Boomers torn to shreds after ‘hero ball’ Olympics nightmare

The Boomers have been stunned at the Paris Olympics after a horror performance that nobody saw coming.

Josh Giddey. Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP.

The Boomers have endured a near-death experience after a brutal 77-71 loss to Greece on Friday night (AEST).

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian scorched his players after a sloppy first half that could easily have been a fatal blow to their entire campaign.

Their progression to the quarter-finals was only confirmed hours later when Canada defeated Spain by just three points.

The Boomers were down by 17 against Greece after a horror first half and Aussie basketball commentators, including Shane Heal and Andrew Bogut, were not impressed with what they saw.

Goorjian was also far from impressed and told reporters acts of “hero ball” were to blame.

“There was a lot of hero ball, head dropping, poor defence,” Goorjian said, per News Corp.

“That led to us not being able to play the defence that we know we can play.

“I thought the second half we did a better job. I thought it was a tale of two halves.

“We’ve got young point guards in their first Olympics. Guys who are 20, 21 and I don’t know if they have played in a game of this magnitude.

“But in the second half it was all huddles, talk, grit and ball movement.”

Australia ame to life. Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP.

Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo was the difference between the two teams with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

At the other end of the court, Australia couldn’t hit the side of the barn with Dante exum going 2/9 and Patty Mills shooting 5/15.

Australia got back to within four points at 69-65 with five minutes to play in the final quarter, and Mills dropped a two-point shot to cut the margin back again at 69-71.

It got chippy between players from both teams after Mills extracted an offensive foul out of Antetokounmpo and Giddey traded some verbal barbs with another Greek player.

It was that kind of fight that Australia needed in the first half.

Josh Giddey drives to the basket against Greece. Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP.

After an impressive first-up win against Spain, Australia was badly exposed in some areas by the star-studded Canadian team.

However, a Greek side that is wholly dependent on Antetekounmpo was expected to be a relatively easy one for Goorjian’s side with so much on the line.

Instead the Aussies barely put up a fight in the first half and trailed 53-36 at the break after scoring just 12 points in the second quarter.

There was no coming back from that far behind.

Aussie basketball great Andrew Bogut didn’t like what he saw early.

“Greece way more physical than us tonight. Their defense has been elite thus far,” he posted on Twitter.

“We need to match their energy if we want to get back in this.”

Boomers great Shane Heal also posted: “This has been tough to watch”.

To add to the first half misery, Dyson Daniels went down with what looked like a knee injury. After he was taken down to the dressing room to be assessed, Daniels was able to return to the court late in the game.

Thanks to Canada’s nailbiting win, Goorjian’s men will live to see another day.