Game 3 of the Boomers Olympics campaign will serve up a do or die scenario against China. Both teams are yet to register a victory and a loss will virtually ensure a premature end to the tournament.
Can the Boomers hold off the prospect of elimination and get their Medal hopes back on track? Join us from 8:15pm AEST to follow all the action of this cutthroat affair.
The Boomers are coming off a pair of losses to the highly rated Brazil and Spanish outfits. In game one the Aussies took a while to adjust before making a late run and falling short against Brazil 75-71.
The contest against Spain proved to be little more sided with the Spaniards taking the ascendancy in a third quarter which would see them outscore the Boomers 26-10 and all but wrap up an 82-70 victory with a quarter to play.
Outside shooting once again proved to the a thorn in the Boomers side. A 4-for-24 outing against Spain took the Aussies three-point shooting total to a woeful 8-for-46 for the tournament. Spain would also monster the Boomers on the boards, out-rebounding the smaller Aussie frontline 56-39.
The one positive coming out of the Spanish loss was the Australians ability to protect the ball. The Boomers would commit just the five turnovers against Spain compared to nineteen against Brazil. If the Boomers are to keep their tournament hopes alive they must once again limit their turnovers to single digits.
It’s no shock that Patty Mills struggles have been mirrored in the results column. As many expected coming in the Boomers success would depend upon Mills productivity and thus far the point guard has been misfiring on the offensive end. Mills has only connected on 13 of 39 shot attempts in the opening two games and has dished out just four assists. It is vital that Mills recaptures his shooting touch against the Chinese and takes that confidence into the remaining fixtures.
The Chinese outfit have also felt the wrath of Spain’s frontline, going down 97-81 in their opening contested before falling to an impressive Russian side 74-54 on Tuesday night. The main issue for China has been their lacklustre defense and poor ability to rebound.
China have allowed their opponents to shoot over 50% from the field (including three-pointers) in the tournament thus far and have been out-rebounded 85-54.
The Chinese squad is led by the Dallas Mavericks veteran towel waver Yi Jianlian. Yi’s age may be unknown and his NBA career a train wreck but you can’t ignore his production at the Olympic level. Thus far, Jianlian is averaging 23 points and 9.5 rebounds on 57% shooting.
Outside of Yi the Chinese have little to offer, especially in the way of guards. China’s squad may boast four players over 6’10” but this is generally a product of their selection system. China’s development criteria is based largely on height, hence the buffet of bigs and lack of talented guards.
If the Boomers can produce a similar spread offensively like they did in the first half against Spain, and Mills can recapture his pre-tournament form the Aussies should be able to account for the Chinese side relatively easily.
Unlike Brazil and Spain the Boomers should be able to break even against China’s bigs and use their superior athleticism and guard play to break down the Chinese side on the offensive end. Expect Mills and Dellavedova to get to the rim at will and for the Boomers to keep their Olympic hopes alive.
My Tip: Boomers 77, China 65.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
That wraps up Game 3 of the Boomers campaign with the Olympic dream still alive and well. Next up for the Boomers is the hosts Great Britain. Looking forward to your company again this Saturday night.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
For China is was the usual suspects with Yi Jianlian contributing 13 points and 12 rebounds but failed to have anywhere near his usual impact. Wang Shipeng was unconscious from long range scoring 21 points, all on three-pointers. Chen Jianghua chipped in with 10 points off the bench.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
Boomers didn't exactly light it up, shooting 39% from the floor and 33% from three. China didn't fair much better, finishing at 37% from the field but an impressive 58% from deep. Patty Mills had somewhat of a bounce back game depending on how you look at it. Mills finished with 20 points on 8-for-19 shooting, the positive being his outside shooting where Mills shot 4-for-8. David Anderson did all the damage early, scoring 17 points and adding 7 rebounds. Ingles was again impressive as the third wheel, contributing 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in another solid all around performance.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
I love a little bit of salt in the wound to finish off, ha. Good on him I say.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
All over and the Boomers win it 81-61. It was ugly on both ends of the floor but to their credit the Boomers were able to nullify the Chinese bigs and get the victory on the back of their flawless defense. Great Britain and Russia now on deck, with the matchup against the hosts a virtual must-win contest.
Aljay
Guest
Crawford gets some points!
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
Yi Jianlan hobbles off the court with some kind of leg injury. Things couldn't get any worse the the Chinese right now. A potential tournament ending defeat and the loss of their star player? 16-3 blowout in the fourth quarter to boot. Ouch.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
17 offensive rebounds for the Boomers though? I haven't seen numbers like that in probably a decade. Is this a replayed feed from 1998? Am I watching NBC on tape delay? We really wanted this W, the Boomers came to play tonight. Lead is 75-55, 2:32 remaining.
Aljay
Guest
Not too worried now, they're starting to look the way we did against Spain.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
Our interior defense has been A-grade all evening. China are just 9-for-31 on two point attempts and 8-for-16 from deep. Boomers our crushing their bigs on the glass as well, 45-34, with a whopping 17 of those rebounds being offensive. No easy buckets for the Chinese tonight.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
9-0 run for the Boomers now, as Mills hits a three. Have China gone all Badminton shenanigans on us? 1 point in 6 minutes of play. Boomers are home despite more than 4 minutes remaining. Aussies lead 70-53, 4:22 to play
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
This Chinese squad have completely fallen apart, more turnovers than points so far in the fourth quarter. Name a potential mistake in the game of basketball, China have ticked it off the checklist. Talk about a drought... 67-52 Boomers, 5:35 left
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
China have yet to score this quarter... Mills has a robotic block machine stuck to his back, he's having everything stuffed. This has turned into an over 50's rec game at the local YMCA. Turnovers and blown layups aplenty.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
It's usually his bread and butter, his whole game has been a little off. I'm not shocked by anything Mills related at this point.
Mella
Guest
shot blocked
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
Can someone fix Matt Nielsen? 0-for-3 and 0 points tonight, he's been non-existent thus far. 65-52 Boomers lead, 7:40 to play
Mella
Guest
How often has Mills been blocked the last few games, its getting weird.
Aljay
Guest
Correction, they follow us on rotations, but we don't have to fight for position at all, they give it up way to easily.
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
Anderson picks up his fourth foul, he'll head to the bench. Not an ideal start to the fourth quarter. Yikes...
Scotty Barby
Roar Guru
I don't want to hit the panic button just yet, but this game is far from over. Boomers went ice cold in that quarter, they're now down to 45% from the field and just 33% from three. Rebounding edge has been cut to 27-25. Boomers with just 6 turnovers, protecting the ball very effectively yet again.