As much as we stunk up the Serbia fixture I think we can rebound to win this one. Bronze medal is really just consolation for the Boomers as they wanted gold so there will be less pressure and wouldnt surprise me if they play out of their skins. Lemanis just needs to stick to his game plan rather than shuffling things around trying to desperately make things happen. If Patty is cold again we dont have the offensvie firepower to win

I wouldn't expect us to play anywhere near as badly as we did today, which is positive. Also I think the team will come out with a chip on its sholder and a point to prove. I am not sure who would win the game, favorite would probably be Spain, but I expect a better performance in all ways from the Boomers. Theres a real chance that we could end this on a high, we just have to rediscover what it was we were doing before tonight.

Spain could also have similar emotions after being not all too far from toppling the USA. There is no real way to know how the game will go but I certainly hope Gasol's calf continues to play up!

I very much doubt that Spain's emotions will be too similar to ours.
A game against the USA is a free hit. No one expects you to win it.
Secondly, they gave it a reasonable shot. They came up short but not by a great deal. They'll be ruing blown opportunities and wanting to make amends.

The Boomers got a serious reality check. There was nothing respectable about that loss. It was a clinical dismantling right from the beginning.

If the Boomers don't get off to a good start I wouldn't be at all surprised if we crumbled quickly.
It remains to be seen what the character of this Boomers team is, as this is the first time we've had to bounce back from disappointment.
Let's hope we've got one game of fight left in us.

"It remains to be seen what the character of this Boomers team is, as this is the first time we've had to bounce back from disappointment.
Let's hope we've got one game of fight left in us."

agreed

Spain by 20. I hope I'm wrong.

Boomers inability to apply any sort of scoreboard pressure (at all) killed us....

Just FYI for rankings (Im very bored):

Serbia win/Spain lose: USA 1st, Serbia 2nd, Spain 3rd
Serbia lose or Spain win: USA 1st, Spain 2nd, Serbia 3rd

Australia win: AUS 8th, Turkey 9th, Russia 10th
Australia lose: Turkey 8th, Turkey 9th, Australia 10th

In summary, it would be great for Australia to win and not only get a medal, but also get a top 10 ranking!

Although a win last night would have got us as high as 6th or 7th.

The good news is that both teams are losers. Both would be utterly deflated, and need to re-group.
Hard to say who would be most disappointed. Spain were playing for a shot at a Gold Medal, albeit against the USA. Australia were realistically playing for Silver.

I think the advantage the Boomers have is that it appears that pool A has been a lot tougher. They have played tougher opponents and won more games.

It remains to be seen what the character of this Boomers team is, as this is the first time we've had to bounce back from disappointment.

Serbia did some very simple things to completely deflate the Boomers offense. They crowded Bogut at the three point line to stop his passing and they crowded Patty whilst leaving Joe open knowing he ceases to be a three point threat. I am sure Spain has seen this and is ready to use it against us. If Australia finds a counter to this strategy they might give themselves a chance at the win.

Yes, the boomers were beaten by Serbia, and I'm sure the Spanish will examine how that was done.
All the same, Spain have also been beaten by other teams, and the boomers have had longer to evaluate those victories.

Dazz, Longley said in an interview that they haven't scouted Spain yet - which seems utterly inexplicable to me.

Have a look at the timestamps, they were posted within a minute of each other. This one didn't exist when I clicked 'new topic'.

Dazz, Longley said in an interview that they haven't scouted Spain yet - which seems utterly inexplicable to me.

Meanwhile it seems Spain is also ruing the loss they've had and they seem pretty emotionally spent from it. The key to the Bronze medal game might be who still has any emotional stamina left to invest.

http://www.spin.ph/olympics/news/pau-gasol-spain-olympics-basketball-fiba-team-usa-nikola-mirotic

It's naive to believe Australia won't get Spain's best shot. Spain is not a team made up of a bunch of mentally inexperienced rookies. Most of them have high-intensity game experience whether it be in the NBA, Internationally or playing in some Euro league.

Who wouldn't feel a bit down after being eliminated from a gold medal against a Team USA that has looked more vulnerable than it ever has recently? The USA is 12-0 all time against Spain at the Olympics IIRC. If Gasol and some of their old guys were ever going to go for gold and make that record 11-1, that was the time. You still have to go in there with the assumption that they absolutely don't want to leave empty handed after this long tournament.

