Tokyo Olympics 2021: Australia wins first ever men’s Olympic basketball medal
Patty Mills produced an all-time performance, but the Boomers’ job on an NBA superstar also proved to be pivotal. Plus, a touching message to an injured teammate.
The Boomers’ golden generation finally has their medal.
The elusive prize the Boomers have been chasing quite literally forever is around their necks after a Patty Mills-inspired 107-93 win over Slovenia late on Saturday night.
It’s not gold. But a history-making Olympic bronze is good enough. Because it so almost could have been fourth. Again.
Mills played hero in a remarkable 42-point performance, the Boomers locked down a frustrated and injured Luka Doncic, as the Australian men’s basketball team proudly stood on the podium inside the Saitama Super Arena.
Mills was overcome with emotion at the medal ceremony and revealed what this meant to him, the medal the Australian team had been hunting for so long.
“We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. And it’s taken a lot of experiences, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, for us to get over the hump. And it’s our culture, at the end of the day, Australian culture, our Aussie spirit. It’s the boys being able to hang together and understand the meaning of what it means to represent your country, and how deep the layers go,” Mills told Channel 7.
“For it to just come pouring out in moments like this. Now that we’ve made it over the hill, this is the standard now of Australian basketball form and, and we take nothing less.
“I think we have been able to build our Boomers culture in understanding the lay of the land that goes far beyond basketball. For us, that is always giving back, and where we have been able to build our Boomers culture to this point is understanding where we come from, where we see the future, you know. Living in the present, and who we represent. Our name is the Boomers for a reason, and for us to give back to our nickname, it is where we started this campaign. We are able to dig deep and find all of these, and it touched everyone.”
The Boomers were just 9.7 seconds away from the bronze in 2016 after an Aron Baynes hook shot dropped in against Spain. A foul call at the other end and a turnover saw the medal fall through their fingers.
At the 2019 World Cup, it was Spain, again, who triumphed in double-overtime to book a place in the final, before Australia fell to France in the third-place playoff.
After the defeat to Team USA on Thursday, Mills and Joe Ingles walked through the mixed zone and didn’t attend the press conference. Matthew Dellavedova choked back tears.
“If you look at history, the Boomers have done a lot of things well over time – but they haven’t handled this situation well,” Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian said before the game.
Against Slovenia, Mills and the Boomers applied everything they’d learned from past heartbreaks as they squeezed the new boys on the block — who had never qualified for the Olympics before Tokyo — until they popped.
Dellavedova had started against Team USA despite playing just a tick over 10 minutes. Against Slovenia, there were no such niceties. In came Matisse Thybulle for Dellavedova from the start. And on went Thybulle on Doncic. He kept the guard quiet until it was Dante Exum’s turn.
The focus was Doncic, and the result was a first quarter where the NBA superstar had just six points; four of which came from the free throw line.
The problem? By the time Doncic checked back into the game with 6:48 left in the second quarter, after leaving late in the first, Slovenia had extended its lead to 31-28.
The answer? Mills, who carried the flag for Australia, and then carried the Boomers. The 32-year-old matched his total against the United States – 15 points – with more than six minutes left in the first half. He had 26 by the break after a 16-point quarter as a Thybulle dunk gave the Boomers a 53-45 lead and was followed by a Doncic technical foul after the Slovenian’s frustrations finally boiled over.
Doncic, playing with a strap on his left wrist after hurting it in the semi-final against France, had just nine points and two assists at the half in what was his worst 20 minutes of basketball in Tokyo.
It didn’t get much better in the second for the NBA’s golden boy, despite a late flurry, as he finished with just 22 points on 19 shots.
Mills, on the other hand, picked up right where he left off in the third as Slovenia’s offence struggled to keep pace without Doncic’s usual contribution.
Despite Australia growing the lead to 14 points early in the fourth, an 8-0 Slovenia run cut it to 81-75 with 7:47 on the clock. It was three points not long after, before the Boomers effectively killed the game with a 19-6 spurt of their own as a double-teamed Mills found open shooters.
A Thybulle put-back dunk put the icing on the cake as Mills and Ingles embraced after the buzzer sounded in emotional scenes.
“Patty, you had 42,” Ingles said before the two burst out laughing at the press conference. “Two turnovers, though,” Mills responded.
Mills’ blitz led the way. Ingles backed him up with 16 points. Jock Landale (14 points), Exum (12), and Thybulle (11) all reached double digits too.
