- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Australian men’s basketball team’s six-game winning streak has come to an end after a one-point loss to Croatia on their European tour today.
The Boomers, who are still missing superstar centre Andrew Bogut, had beaten Iran (three times), New Zealand (twice) and Croatia in an encouraging build-up to the Beijing Olympics.
But they suffered an 82-81 defeat in Rijeka, Croatia, earlier today.
David Barlow led the way for the Australians with a team-high 17 points, backed up by Chris Anstey (12), Patrick Mills (11) and CJ Bruton (11).
But an 18-point haul by Croatia’s Marko Popovic, the reigning MVP of their domestic league, steered the hosts to victory.
Trailing by six points at halftime, Australia fought back to lead by seven in the third quarter.
But Popovic drilled three three-pointers in the last five minutes of the last term to ensure the two-game series ended at one game apiece.
Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian wasn’t too upset about the defeat as he continues to rotate his players in preparation for the Olympics.
“Everyone got some court time and I played a lot of different combinations and we’re realising what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
“Our defence wasn’t there at the level it has been but we saw patches of it in the third quarter and we will need to get back to what we’re good at if we’re going to win games in Athens.”
He was referring to the next leg of their European tour in Greece, where they will contest the Acropolis Tournament against Croatia, Brazil and the host nation before returning home on July 12.
The Boomers hope to have Bogut back in the fold for a camp on the Gold Coast from July 15-23 before heading to China for another warm-up tournament and a clash with the US Dream Team just ahead of the Olympics.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.