoying a good honest bludge.

Less than 90 days out from the

Olympic Games, most coaches would

explode if they knew one of their star

athletes was so blissfully unoccupied.

But Australia coach Brian Goorjian

couldn't be happier to see his

19-year-old guard off duty after his

first US college season came to an

end in March.

''Patrick's a small guy who's played

in really tough competition continuously

now for more than 12 months,''

Goorjian said.

''His game at an international level

is putting pressure on people, moving

the ball up the floor and creating

for others offensively and

defensively.

''The basis of that is his engine, so

you want his tank filled and you want

him moving freely. It's great he's

resting right now.''

Mills is quick to admit he was

drained and sore at the end of his

freshman season with California college

St Mary's, which rose to a

national top-25 ranking thanks

largely to its Canberra import.

After superb early season form,

including a 37-point game last

November which shot him to

national attention in the US, teams

worked hard to shut him down.

The extra defensive scrutiny took

its toll, although Mills worked hard to

stay involved on court up until his

team was knocked out of the NCAA

tournament.

''The exhaustion and the tiredness

at the end of the season came from a

year and half with no break,'' Mills

said.

''It's harder when you're fatigued,

but as my coaches always say, to be a

great player you need to play through

the fatigue and the adversity you

face.''

Mills' holiday at home will come to

an end at the end of the month when

the Boomers squad assembles for a

five-day camp at the AIS.

From there the squad will move to

Perth for another camp ahead of a

three-game home series against Iran,

its first international appointment in

the run to Beijing.

Australia has been drawn in the

tougher side of the Olympics draw in

a pool with Argentina, Lithuania,

Russia and Iran.

Goorjian said he was eager to see

Mills on court again to judge how far

he had come since his international

debut last year.

He said for the Boomers to make

the medal podium in China, Mills

would have to produce at an even

higher level.

''Patrick is going to have to have a

great tournament in order for us to

reach our goals in Beijing,'' Goorjian

said.

''But he doesn't have to carry us on

his own. We've got CJ [Bruton], we've

got other horses. But Patrick's going

to have to be great and move his

game up a level from where it's at

now.''