Two NBA talented teams Australia and France will battle to become the second-best team in Group A in the global multi-event Rio Olympics Basketball Tournament 2016 at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday 6th of August. Dellavedova was dishing out assists, first an alley-oop to Bogut for the slam, then to Mills for the lay-up. Australia’s ball movement and patience on offence was better than most expected, after somewhat disappointing play in the exhibition games.
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“They plan “man” basketball”, said Serbia center Miroslav Raduljica, who scored a team-high 25 points Monday.
The Australians set the stage for their win early, controlling most of the first half behind strong inside scoring from Bogut and Baynes.
Spurs guard Patty Mills led Australia with 21 points and 5 assists, while Andrew Bogut added 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. Baynes ensured his presence was felt too, finishing with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Mills spent time on the floor being stretched out, while Bogut – coming off a miracle fast knee-injury recovery – was regularly sat and worked on.
It was a dominant performance by the Australians who, despite a brief French rally late in the first half, were always in control of the match. Bogut repeatedly rolled to the basket and caught passes for layups in a game that evoked memories of his 11-of-12 shooting against Air Force as a Ute sophomore in 2005. Delly came out of the local Bay Area school St Marys, but didn’t even get a camp invite.
The Boomers loved having Bogut back at something resembling full strength, after he returned by playing nine minutes July 31 in an exhibition win over China in Argentina.
Every team that faces the Team USA seems to be stunned from the time they meet on the court.
Irving, who was selected as the number one National Basketball Association draft pick in 2011 and named rookie of the year the following season, has a fondness for Australia but he has never regretted his decision to pledge his allegiance to Team USA.
The top four from Group A will progress to playing Group B in quarterfinal knock-out match-ups. US took home two gold medals at Beijing in 2008 and in London during 2012 Olympics, and became the favorite team at Rio.
“They’re trying to get things right (for the athletes)”, he said. Beating three would seemingly easily secure second spot from here but that’s assuming all goes to plan.
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The Boomers got off to a flying start, jumping out to an 18-9 lead in the first quarter. With the group that we have, we believe that we can beat them.