Well of course you have to play them like they absolutely want it but it may become a factor.

"I don't know.
Leading the USA, then being run down, must have been disheartening. Yet they re-grouped."

Dazz, no one is buying that.
I know everyone is posturing like losing to the USA was disappointing, but let's be real, that is bullshit. They would have been stoked to discover that they could compete with them.
There was no "re-grouping" required whatsoever after that, other than physically recovery from all the energy expended in that effort.
Psychologically, that match would only have helped the mind state of the team.

^so who else will they start over Delly and mills.... And Bogut???

Seriously

Sportsbet odds atm:
Spain $1.33
Boomers: $3.48
Margin 6.5 points

You mean the same starting 5 that had us 5 and 1, with big wins over France, Serbia and Lithuania and a tight loss against USA? That 5?

I think people can be pretty ridiculous really. All of a sudden all the great things the Boomers have done this campaign are out of the window because they had a bad game. The media starts over-quoting Joe Ingles use of the word "pathetic" and the "brilliant Boomers" become the "pathetic Boomers" rather than a team that had a bad game at a bad time.

They've beaten so many times that they weren't predicted to beat in this Olympics and they played with a chemistry we;ve never seen an Australian team play with. The Boomers still have a real chance at bronze if they consolidate and approach this the right way. Spain's form has improved but they've shown they can lay a few eggs themselves.

Let's not forget Spain lost to Croatia, lost to Brazil - who didnt make the top 8 - had a struggle with Nigeria, before smashing Lithuania in a similar fashion to how we did, beating France in a similar fashion to us, and falling slightly to the USA in a similar fashion to us in a game where the end scoreline is much closer than the game was. They've had maybe 3 impressive games. Let's not turn Spain into some insurmountable obstacle when we've generally had a better tournament than they have.

How many major adjustments have the Boomers needed to make this whole tournament? Pretty much none until the last game. Plan A has done the job magnificently.
So now the coaches & players have got some thinking to do because you can bet Spain has been watching a lot of tape. (Not that Spain is Serbia anyway. Different matchups, different strengths, different weaknesses. But a very nice, proven blueprint to shut us down is now out there)

My money is on Spain, but that's not because 5 very good aussies are so one-dimensional that they're unable to make adjustments to the way they play.
If I was going to change the starting 5 it would be purely for matchup reasons, and certainly not because any of them are unworthy of being a starter for this team. The first 6 games of the tournament haven't suddenly been rendered meaningless.

I think you have to look at starting Broekhoff, knowing that he will be the beneficiary of more open looks because of the scoring threats in the starting lineup and the playmaking of Delly/Bogut.

Then Joe Ingles can come off the bench and get more playmaking responsibility, which is how we used him at the last couple of tournaments and I thought he was effective at it. I think both guys will play better because of it.

I actually think it might be time to send Broekhof further down the bench. He isn't hitting his three and it doesn't look like changing. I'd be giving his minutes to Goulding and letting him make his own shot when and if the offense breaks down. Goulding could be a bit of a wild card for Australia because he hasn't played enough to be scouted too closely but he has the unique ability to make his own shot that few Aussies have. He could potentially be a surprise difference maker in this game.

Agreed. Broekhoff couldn't score a root in a brothel right now

I'm a fan of RB. I know he hasn't been on target so far but I also don't think we should go away from him. He's a good shooter and today is a new day. I don't know about starting him but I'd certainly back him in for a significant role. Quality shooters don't tend to keep missing for too long.
He's 7/26 (27%) from outside overall, which is obviously ugly, but on the other hand he was 5/11 in the 3 games leading up to the Serbia nightmare.

Is there a reason why Gasol wouldn't?

He was Spain's top scorer and top rebounder vs USA. Maybe he's tired after all that and will want to sit this one out?

Why put Goulding in for Broekhoff? How many outside shots has Bubbles made at Rio?
While I reckon that Broekhoff has buried his NBA chances, he's still a much better player than Bubbles.

People don't 'sit out' medal games. If he has a leg to stand on you can expect he will play unless he really doesn't care about bronze.

I'm not worried about Gasol too much, more worried about their corps of talented guards putting us through the ringer in the pick & roll

We looked very unsure about what we were doing in the P&R defense department against Serbia, going under or over at random.

