Boomers withstand Japan uprising, advance to Second Round

OKINAWA (Japan) - Australia dashed the hopes of Japan, 109-89, to secure the remaining ticket via Group E bound for the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Tuesday night.

 

With their narrow loss to Germany the last time out clearly behind them, the Boomers seized control early but needed to withstand a furious uprising by the hosts, buoyed by a packed crowd at the Okinawa Arena, to come away with the win - and make sure their campaign lives on.

 

Their traveling fans certainly enjoyed the game and watching their beloved team make it to the next stage of the competition, keeping their medal hopes very much alive as well.

 

Turning Point: It seemed as if Akatsuki Japan were about to pull off miraculous run yet again, after they cut down the lead that went up to as much as 27 down to only 13 with 4 minutes left to play.

Josh Giddey, however, had other plans. Australia's young floor general rattled off 7 straight points on daring drives and a big three-pointer, effecitvely silencing the rowdy crowd.

TCL Player of the Game: Showcasing his elite wares once more, Giddey led the way with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists, earning the coveted citation over teammate Xavier Cooks.

The battle for the award was an extremely fierce one, with Cooks himself coming through with a monster outing - highlighted by some thunderous dunks - en route to 24 points and 16 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end to tie the World Cup record.

However, it was Giddey's craft, pace and control all over the game  - most especially when the going got tough late - was truly dominant. Very impressive from the young rising star.

 

Stats don't lie: Patty Mills have kept his double-digit streak at the World Cup alive with another 10+ point game. He scored 11 points to go along with 9 assists, finding other ways to lead his team despite a mediocre shooting night for his standards (1/6 from three-point land).

They said: "It's an interesting world, this international basketball. You win a first medal in the history of this region, and you lose one game by a basket and you come into tonight and it's like you're coaching for your life, and the team's playing for its life. I felt just like I did before the Slovenia game today - Olympics at stake, moving on at stake, and a fired up team that it played tremendous on their homecourt. I just think the blueprint for our success, what we've come and talked about leading into this, the small ball, the switching, the defense." - Brian Goorjian, Head Coach, Australia

"I just think the strength and the length and the skillset hit us a little bit and it takes little time to adjust. But until halftime, it's too long of an adjustment period, and once we get to halftime, the guys were settled in and settled down, and we started to play our best basketball. But we can't do that moving forward. We always talk about playing for 40 minutes. And when you play against teams like Germany and Australia, obviously 20 minutes is not enough." - Tom Hovasse, Head Coach, Japan

Press conference:

FIBA