The Boomers have advanced to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics, but there is a long and nerve-wracking wait ahead.
Australia, who had the fate of the Paris Olympics in their hands, flopped in a 77-71 loss to Greece on Friday night, faltering at the final hurdle in a sluggish second quarter.
To qualify for the quarterfinals, they had to beat Greece, who had lost the first two games of the group stage.
Instead, the Boomers will have to wait for the results of the games in Spain and Canada to see if their hopes of making it to the podium again remain.
Fortunately for Australia, Canada held on in a thriller 88-85, allowing the Boomers to take second place.
Australia will find out who their quarter-final opponent will be when the remaining pool matches conclude tomorrow.
Match Center: Boomers vs. Greece live updates
Giannis Antetokounmpo got everything he wanted early on. (Photo by: Bryan SNYDER / POOL / AFP) Source: AFP
Coach Brian Gaujan was not at all impressed with what he saw.
“There were a lot of hero balls, a lot of heads falling, a lot of poor defense,” Gouljan said, according to News Corp..
“It kept us from playing the defense we know we can play.
“I thought we did a better job in the second half. I thought it was a two-part story.
“We have a young point guard in his first Olympics. Players who are 20 or 21 years old, I don’t know if they’ve ever played in a game of this magnitude.
“But in the second half, it was all about the huddle, talking, grit and ball movement.”
Australia shot just 48 percent from the free-throw line and 10-of-21 from the charity stripe.
Turnovers (16) were also an issue, but 3-point shooting was once again inconsistent as the Boomers made 9 of 26 from deep.
Jock Landale (17 points, 8 rebounds) led the Boomers in scoring, but he had already picked up three fouls by halftime, forcing Brian Gaugin to play Will Magnay and Duop Reese more than expected. I no longer get it.
Gougian already had to call up Magnay earlier than expected as the Boomers struggled to contain Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks star finished with just 20 points.
But the bigger problem for the Boomers was the fact that Antetokounmpo’s teammates were also making plays, proving that Greece is far from the one-man wrecking team some had envisioned.
Thomas Walkup and Nick Calates were both heavily involved early on and had complete performances in the backcourt. Walkup had 18 points and Calates had eight assists.
Meanwhile, Dinos Mitoglou and Vasilis Triopoulos combined for 26 points.
In fact, it could have been even worse for the Boomers, considering Daniels was unlikely to return after going down with his left knee in the second quarter.
Thankfully, Dyson Daniels was able to return. (Photo credit: Thomas COEX / AFP) Source: AFP
Daniels was a breakout player for the Boomers at the Olympics, further establishing himself as one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball and showing significant improvement offensively.
Thankfully for the Boomers, Daniels headed to the locker room and quickly returned to the court.
But there was little Daniels could do alone to save the Boomers. The Boomers trailed 28-12 in the second quarter and found themselves on the wrong side of a lopsided scoreboard at halftime.
The Boomers were able to keep the game close in the first quarter thanks to Landale’s work inside, but Patty Mills and Jack McVay hit a few 3-pointers at key moments to keep things going from deep. was raised.
However, as their outside shooting dried up and turnovers began to increase, the Boomers team began to crumble while the Greek professional team made further advances.
The Boomers started fighting back in the fourth quarter and came within two points of Greece, but the hole was ultimately too big to climb out of.
Joe Ingles was the only Boomer player who didn’t see playing time, and Josh Green struggled to get into his usual rhythm throughout the tournament, receiving just four minutes.
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