Following upset wins over France and Serbia, the Boomers are undefeated and proving they’re not to be taken lightly in Rio.
Led by their NBA stars, the Boomers followed up an impressive 87-66 win against France with a gutsy 15-point defeat over Serbia on Tuesday.
NBA champions Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills have all been instrumental in Australia’s defeat of the fifth and sixth-ranked teams in the world.
Bogut dominated the French team with 18 points on 9/10 shooting and five assists in a perfect 22 minutes from the big man. Mills has been Australia’s go-to player on the offensive end, with the point guard recording 21 points against France before backing up with a game-high 26 points against Serbia.
While Mills and Bogut have both been invaluable for the Boomers, it’s the most recently crowned NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova that’s stolen the show. Delly impressed with his trademark defensive hustle and creative ball distribution against France, but it was his offensive game that was on full display against Serbia.
The scrappy point guard recorded 23 points on 7/8 shooting including three from beyond the arc. More impressively, Delly dished out 13 assists without recording a single turnover; an amazing feat by the 25-year-old from Melbourne.
While the tournament is still in the pool stages, you can’t ignore what the Boomers have already achieved in their first two matches. Australia has shot 49 per cent from the field with an efficiency rating of 117.5; this ranks second to Team USA’s 52 per cent shooting and 151 efficiency rating.
Keep in mind Venezuela and China are significantly less talented teams compared to France and Serbia so the Aussie’s are right on track for their meeting with USA later this week.
Australia will take plenty of confidence heading into Thursday’s game with the USA in what may well be the preview of the gold medal match held on August 22nd. Win or lose however, the Boomers have already guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals
With France already a casualty and Spain and Argentina looking vulnerable in the early stages of the tournament, the Boomers find themselves in unchartered territory as one of the competitions legitimate threats to capture that elusive medal.
Australia, it’s time to start believing in our boys.
Machooka
Roar Guru
You are correct MelbCro... my bad! I suppose what I was referring to was both the World Championships and the Olympics. And in the Olympics, although we have done better than previous World Championships, we always seem to come against Team USA at the pointy end of the competition. So reaching the semis at the Olympics a few times is no mean feat for a supposed two-bit joint that is Aussie B/Ball :)
MelbCro
Guest
Think you are being a bit harsh in your Boomers historical assessment. They've made the Olympic semi's on 3 occasions and have made the QF stage on 6 occasions. That sounds like a very good record to me
Machooka
Roar Guru
Well done Michael on your first article... and a good read. As a long time fan of the game it's always been a frustrating time for Aussie fans come the Olympics for their support of the Boomers. Usually we've had to console ourselves with the plight of the Opals, and not that that's in anyway a bad thing, but it's the Boomers that have always struggled to escape the pool stages. This has usually been the result of not having all the available talent at hand to put out a competitive team through injury, or otherwise. But now we have a team... a real team... a team that can compete, do damage, and go deep in the competition. Yeah baby! And when I say team I mean the sum of it's parts... and the Boomers have that in spades in this team. So with games against China and Venezuela to come, there's now a real chance that the Boomers can kick on. Of course, the game against Team USA is a 'tank' game, and I'm not too sure what strategy the coaching staff will employ here... but eitherway it doesn't effect our ambitions of moving on from our pool to next rounds. This team has already done what no other Boomer team has done before, in winning their first two games back to back. And if they keep building on their successes then it's looking real promising for a chance at a medal. But realistically it's still one game at a time presently... and hopefully more wins will only advance our Olympic crusade. Go Boomers... there's never been a better opportunity!
Michael Madelly
Roar Rookie
I originally didn't believe the threesome of Delly, Patty and Bogut could get us anywhere near the talent of the French, Spain, Argentina and ofcourse the USA. I was wrong. Determination and good old fashioned Aussie spirit is taking these boys to new heights. If they can finish 2nd in the group standings (which I believe they should do easily and avoid the USA until the Final) I dont think Argentina or Spain have the quickness and/or youth to keep up with our boys. However, experience isn't something you can buy and that may well and truly be their downfall in their quest for silver. Bronze is looking like a great possibility though. I just can't wait until until Tokyo 2020. Simmons, Delly, Maker, Exum, Baynes, Mills, Ingles......That's a scary team!
jamesb
Guest
Imagine if the Boomers had Ben Simmons in the squad. It also helps when you have players like Mills, Bogut and Delly win an NBA title. That sort of success breeds confidence, not just to those players, but to the rest of the team.
B-Rock
Roar Guru
This is our best chance to medal since the height of the Gaze/Heal/Longley era. Of course, the US will win comfortably, but its very even after that, with Australia, Spain, Argentina, Lithuania, Croatia, Brazil, Serbia and France all able to beat each other on any given day. A really interesting mix of teams, with ageing groups (Argentina, Spain, Brazil, France) coming up against emerging young teams (Croatia, Serbia). China, Nigeria and Venezuela are making up the numbers. Interestingly, the current Australia and Lithuania teams are more balanced in terms of experience, not the most talented but have more players in their prime. As a result, they may be a chance to medal in what is a very even race for Silver