AUS - Mills: ‘We have two games left and we'll give everything’

BEIJING (Olympics) - Patrick Mills has been called the next big thing in Australian basketball.

He’s not too bad, now.

A 5ft 11in point guard, Mills, who turned 20 on Monday, is arguably the fastest Boomer ever.

Once he gets ahead of the defense on a fast break, you can forget it! No one will catch him.

Mills, an indigenous Australian, is playing in his first Olympics in Beijing and on Saturday he and his teammates will have to be at their best if they are to upset European champions Russia in a game they are desperate to win to boost their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

The Australians suffered big defeats to Croatia and Argentina in their opening two games.

Mills spoke to FIBA.com after the Aussies’ 106-68 victory over Iran.

FIBA: Congratulations, Patrick, on your first win as an Olympian and Australia’s first win here in Beijing.

Mills: It's our first win and we really needed this victory to give us a big boost in confidence considering our difficult start to the tournament. We didn't play well in our opening two games and we knew we could have done better. Today we showed we are on the right track but we must prove it in the next two games.

FIBA: Australia face a huge challenge to qualify for the top eight. You take on European champions Russia before meeting Lithuania in your last group game and realistically, you need to beat the Russians to advance.

Mills: Losing the first two games was tough for us. We expected to do better but we have bounced back and the real tests await us. We still believe we can do it, we have two games left to play and we will give everything we have. Russia are a very physical team and we need to be ready for them while Lithuania will also be a difficult game.

FIBA: This is the first Olympic experience for you. What is it like?

Mills: It's very special to be playing at the Olympics, for me and for all the guys. You learn a lot from playing in this tournament, it's an invaluable experience to play here.

FIBA: Patrick, what’s it been like playing college basketball in the United States?

Mills: I had a very good season. I played for Saint Mary's College. We made it to the NCAA tournament and it was a very big thing for us. I will be going back there for my second year.

FIBA