Lemanis better have sorted out his coverages after what Teodosic did to us.

Gasol goes pow!

Offence once again looking pretty impotent. Damo in for Delly doesn't help that.

Ingles really hasn't had a good Olympics.

Foul trouble galore here :/

Baynes = 0% basketball IQ

Bench has done a nice job for us, but a couple of bad turnovers and it's back out to 9 again. Just can't afford to be sloppy with the ball.

I think weve had more 3s waived away than scored in the last couple games

Boomers not horrible but can do much better. Spain had two wide open threes in a row, earlier in 2Q.

Mirotic waived by the Bulls? Signing with Flop City Fallers I heard... Reyes on a 1 year veteran contract as well

Mills needs open looks not forced ones

We're hanging tough here.
Just need to not waste possessions. We look pretty good when we let the offence run.

Great game by the Aussie Pau Gasol so far tonight

DA has been huge.

Motum and Andersen keeping us in this.

Great end to first half. Need to lock down on D in second half.

Now, I'm a big fan of the skill level Pau has, the guy's talent is off the chart and when he's going he is incredible to watch. But really, let's be honest, how can he ever, ever complain about a call? Next play down you'll yell and scream at even the slightest hint of contact.. Irony lost on him?

20 boards to 13. Big tick for that!

Bogut with 3 personals. Ingles, Delly, Baynes & Andersen all with 2. Not ideal.

9 turnovers to 5. That one was really hurting but we've started to arrest ours and caused them to cough a few up.

Trending in the right direction heading into the 3rd quarter.

Agreed. Jingles has had a fairly ordinary tournament tbh.

We may actually feel Bairstow's absence now that Bogut, Baynes and Andersen are in foul trouble. Motum doesn't really have the physicality to defend in the paint.

1. Why was Bogut still out there?
2. WTF was he thinking???????

Spain going to punish us inside every time down the floor now....

Why are we going over screens on Ricky Rubio? Have we scouted this team at all?

"2. WTF was he thinking???????"

Not much you can do when a player pretty much dives into you like that.

Some pretty soft calls going both ways here.

The reffing is shit house

Like seriously.

Lisch is not up to this level.

Didn't the diving finish a day or two ago?

Motum has come up big

Loving Motums work..

Kevin Lisch is so out of his depth out there its not funny.

Boomers should focus on Gasol when he is on D. Looking tired.

Pressure and pace, boys.

But this officiating has included some of the most unnecessary calls I've ever seen in a game. So many rubbish calls.

No idea where Patty gets all this energy.
Hope we can buy him a breather early in the 4th.
Agree Lisch looks nervous out there. Which is a pity because he should be looking to score just like he does in the NBL.

Miritic injured while attempting to flop?

Motum is very underrated.

Motum!!!!

Well this is fantastic!!

Brock that was niiiiiiiiice

Motum knows what to do against Gasol!

Dumb Delly!! Grrrrrrrr

This refereeing is insane! WTF!

Broekhoff putting together a nice game

Are the refs for real?

Ingles with the clutch play there

Im a bit over the Gasol love from the commentaror

I'm over it too. How about boxing him out,Boomers!

ONe time to actually check a call and they give Spain a rest.

Pau Gasol!!
GASOL AGAIN!
Gasol with the masterclass?
Pau Gasol you magician!!

Just get a stop.......just one......

Baynes with the hero play there

Sums up our olympics right there

These fucking refs.

complete and utter pleb last play

What a final play! Great move!

Most. ridiculous. refereeing.

Robbed. Gutted.

Sad for the boomers. Story of the olympics

Well good work refs. Nothing from Spain, great team, but the refs didn't let the game be decided by the teams on the floor.

Names and addresses of those referees, please.

anti climax, just another boomers squad added to the list, nothing to show for it

We just werent good enough. Give spain that last play and they would have at least got a shot up.

That hurts.

Grats Spain.

Boomers- heads up Gents.

It ended a lot like the Opals game didnt it?

Great game of hoops. Of the three teams on the floor 2 were sensational and 1 was shit. But that's just what we get always. Good to see it's not just Aussie refs

F*cking refs were ridiculous. Patty Mills call was a disgrace. Sack them FIBA. These guys are way too trigger happy.

