Goorjian blasts Boomers for loss to Greek Freak but campaign rolls on

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian has fired a shot at his players ahead of the men’s basketball quarter-finals, accusing the Australians of playing “hero-ball” in their loss to Greece on Friday night.

Australia made it out of the group stages of the tournament on points differential – although they had to rely on Canada beating Spain – after a disappointing 77-71 loss in Lille to a Greek side inspired by NBA superstar Giannis “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo.

The Boomers’ quarter-final opponents will not be settled until after the group stages on Saturday, but it is unlikely they will be drawn against the US, who will face the team that qualifies as the seventh- or eighth-ranked team. Australia will probably qualify as the fifth or sixth.

Goorjian was bitterly disappointed with his team’s first half – they conceded 53 of their 77 points in the first two periods before falling short in an attempt to recover from a 19-point deficit.

“There was a lot of hero ball, head dropping, poor defence,” he said. “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 and I thought it was a tale of two halves.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the scoring for Greece.Credit: AP

“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 and that’s what we need going ahead.”

Canada’s three-point win over Spain in the following game meant Australia, Greece and Spain all finished with one win and two losses in Group A, nullifying any head-to-head advantage the Greeks had over the Boomers.

Australia made it through to the quarter-finals by the skin of their teeth. Had they lost to Greece by five more points they would be going home from the Games. They avoided that with a second-half performance, which they won 35-24.

Jock Landale led the Boomers with 17 points, Patty Mills had 13 points and Dyson Daniels had 11 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

Antetokounmpo had a game-high 20 points along with seven rebounds and six assists.

“Horrible shots, nine turnovers ... if the court is open, you’ve got no chance against him,” Goorjian said.

“If he’s got momentum you’ve got no chance. In the second half, we got our defence set. In the first half we didn’t and we didn’t because of what we were doing offensively. We talked about it and at least we did it in the second half.”

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