Four-time Olympian Phil Smyth says Boomers have genuine shot at gold after pushing US stars
FANS were glued to TV sets across the nation as the Boomers fell tantalisingly short of the USA today in Rio, but there’s an upside says Phil Smyth.
IT was the game that stopped a nation, and four-time Aussie Olympian and past Boomers captain Phil Smyth now believes prospects of a gold medal in Rio are genuine.
Smyth watched the thriller between Australia’s Boomers and the defending champion, NBA-based USA live on Thursday morning, along with a spellbound audience across Australia.
The tip-off was 7.30am in SA - 8am in the eastern states - and while it meant hundreds arriving late to work, it gave mainstream Australia a real chance to see their team against the world’s undisputed best.
It wasn’t until Melbourne-born US point guard Kyrie Irving stuck a three-point dagger with 95 seconds left that the champs had some breathing space, ahead 93-86.
And while Matthew Dellavedova closed it again to 88-93, the Aussies had to foul to stop the clock, the final margin blowing out to 98-88 but never indicative of the drama that had gone before.
“We clearly believe we can take them in a gold medal game,” said Smyth, whose 1988 Boomers were the first to reach the medal rounds, losing the bronze medal game to the USA.
Since Seoul though, the USA has been suiting its NBA millionaires, starting with 1992’s Dream Team in Barcelona.
“If we get there - and taking your eyes off the ball for even a moment is extremely perilous - the guys believe in their ability to win it all,” Smyth said.
“The world recognition for the quality of Australian basketball has gone through the roof.
“Everyone in the world now knows we can play basketball to this level.
“It’s a huge shot in the arm for Australian basketball and for our own NBL.”
Rio Olympians David Andersen (Melbourne United), Cam Bairstow (Brisbane Bullets), Chris Goulding (Melbourne United), Kevin Lisch (Sydney Kings) and Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats) all will be back in the NBL from tip-off on October 6.
Smyth, who played 345 games for Australia, said the match was as good a game of basketball as he’s seen.
“As far as a loss goes, it was the best loss I’ve ever seen,” he said.
In the end, Carmelo Anthony was the difference, stroking 9-of-15 threes in his match-high 31 points, passing David Robinson and then LeBron James to become the USA’s all-time leading scorer.
But while a nation was proud of the performance, the Boomers were less impressed, NBA champion centre Andrew Bogut making his disappointment clear.
“We’re disappointed. We had every opportunity. We still lost the game,” he said, acknowledging fans would be happy but the team felt it had blown a chance.
“Let’s not sugar-coat it, we lost the game,” he said.
If the loss of a game could be termed a success in the greater scheme of things, this most certainly was it.