Horrible call, goes without saying.. heartbreaking that it came down to that. I like Lemanis, a lot... but 2014 game v Turkey and now this, both times not able to get a shot? ATO's clearly not his strength, needs an assistant who is an ATO expert

At the end of the day we just couldn't get a stop once Bogut went out, and really weren't getting stops when he was in there. We gave them way too many open threes and defended the pick & roll poorly. The one time we actually made a good defensive play (Patty at the end with perfect positioning), Spain gets a bullshit call to give them the game.

Still no excuse for not getting a shot up at the end.

As Bogut said, you know you're going to get bad calls in a FIBA game, you have to play through it.

Such a shame to end like this, but better than I would have guessed coming into Rio.

If we let the refs decide the result, you cant say we really deserved the win. South American refs will always favour Spanish speaking countries over English

:'(

So close.

With a minute remaining, I thought that whoever gets the bronze and 4th place will have an asterisk next to their names given that the referees well and truly prevented the players from proving which team was more deserving. Incredible that the calls only got worse from there.

The technical fouls on both teams, the unsportsmanlike on Motum... I should have seen that foul call on Mills coming, even if it was disastrously late and hesitant.

Such a tremendous standard of basketball from both sides. Only fitting it would come down to the final play.

I'm so proud, and so gutted right now.

The umpire who made the call against Mills was Steven Anderson USA

15 turnovers was the difference..

Google "Steven Anderson USA" and you get a Christian pastor who called the Orlando massacre good news. Same guy, possibly? ;-)

Absolutely gutted. So close to a medal. The boys can hold their heads up high though.

The Delly Tech was the Puerto Rico ref.

The unsportmanlike was Anderson USA

The Baynes Tech was Serbia ref.

I think the boys can be proud of how they played, but those refs stole the medal from them. I can't believe how they couldn't go to the videos on that call seeing as it was so important. It was the difference between win or lose.

Now I suppose we have to look at what we might have in 2020, sadly. But this is still the greatest Boomers team ever.

You can't go to the video on foul calls, because they're all a matter of interpretation to one degree or another.

I mean, except when you invent them out of thin air, but the rules assume the referees are at least slightly confident.

I know a 13-year-old who's a better ref than that. I'm not even kidding.

"Confident" should be "competent".

Amusing the Bill Simmons tweeted about FIBA refs making him feel better about NBA refs, and it was an NBA ref who made the two worst calls of the game.

The Motum one is easily the worst call I have ever seen, finally eclipsing that Ayinde Ubaka charge on Patty Mills back in 2011.

Feel Bad for the guys, they "deserved" better but it just wasn't to be.

Still overall a good result for a Australia, its just a pity that most people won't recognise "4th" as such a great achievement, unlike a medal.

I presume FIBA Olympic medal games must go to OT, but if they didn't, this was a game that deserved a shared medal result.

Still, IMO, unquestionably the best Boomers team ever. Only losses were a respectable loss to USA where we intentionally didn't go all-out, a controversial bronze medal game loss against a proven veteran team, and the only really bad game was at a seriously bad time against a team that we had previously defeated.

Good on Bogut for calling out the Spanish flopfest and dodgy refereeing:

"Obviously we are disappointed, at times we felt we were outnumbered on the court for the majority of the game,'' he said.

"It felt like we were playing a different sport. Teh superman dived into me and the referees bought it.

"Some of them you could see on the tape how obvious they were. You tap these guys and they go flying and the referees bought it.

"We tried to adjust knowing what they were going to do but the last two fouls were tough on us."

Does FIBA suspend players for criticism of Olympic refereeing? Can we read anything into this with regards to Bogut's thoughts about his status for future Boomers teams?

I think we should try to keep Lemanis as Boomers coach if we can. Let's face it, we were right in this game and rightfully won it without Andrew Bogut even really being involved.

Good news fellow Aussies, we get a bronze after all... Serbia has done the honourable thing and conceded they don't deserve a medal. Two finals in a row losing by 40+.. just rubs salt into the wound that we had every chance for it to be us.

Guts effort by the Boomers, in the end that fourth place is probably par for us, but with some luck I think we could easily have been pushing the USA for a gold, yet it is how teams match up against each other and the individual player's head space that determines results in tournaments as much as anything else.

