Rio Australian Boomers take team to winning overall record in Olympics for first time in history
THE Boomers are one win away from a historic Olympics gold medal game and they’ve already achieved an unprecedented feat for Aussie basketball.
THE 2016 edition of the Boomers have already made history - and there could be plenty more to come.
Australia’s 90-64 victory over Lithuania marked the first time in history the Boomers have held a positive win-loss record in Olympic competition (52-51). Australia first competed at the 1956 Games in Melbourne.
The fact Australia advanced to the semi-finals in Rio at the expense of world No. 3 Lithuania was significant.
The Lithuanians have been responsible for knocking Australia out of two of the three bronze medal games they have contested in 2000 and 1996 (the USA accounted for the Boomers 78-49 in their only other medal game in 1988). Lithuania were 4-1 against the Boomers in Olympic competition entering this morning’s game.
The Boomers entered Rio ranked 11th by FIBA and have gone on to defeat Serbia (ranked 6th), France (5th) and Lithuania (3rd) by an average of 17.3 points en route to a 5-1 record heading into the semis.
They have been led by Patty Mills, whose 24 points against Lithuania took him to No. 2 among all scorers at these Olympics, and past the 300 point barrier in all Olympic competition.
Mills has been Australia’s highest scorer at the past two Olympics with 318 points from 17 games.
Check out the Boomers’ all-time Olympic record below:
RIO, 2016
Finished: N/A
Record: 5-1
Wins: France, Serbia, China, Venezuela, Lithuania
Losses: USA
Squad: Chris Goulding, Patty Mills, Andrew Bogut, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Ryan Broekhoff, Cameron Bairstow, Kevin Lisch, Aron Baynes, David Andersen, Brock Motum, Damian Martin
Top scorer: Patty Mills 106 (21.1 PPG)
LONDON, 2012
Finished: 7th
Record: 3-3
Wins: China, Great Britain, Russia
Losses: Brazil, Spain, USA
Squad: David Andersen, David Barlow, Aron Baynes, Peter Crawford, Matthew Dellavedova, Adam Gibson, Joe Ingles, Aleks Maric, Patty Mills, Brad Newley, Matt Nielsen, Mark Worthington
Top scorer: Patty Mills 127 (21.2 PPG)
BEIJING, 2008
Finished: 7th
Record: 3-3
Wins: Iran, Russia, Lithuania
Losses: Croatia, Argentina, USA
Squad: Patty Mills, Andrew Bogut, Brad Newley, Chris Anstey, Matt Nielsen, David Andersen, CJ Bruton, David Barlow, Glen Saville, Mark Worthington, Joe Ingles, Shawn Redhage
Top scorer: Patty Mills 85 (14.2 PPG)
ATHENS, 2004
Finished: 9th
Record: 2-4
Wins: Angola, New Zealand
Losses: Greece, USA, Puerto Rico, Lithuania
Squad: David Andersen, Andrew Bogut, CJ Bruton, Martin Cattalini, Shane Heal, Brett Maher, Matt Nielsen, John Rillie, Paul Rogers, Tony Ronaldson, Glen Saville, Jason Smith
Top scorer: Shane Heal 100 (16.7 PPG)
SYDNEY, 2000
Finished: 4th
Record: 4-4
Wins: Russia, Angola, Spain, Italy
Losses: Canada, Serbia and Montenegro, France, Lithuania (bronze medal game)
Squad: Chris Anstey, Mark Bradtke, Martin Cattalini, Andrew Gaze, Ricky Grace, Shane Heal, Luc Longley, Sam McKinnon, Brett Maher, Paul Rogers, Jason Smith, Andrew Vlahov
Top scorer: Andrew Gaze 159 (19.9 PPG)
ATLANTA, 1996
Finished: 4th
Record: 5-3
Wins: South Korea, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Greece, Croatia
