PARIS, France – Consider the first chapter of the newly discovered Serbia-Australia conflict. The men’s team will fight for a spot in the semi-finals on Tuesday, after which the women’s team will open the second chapter, with the quarter-finals between Serbia and Australia taking place on court on Wednesday.
However, Chapter 1 had some prequels. Serbia and Australia know each other well and no secrets will be revealed at 14:30 local time on Tuesday.
major matchups
Bogdan Bogdanovic vs Patty Mills
As Bogdan Bogdanovic confirmed to us a few days ago, the two shooting guards spent some time together as teammates on the Atlanta Hawks last season and have often talked about making it to the Olympics and playing their best basketball here. We talked.
Bogdanovic expected a great answer last week.
Introducing Bogdan Bogdanovic, Serbia’s new all-time leader
Now you’re ready for a gunfight. Patty Mills averaged 13.3 points in the group stage at Pierre Mauroy Stadium, but made just 7-of-17 shots from the 3-point line.
However, Mills has already scored 28 points in a game against Serbia this summer. It was vintage Patty who led Australia to a double-digit victory over coach Svetislav Pesic’s side a week before the Olympics, when both teams played a friendly in Abu Dhabi.
Why not read this:
Vintage FIBA Patty scores 28 points as Australia defeats Serbia
If you want to see our content, you must accept targeting cookies
Accept targeting cookies
Mills will be competing in his fifth Olympic quarterfinal. Only Andrew Gase, Luis Scola, Pau Gasol and Rudy Fernandez have appeared in the quarterfinals five times, and Mills’ career average would see him score 22.0 points at this stage.
Meanwhile, Serbian fans will point to the squad for the friendly in Abu Dhabi and say that without Bogdan Bogdanovic, Serbia is a completely different team.
Bogdanovic is averaging 19.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists so far at the 2024 Olympics, shooting 54% from the field, 53% from deep and 89% from free throws on six attempts per game. and has achieved results.
The reason for choosing this matchup is obvious. Which of these two gets hotter will go a long way toward winning the game.
X factor
Australian youth vs Serbian ball pressure
Being a point guard means being responsible for coordinating the entire team. Therefore, it takes time to develop young players at “1” because we want them to mature as much as possible.
Another tough point guard matchup for Guidi.
Coach Brian Gaujan said youngsters Josh Guidi and Dyson Daniels struggled against Greece because they are less experienced at this level than Greece’s point guards, and now they face a tougher challenge. He said he is doing so.
That’s because Coach Pesic loves to put pressure on the ball with his left-handed trio. Alexa Abramovich usually starts as the toughest opposing guard, but Ognjen Dobric has the tools to take over.
Guduric puts pressure on Karlik Jones
Against South Sudan, Marko Guduric came off the bench to strengthen Karlik Jones’ defense, and all three know how to stay physical while staying out of foul trouble.
It was a big test for Guidi and Daniels, especially after coach Gaujan focused on that area.
statistics don’t lie
Both teams like the open court and look for fast break points every time. Even if that means Nikola Jokic having to throw a full-court pass after the opponent makes a free throw, or Josh Guidi getting a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast.
Serbia are scoring 21.3 fast break points per game, meaning Australia will need to control turnovers as much as possible in this game. In the group stage, he averaged 16.7 points per game.
Meanwhile, big players like Jock Landale and Nick Kaye are especially dangerous on offensive rebounds. Australia averaged 11.3 boards in that end and scored 13.3 second chance points per game. This is the only non-shooting area in which they were better than Serbia during pool play.
past matches
In 2016, Serbia and Australia were in the same group at the Rio Olympics, and Australia immediately sent a message to the world with a 95-80 victory over Serbia in the group stage.
Matthew Dellavedova couldn’t stop himself in this game, scoring 23 points and dishing out 13 assists in 29 minutes, making Australia a +21 team.
Dellavedova is still on the team, along with Patty Mills and Joe Ingles. Mills scored 26 points and Ingles scored 10 points for the Boomers, and with this victory the Boomers moved into second place in their group behind the United States.
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
Serbia vs Australia 2016
But not many people in Australia or Serbia remember the games from the 2016 Olympics. That’s because they met again in the semifinals in Brazil.
Serbia’s superb defense limited Australia to just 14 points in the first half. In the second half, the lead expanded to 31 points, and Serbia advanced to the championship game with an easy victory of 87-61.
For Serbia, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jokic are the only returning members from 2016. Jokic had nine points and 11 rebounds in the semifinals, while Bogdanovic finished with six points and six rebounds in the same category.
The only time Serbia faced Australia in a major tournament was in 2010. At the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Turkiye, Serbia won the group stage match 94-79.
FIBA