Refereeing across the tournament was average at best and terribly inconsistent in games like this, not a great look when they have an influence over any game. That is unavoidable when we get officials from different countries bringing their own interpretations with them I'm afraid!

Proud of the Boomers, well done to everyone concerned, I look forward to our next Boomers team and think that we can only improve really, Go Aussie...

Gutted. Horrible call on Mills. Boys did incredibly well, so good to see them fight through a rough start and get right back into the game. They certainly showed the SF was just a (very poorly timed) bad day.

Super tournament, deserved a medal but that's the way it goes unfortunately.

Great effort from our guys. Really feel for them as they gave it everything and played sensational. 7 great games and 1 bad one is way more than I could have hoped for. It has been terrific being along for the ride.

With those calls in the last couple of minutes I am claiming a moral victory for the Boomers. Not sure what colour medal that is though.

Claim a moral bronze. I consider them to be the bronze medalists personally. That referee should hang himself in shame.

MVP the refs, they won the game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That call on Mills makes me want to spew. That'd be a horrible call in F Grade domestic ball. I hope that ref has his guide dog stolen on the walk back to his hotel.

Inability to get a shot up again on the last possession (World champs same thing).

What was Bogut left out on court with 4 fouls when Spanish players were targeting him?

Lemanis has some things to think about.

Deserved the bronze. Fought back from 10 or so down against a strong team and saw a couple of very iffy calls go against them late. Mills' blocking foul and Andersen in the rebounding competition were not "finals basketball" calls at all. Very touchy refs with techs against both teams - Delly, Fernandez (I think it was?) - do you really leave it until a medal game to start cracking down on mild griping?

The Serbia game was one blip in what was otherwise a very good tournament for Australia. Besides that, it was two narrow losses against the top two teams. A lot to be proud of, and to enjoy watching.

Mills' game against Spain was excellent. 30 points and 3 steals. Consistent effort at both ends - played 36+ minutes.

Ingles didn't seem to look to score much at all. 3 FGA in 30:04? Meanwhile, Broekhoff had 13 points without missing in 16:39.

Great cameo from Motum when Bogut was out. 12 and 6 in 15 minutes!

Gasol and Mirotic were just too good. Gasol went 12/15 FG. Far from done despite his age.

Refs can have a huge influence on the results of basketball games.

Unfortunately we need to recognise that this happens all the time at all levels of basketball.

Recent high profile examples:

- Melbourne United getting handed the win vs NZ via incompetence, even after a lengthy on court review. Goulding/Webster.
- Spurs Game 2 vs Thunder. (Refer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-JfzS0o70Y)
- Spurs Game 5 vs Thunder. Adams trip (unintentional) that went uncalled. Kawhi fouling Westbrook that went uncalled, leading to the score by Westbrook.

So just with teams I follow, you could say that the refs were a factor in UTD getting the minor premiership last season and the refs were a factor in the Spurs early exit from the playoffs.

At some point, we have to admit that this is an inescapable fact of basketball. There's usually no conspiracy, it just happens. There’s a lot of interpretation involved, and the game just exists in such a way that refs have more of an impact than they do in some other sports (Say, AFL footy or Tennis as two good examples).

And yes, the reffing was a debacle last night and the Aussies copped the worst of it. But in basketball, things like this will continue to happen for as long as the game exists....

That was a great game last night (refereeing aside).

It seemed like it took the Boomers the first quarter and a half of the second to find their feet again after the Serbia debacle. We also couldn't stop Spain doing whatever they wanted in a two man game.

That said, it was guts and sheer brilliance which kept us in the game to the very last second. Neither side could land a killer blow, and we certainly had our chances.

Terrible call against Mills at the end, but when playing the what if game, who knows whether it would have affected the game. That said, it would have been Spain trying to manufacture a play with 5 seconds left rather than us (but I am guessing they would have put up a good look somehow).

The interesting thing this highlights, apart from the obvious, is how long it took the ref to make the call.

https://vine.co/v/5M3XEvhdT92

Is there a clip of the Baynes call floating around anywhere?

Looking at some neutral sites, the last two calls against the Boomers are being pretty much universally condemned.

Looking at the vine, it should have been a foul on Pau on the rebound over Baynes' back. Game over!

The Boomers are the bronze medalists as far as I am concerned. Spain are just minding the medals for us

What was Bogut left out on court with 4 fouls when Spanish players were targeting him?