Losses: Serbia and Montenegro, USA, Lithuania (bronze medal game)
Squad: Ray Borner, Mark Bradtke, John Dorge, Scott Fisher, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Tonny Jensen, Sam McKinnon, Brett Maher, Pat Reidy, Tony Ronaldson, Andrew Vlahov
Top scorer: Andrew Gaze 190 (23.8 PPG)
BARCELONA, 1992
Finished: 6th
Record: 4-4
Wins: Puerto Rico, Venezuela, China, Germany
Losses: Unified Team, Lithuania, Croatia, Brazil
Squad: Ray Borner, Mark Bradtke, John Dorge, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Damian Keogh, Leroy Loggins, Luc Longley, Mike McKay, Larry Sengstock, Phil Smyth, Andrew Vlahov
Top scorer: Andrew Gaze 167 (20.9 PPG)
SEOUL, 1988
Finished: 4th
Record: 4-4
Wins: Puerto Rico, Central African Republic, South Korea, Spain
Losses: Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, USA (bronze medal game)
Squad: Ray Borner, Mark Bradtke, Wayne Carroll, Brad Dalton, Andrew Gaze, Damian Keogh, Luc Longley, Darryl Pearce, Larry Sengstock, Phil Smyth, Andrew Vlahov
Top scorer: Andrew Gaze 191 (23.9 PPG)
LOS ANGELES, 1984
Finished: 7th
Record: 4-4
Wins: Brazil, West Germany, Egypt, West Germany
Losses: Yugoslavia, Italy, Spain, Uruguay
Squad: Ray Borner, Andy Campbell, Wayne Carroll, Mel Dalgleish, Brad Dalton, Mark Dalton, Ian Davies, Andrew Gaze, Damian Keogh, Danny Morseu, Larry Sengstock, Phil Smyth
Top scorer: Ian Davies 131 (16.4 PPG)
MOSCOW, 1980
Finished: 8th
Record: 5-2
Wins: Italy, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Senegal, India
Losses: Cuba, Poland
Squad: Peter Ali, Steve Breheny, Perry Crosswhite, Mel Dalgleish, Ian Davies, Gordie McLeod, Danny Morseu, Les Riddle, Larry Sengstock, Phil Smyth, Michael Tucker, Peter Walsh
Top scorer: Ian Davies 205 (29.3 PPG)
MONTREAL, 1976
Finished: 8th
Record: 2-5
Wins: Mexico, Japan
Losses: Cuba, Soviet Union, Canada, Italy, Cuba
Squad: Tony Barnett, Andris Blicavs, Robbie Cadee, Andy Campbell, Perry Crosswhite, John Maddock, Eddie Palubinskas, Russell Simon, Ray Tomlinson, Michael Tucker, Peter Walsh, Ian Watson
Top scorer: Eddie Palubinskas 219 (31.3 PPG)
MUNICH, 1972
Finished: 9th
Record: 5-4
Wins: Japan, Brazil, Egypt, West Germany, Poland
Losses: Spain, USA, Czechoslovakia, Cuba
Squad: Tom Bender, Peter Byrne, Perry Crosswhite, Richard Duke, Ken James, Brian Kerle, Anatoli Koltuniewicz, Glenn Marsland, Eddie Palubinskas, Ray Tomlinson, Ian Watson, Bill Wyatt
Top scorer: Eddie Palubinskas 190 (21.1 PPG)
TOKYO, 1964
Finished: 9th
Record: 4-5
Wins: Peru, South Korea, Mexico, Japan
Losses: USA, Yugoslavia, Finland, Uruguay, Brazil
Squad: Michael Ah Matt, Ken Cole, Mike Dancis, Scott Davie, John Gardiner, Lindsay Gaze, Brendon Hackwill, John Heard,Les Hodi, Werner Linde, Carl Rodwell, Bill Wyatt
Top scorer: Bill Wyatt 147 (16.3 PPG)
MELBOURNE, 1956
Finished: 12th
Record: 2-5
Wins: Thailand, Singapore
Losses: Brazil, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Canada, Chinese Taipei
Squad: Peter Bumbers, Colin Burdett, George Dancis, Stan Dargis, Peter Demos, Ken Finch, Bruce Flick, Inge Friedenfelds, Geoff Heskett, Algis Ignatavicius, Merv Moy, Peter Sutton
Top scorer: George Dancis 114 (16.3 PPG)
Originally published as Rio Australian Boomers take team to winning overall record in Olympics for first time in history
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