‘Nasty’: Josh Giddey rubs basketball world’s face in it after Boomers win

Josh Giddey has been a punching bag for basketball commentators all year. He’s shoved it down their throats at the Paris Olympics.

The Boomers game exploded early against Spain.

Boom baby! Australia has started its men’s basketball campaign with a bang, upsetting Spain 92-80 at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

The Boomers had five players score more than 10 points and coach Brian Goorjian was all smiles at the final buzzer.

A second half comeback by Spain was the only concern for the Aussies, who played at an incredible level that rubbished all the pre-Olympics suggestions the side was too old and out of form.

Josh Giddey (17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists) and Jock Landale (20 points and eight rebounds) were the headline acts — and they did their damage playing less than 30 minutes of the game.

Giddey set the tone with 15 points in the first half, before becoming the first player to finish with at least 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in an Olympic debut since Drazen Petrovic in 1984.

Australian basketball fans have become accustomed to Patty Mills elevating his game whenever he pulls on the green and gold and the signs are good Giddey will also transcend at Olympic level.

Josh Giddey at the rim. Photo by POOL / AFP.

Josh Giddey dominated. Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP.

Jock Landale (L) celebrates with Josh Giddey. Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP.

After his rapid rise to stardom, the young Aussie found himself on new ground in 2024 as an off-court scandal coupled with an increasingly uncomfortable fit in the offence of his NBA team the Oklahoma City Thunder saw his stock fall - at least among some fans.

The Thunder were then celebrated for offloading Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso - a surprise fall from grace for the talented ballhandler given how successful his entry to the NBA had been.

Giddey was certainly in a feisty mood against Spain and was in the thick of a first half melee, shooting his mouth off.

Most impressively, Giddey looked comfortable shooting from range and was two from three beyond the arc at half time.

NBA writer Joe Dellera wrote on Twitter: “If Giddey is gonna make 3s this Australia team is gonna be so nasty”.

One tweet summed up Giddey’s first half.

FIBA Josh Giddey : pic.twitter.com/YCYhhGXok6

— 50 Nuances 🇺🇸🏀 (@50NuancesDeNBA) July 27, 2024

He was far from alone with Mills also having 19 points.

Asked if the performance from Giddey and Mills meant the commentary around their existence together on court was now buried, Goorjian didn’t hide his disappointment.

“I turned all my stuff off - I just thought that the whole feel about this (the Olympic team) was critiqued,” Goorjian said.

“Every move that was made. Who you selected, who plays together and even when you beat France and Serbia in the (pre-Olympic games), it’s still on that deal.

“All I know is that we keep talking about this now being our chance to showcase what our decisions were about and that we are going to make Australia proud.”

It was a bruising encounter with both teams happy to throw their weight around.

Players from both teams came to blows late in the first quarter after Usman Garuba was called for a foul on Australia’s Josh Green.

Both players were hit with unsportsmanlike fouls, with the Aussies getting the last laugh in a crunch result for their hopes of following up their bronze medal from the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Jock Landale was dangerous. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

The Boomers game exploded early against Spain.

Goorjian revealed how a pre-game video of Australia’s heartbreaking past losses to Spain inspired his charges to bury the demons.

“We showed a little video of the past to have them locked in,” he said.

“There was a fear that no matter how much you outplay them, in a three minute period they can go whack, whack and you’re in trouble.

“As a staff, I think we did a good job of making them (the players) aware of it.”

Aussie basketball great Andrew Bogut wrote on Twitter: “Good solid first win Boomers. Spain make you earn it”.

Basketball commentator Jeff Taylor said: “Take your pick for Australia, they’ve had excellent play across the board.

“Huge win for Australia in this ultra competitive Group A.”

In the “group of death” at this year’s Games alongside Canada and Greece, the Boomers needed to kick off their medal tilt with a strong opening win. And that’s exactly what they did.

Dante Exum missed the game with a serious finger injury and will also miss the next pool game against Canada.

Australia’s final group stage game is against Greece on August 2.

- with News Corp Australia