Brisbane due Cameron Bairstow and Brock Motum star in Boomers’ win over China in Rio
BRISBANE pair Cameron Bairstow and Brock Motum stepped up to lead the Boomers to a dominant win over China this morning.
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BRISBANE pair Cameron Bairstow and Brock Motum have stepped up to lead the Boomers to a dominant win over China this morning.
With NBA big man Andrew Bogut rested for the clash, Bairstow and Motum took their opportunities as Australia bounced back from a tough loss to the U.S. with a 93-68 victory in Rio.
Brisbane Bullets signing Bairstow top scored with 17 points and also grabbed nine rebounds while Motum recorded 13 points in the Boomers’ third win from four games to start the Olympics.
The win qualified Australia for the crossover stages and a win over Venezuela on Monday morning will secure second in Group A.
“Another day and another step towards our goal. It was great to have to back up after a tough loss to the USA and play a team that were desperate for a win and had nothing to lose,” assistant coach Mick Downer said.
“Sometimes it can be challenging when you’re the favourites for a game and we embraced this opportunity. China have great size and quickness in there guards, they presented a great challenge to us particularly early but we were able to wear them down over the forty minutes.
“Some guys really relished they additional opportunities as we rested Andrew with the aim of improving his recovery and preparation moving forward.
“To think he was originally a long shot to make the Olympics due to his injury but his absolute stoic professionalism toward his rehab and the support by our medical staff has been first class.”
Downer also praised the performance of Bairstow, who also impressed against the U.S. on Thursday.
“Today’s game provided opportunities and Brisbane’s own Cam Bairstow stepped up with a great game at both ends of the floor,” he said.
“Having five guys in double figures and the way we continued to share the ball and find shots for each other was great to see.
“It would be easy to single out each guy in the team about the various positive impacts they had in different parts of the game but the collective effort was the most pleasing.
“We have one day of training to get ready for our next opponent Venezuela.
They are passionate and unpredictable and play an exciting style of game. It will be business as usual for us.”
OPALS TAKE ON BELARUS
The Opals have the opportunity to finish the group stages undefeated when they take on Belarus in the morning.
Australia have been inconsistent so far in Rio but have put it together when they needed to.
Australian women’s basketball legend Sandy Brondello, who now coaches the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, said the Opals still looked the goods to contend for a gold medal.
“The Opals are right where they need to be at this time in the tournament with winning all Of their group play games,” she said.
“They had a great comeback yesterday against Japan which highlighted their fight and chemistry of this team to make the big plays when it counted.
“Liz (Cambage), Penny (Taylor) and Leilani (Mitchell) are leading the way from the front with great contributions from Mariana Tolo and Erin Phillips especially on defensive end.
“The Belarus game will hopefully be a game to get some players more playing time and confidence leading into the all important quarterfinal games which will most likely be against Serbia.”
The Opals tip-off against Belarus at 1.15am.
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