For many athletes, the Olympics present the pinnacle of their sport. Winning a medal in swimming, athletics, archery, equestrian, hockey etc signifies that you have reached the pinnacle of the sport. Personally I enjoy the hockey and basketball the most (I have also been intrigued by handball but that is something to discuss later).
Even with the sporadic coverage for team sports on Channel 7, I have been lucky enough to catch a few matches involving the
However the play of the Boomers has left me disappointed. Looking at the team sheet and seeing names such as Andrew Bogut, David Anderson, Matthew Nielsen, Brad Newley – players who are in the NBA, been drafted by NBA teams or playing for top teams in
Sadly, in their first two matches against
What seems to be ailing the Boomers are the lack of scoring, and their inability to stop opponents scoring. In both matches,
However, I get this feeling that there is no intensity by the Aussies. They do not seem to be pressuring the ball carrier intensively, and making the other four players work hard to get into open space. The Australian defence looks stagnant and a step slower which has lead to easy shots for their opponents.
Also when an opponent gets into the key, they seem to get to the basket area for a shot or assist, too easily. Remember, most coaches say – Defence wins!!
What is most disappointing is that Brian Goorjigan has always been a defensive minded coach and this team is disappointing. I am not blaming him directly because I think he is an excellent coach. I am just starting to question the “fire” within the Australian players. I know they all love to play for the Green and Gold, but they do not seem to be playing for each other and as a team.
On offence, it seems we are looking a bit confused and unsure. Maybe it was due to the various injuries before the games that robbed the likes of Andrew Bogut time to gel with his team mates.
But yesterday we seem to get on track my thumping
Before the games started, I thought we probably had our best team since the 1996/2000 Olympics. We had a great coach, an NBA centre, European All-Star players and a few up and coming guards.
Given the standard of play, the dominance and style of the USA team, and the number of NBA players playing for other countries, the Olympic Basketball tournament is an event to watch. I just hope Australia remains a part of it!
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