Australia Boomers v USA: Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball semi-final, what time, how to watch
They’re arguably the most intimidating sight in the Olympics but as the Boomers get ready to tackle Team USA today, the Aussies want to make one thing clear – we don’t fear you.
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The Boomers want you to know one thing – they aren’t afraid of anybody.
And that includes Kevin Durant, Damien Lillard and Team USA’s fearsome $3.4 billion dollar lineup.
Three weeks after becoming the first team to defeat Team USA in consecutive games since the formation of the Dream Team in 1992, the Boomers get their chance to produce an upset that would send shockwaves through international basketball – and guarantee a first-ever Olympic medal for Australia.
Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said in the wake of his side’s heavy quarter-final defeat to USA that Gregg Popovich’s squad had ‘ten times more talent than any other team right here’, but Australia refuse to be intimidated by the sheer number of superstars on the other side of the court.
“In 15 years I don’t think I’ve gone in expecting to lose a game,” veteran Joe Ingles said.
“We’re well aware it’s a tough game. (Argentina) was a tough game. They’re all tough games.
“(But) we’re a confident group, we know what we do, we know where our bread is buttered. We’re gonna go in confident, it doesn’t matter who we play.”
If you lined up the two rosters side-by-side, few would give any hope to an Australian victory – despite their gritty triumph in Las Vegas last month in a Tokyo tune-up match.
But, says breakout star Matisse Thybulle, there’s nothing to be afraid of.
“They’re all human,” the Philadelphia 76ers guard said.
“But being a basketball player, having played against these guys a lot during the regular NBA season, we know that.
“It’s obviously going to be a different game, because as we were a different team back then, they were too.
“Our ability to adjust, keep getting better and trusting ourselves and what we do together on the court is really going to be the true test.”
Dante Exum also doesn’t buy into Scariolo’s assertion that Team USA possesses 10 times the talent of anyone else at the Olympics.
“No. They have 12 guys. We have 11 (with the injury to Aron Baynes, but I think it’s just them versus us,” he said.
“There’s only five on the court at a time. We can play defence and only one of them can have the ball at a time. We just want to play to our strength.
“We know a lot about them, we’ve played them and obviously they’ve got the hype of being Team USA but… it’s a semi-final of an Olympic Games. Anything can happen.”
But, after so many Olympic campaigns coming to an end in heartbreaking fashion, what makes it different this time?
“We’ve done it before – it’s not like we’ve never beaten them,” Ingles bristles.
“You have respect for them, what they’ve done, who they’ve got and their coach, but if we’re not going to go in confident into a game there’s no point showing up.”
Mills looks to spoil mentor’s party
Patty Mills is a winner and leader who has helped build the legacies of some of the best players and coaches in NBA history.
It’s why Team USA and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich kept him around for nearly a decade, and why Kevin Durant’s Brooklyn Nets snapped him up for next season on their hunt for a Larry O’Brien trophy.
On Thursday, though, if things go to plan for Mills, he’ll be inadvertently leaving a black mark on the international record of Popovich and a blemish on the resume of Durant.
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Friends, old and new, will become enemies when Mills and the Boomers take on Team USA in an Olympic semi-final that has taken on a new look for Australia’s inspirational leader. After completing a $16 million switch to the Nets, Mills will be out to end the American dream as he waves goodbye to Popovich and says hello to Nets and Team USA superstar Durant.
Popovich has been Mills’ coach at the Spurs for the past nine years in the NBA. But that happy marriage came to an end in the early hours of Wednesday morning when it was revealed Mills had chosen to join a powerhouse Nets team headlined by Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
Mills, who had significant interest from around the league, will be the perfect complementary piece in Brooklyn; the kind of player Durant would have pushed hard for the Nets to grab. He’ll be able to fill the back-up guard minutes when Harden or Irving sit out, and provide the sort of shooting and bench scoring that is invaluable in the NBA today.
Against Durant and the United States, though, Mills will channel his international superpowers as he plays main character in the Boomers’ bid to upset the gold medal favourites, who have won the top prize at the last three Olympics.
Desperate to be a non-distraction in Australia’s Olympic campaign, Mills probably would have chosen to wait until after Tokyo to decide, or at least reveal, his free agency fate. But the NBA’s great chase for talent waits for no-one, not even “FIBA Patty”.
“I’ve said so many things about Patty Mills that his head is huge already,” Popovich joked, before the news was made public, but likely after he knew of Mills’ decision.
“He’s a terrific, unique basketball player with a heart as big as this building. He loves his country; he loves his teammates. He’s their leader and off the court he’s an even better person than he is on the court. So, he’s pretty special.”
Mills arrived in San Antonio in 2012 and quickly became a player, and man, Popovich could rely upon as he featured prominently at every stage of the Spurs’ dynasty.
“He’s obviously meant a great deal to me for a very long time — a decade,” Mills said of Popovich after the Boomers’ thrashing of Argentina.
“It’s fair to say he’s helped shape me into who I am today on the court and off the court. We’ve been through a lot together. I’ve got a lot to thank him for.
“Now when you get to this situation and we’re both representing our countries, which we’re both so passionate about, it’s a great opportunity.”
Regardless, there’ll be no punches pulled as Mills and the Boomers take to the court to end their Olympic podium hoodoo and book a place in the gold-medal game.
Mills helped Popovich engineer and maintain an empire in San Antonio. Any Durant-led Nets title will have Mills’ fingerprints all over it. But this is the international stage, where Mills puts his country over anything else. That’s his legacy.
“This is what you prepare for,” Mills said. “To have the opportunity to go to a gold medal match against the best team in the world. You dream of this.”
What time is Boomers v Team USA?
The game gets underway at 2.15pm AEST and will be shown on the Channel 7 coverage of the Olympics.
Who will the Boomers play if they win?
The winner of the Australia v USA semi-final will take on the winner of France v Slovenia for a shot at the gold medal. The losers of the two games will play off for the bronze.
Who is the favourite to win?
The odds are in America’s favour, with bookies offering about $1.16 head-to-head for the USA while Australia is paying $5.20.
Who has the form going in?
Australia has beaten Nigeria (84-67), Italy (86-83), Germany (89-76) and Argentina (97-59) during the Olympics. The USA lost to France (76-83), before beating Iran (120-66), Czech Republic (119-84), and Spain (95-81).
When will the gold medal game be played?
The gold medal match is currently scheduled for 12.30pm AEST on Saturday, while the bronze match is scheduled for 8pm that night.
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