It’ll be a new crop of stars who take Australia forward, despite Ingles and Mills committing to Paris.
The hope is Ben Simmons will be involved. We know 18-year-old Josh Giddey, who didn’t make the cut for Tokyo but made it to the NBA, will be. As will Josh Green, Thybulle, Exum, and Landale, who did enough to earn a deal with the San Antonio Spurs.
“This is the standard for our country,” Ingles said. “We’ve been fighting to be at this level for a long time.”
MATT LOGUE’S FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED
1 Boomers break medal hoodoo
Ding, dong, the medal hoodoo is dead. The Boomers produced a brilliant performance to pick up the Australian men’s maiden Olympic and major tournament medal. The Aussies have felt the pain of four fourth place finishes at the Olympics, and while they didn’t win the desired gold, they’ll happily take the bronze as the nation’s first medal.
2 Boomers frustrate Doncic
The Boomers did a terrific job marking Slovenian star Luka Doncic by double teaming him every time he touched the ball. This extra attention forced Doncic to turn over the basketball and produce an air ball during the opening quarter. But things soon turned sour when Dante Exum overstepped the mark with his aggression marking the Dallas Mavericks sensation.
Exum had good intentions to get up in Doncic’s face in defence before he was hit with an unsportsmanlike foul. This angered the Slovenian megastar, but thankfully for the Boomers it didn’t cost them on the scoreboard too much.
Doncic still made freakish shots, but he also looked frustrated at stages giving away costly turnovers and technical fouls. The Boomers also did a fantastic job forcing Doncic to do more work on the defensive end.
3 Mills magic
It was Boomers Patty Mills at his brilliant best with one of the finest performances from an Australian on the Olympic stage. The veteran guard looked like a man possessed in the first half to finish with 26 points. Mills aggressively attacked the game from the onset with his sweet shooting stroke and determination driving to the basket with beautiful assists. The Boomers’ spiritual leader did everything in his power to help the Aussie’s win a maiden medal. Mills finished with 42 points – his career high at the Olympics, as the best player on the court.
4 Thybulle can be a Boomer for life while Ingles and Exum come up big when it matters most
We’ve all fallen in love with Matisse Thybulle during this Tokyo Olympic campaign. The Sydney-raised small forward is a beast on the defensive end, but he can also shoot from range and his athleticism is something else. Thybulle put an exclamation mark on a strong first half from the Boomers with a brilliant mid-air poster dunk.
Veteran swingman Joe Ingles also excelled for the Boomers with a host of clutch shots, passes and plays. Ingles attacked the game from the onset, scoring four quick points, including a layup over Doncic, in the opening minutes. Big man Jock Landale and Dante Exum were also enormous for the Boomers.
5 Game of runs
Slovenia did its best to force the Boomers to play an up-and-down style of game with little ball movement and structure. There were stages in the first half when this tactic appeared to be working for the Slovenians before the Australians adjusted to go to the break with a comfortable lead. The Boomers maintained the momentum in the third quarter, and despite a fast-finishing Slovenia, the Aussies finished the job in the fourth to create history.
AUSSIES’ TOUCHING MESSAGE TO INJURED BAYNES
Australian big man Aron Baynes was in hospital as the Boomers made history on Saturday night, with his neck injury more serious than first imagined.
Baynes, who slipped and fell in a freak locker room incident during Australia’s group stage win over Italy, was ruled out of the tournament immediately. Now, as was first reported by The Athletic, he is likely to miss the entire 2021/22 NBA season after suffering nerve damage in his neck, a source confirmed to News Corp.
While Patty Mills shouted “Baynesy!” after collecting the absent centre’s medal, the Boomers enforcer was watching from a distance.
A key piece of Australia’s core leadership group, Baynes’ loss was felt throughout a unit that was able to band together and win the nation’s first Olympic medal in men’s basketball.
“We’ve got his medal,” Joe Ingles said post-game. “Obviously he couldn’t be here as of right now.
“[He’s] another guy who has been a huge part of this for a long time. Another close friend of ours who has been part of it.
“Obviously unfortunate that he couldn’t be here with his injury but again, he has been as big a part of this as we have as well. We love Bangers and hopefully he’s nice and healthy soon and will get on a flight with these guys.”
Baynes, who was entering the final year of a two-season deal with the Toronto Raptors, was waived earlier this week.
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