Cameron Bairstow injured as Boomers down Venezuela to claim second in Pool A
IT was harder work than necessary but the Boomers will enter the men’s basketball finals with confidence after securing a 81-56 victory over feisty Venezuela.
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STAR centre Andrew Bogut declared his team hadn’t achieved anything yet despite the Boomers equalling their best ever Olympic group stage result with a comfortable victory over Venezuela.
The Boomers’ ambled to a 81-56 victory over the South Americans despite resting scoring whiz Patty Mills, and Matthew Dellavedova for the second half. Of several back-ups given plenty of minutes, Chris Goulding top-scored with 22 points as the Aussie side locked down their fourth win from five games.
That record hasn’t been achieved by the Boomers since 1996, when Australia lost the bronze medal match against Lithuania.
The victory came at a potentially concerning price, however, with Cameron Bairstow taken for x-rays on a possible dislocated shoulder. The big forward was taken from the court in distress after being hacked in the third quarter.
If Bairstow is ruled out he can’t be replaced for the rest of the tournament.
The Boomers’ victory was harder work than necessary - Venezuela are the worst shooters in the Olympics - but they got the job done and got Andrew Bogut back into action after he sat out the China game.
The Boomers locked in second place in group A behind the USA and will play a quarterfinal against a yet-to-be-determined third-place finisher in group B. It could be one of four quality teams, depending on results of games on Wednesday morning.
Bogut was content with the Boomers’ win and their strong record in the group stages but said it only took one slip from here and they’d be on a plane home.
“We did our work early, the first two games were important for us,” Bogut said.
“But we aren’t celebrating right now. We haven’t done anything. The quarters is where you make your money and where the real business is. You have one bad game, you are flying home. We know how vital this game is coming up.
“Whoever you get (from group B) is going to be tough. There is no easy picking in that group.
“We are not really satisfied right now. We have done the work we were supposed to do. It has put us in great position for the next round but it doesn’t mean anything. You can be a one-seed and play a four-seed and get knocked out and your tournament is over.”
Coach Andre Lemanis said he was happy with his side’s gritty win over Venezuela. Australia were a class above but struggled in the middle two quarters.
Joe Ingles’ calming influence helped steady the ship and Goulding’s shooting pushed them away from any strife in the last quarter.
“It was good, it was always going to be a grind our sort of game and we came in with a good focus,” Lemanis said.
“They got into us a little bit and pushed us out and we got to that point in the second quarter, thought we were just going to cruise through the game and they made a good game.
“I thought we responded well after halftime again.”
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