It's sad when you're left "wondering" about the Refs like this.
Were they just incompetent? Biased? Worse?
Always a problem when a game is so close, and there are critical decisions that could have gone either way.

I'm only vaguely aware of who the refs were, and have no idea what their background is or how they performed in other games.
But over the decades there have been a couple of Olympic sports tainted by allegations of entrenched national bias, and even corruption, in sports that are reliant on Judges.
Unfortunately, in a gamed decided by a point, the refs can have too much impact.

The refs were bad in this game too much OTT-authoritarian FIBA nonsense but they were bad for both teams we just drew the short straw getting one of those crap calls at the wrong time.

You can get away calling games like this earlier in the tournament to try and establish precedent but under no circumstances do you make calls like this in a medal game.

If anything you let more go you don't throw around techs for players looking at cross-eyed at you after one of your amateurish calls. Spain got some shocking calls too it was just badly officiated.

From spending some time watching the replay, both teams were copping some very soft fouls.

But the key differences in the treatment of the two teams (or, the way the teams responded to the ridiculous reffing, if you like...) were:

1. Aussies best players copped it worse. Eg: Bogut and Baynes both copped phantom fouls inside the first minute of the game. This means your two key rim protectors and best two players in the air and in the key, are automatically going to be cautious and second guessing themselves from the get go. Bogut ended up fouling out.

2.Spanish players are much more adept at flopping, so they were in a better position to capitalise on the reffing style. Reyes was the only player warned for flopping. Mirotic did it all game- right from the tip off- including drawing Bogut's 1st and 4th fouls with flops, yet was never warned.

3. Australia copped 2 techs- both without any visible remonstrating from the guilty party- and 1 unsportsmanlike where there was barely any contact, let alone contact justifying a USF, whereas Spain only copped 1 tech (also without any visible remonstrating or anything that looked obviously untoward). These are the worst calls to be on the end of because they result in FTs and possession, and the Aussies copped 3 to Spain’s 1.

4.As has been well publicised, the Aussies copped 2 shockers at the death, gifting Spain 4 points inside the last 30 seconds.

Some samples of bad calls against Aus
1st Q
Bogut 9:17
Baynes 9:11
Andersen 1:39

3rd Q
Bogut 4th 9:42
Baynes tech 5:47 3rd
Motum USF 5:12 3rd

4th Q
Delly 7:43 foul and tech
Baynes 28.8 sec
Mills 5.4 secs

Flops (other than flops that contributed to many of the fouls called above)
Mirotic 9:02 4th Q hurt his knee when flopping, trying to draw the foul on Baynes who was diving on loose ball

The ref:
http://bgbasket.com/en/referee.php?id=115#

@Dazz, I think the general consensus is that the last two calls going against Australia were not even close to being 50/50 calls that could have gone either way.

They were in fact just plain and simple very, very, very BAD and INCORRECT calls that INFLUENCED the RESULT!

There, I feel better now...

Call me cynical but ...

Every ref at top levels worries about how the power-brokers view them and their reffing. If any really powerful coaches or administrators don't like you, then you can kiss your top-level career goodbye.

If a far-away mob like Australia complains about the reffing, then nobody else gives a rats. However, if a powerful country like Spain complains, then the ref'd be pretty worried.

Can we really expect line-balls to go our way under that kind of politics and pressure?

@hoopie, it wasn't even close to being 'line ball', was it?

It looked line ball, I don't think Mills has established position but at the same time no foul should've been called should've been play on.

It doesn't matter whether you've established position or not, you still have to touch the player to be called for a foul.

Baynes probably earned his Tech, he ran back up the court exageratedly slapping his own head to the umps, must have done it about three or four times. The other two were very soft though. In both cases the player just seemed to be looking for an explanation of the call. The USF was also ludicrous, just Motum trying to extract his arm from where it was being held.

Correction, koberulz, you just need to APPEAR to touch the player.

How many calls were based on what they thought happened (or was going to happen) rather than what actually happened.

I have to say, Mirotic' flop injury (9:02, Q4) is one of the funniest moments in the Olympics, right up there with the penis pole vaulter. The replay is just gold.

So was Jokic flopping after Saric shoved him in their quarter final.

I find these dives hilarious- Jokic' was the most dramatic though- literally stumbled about 6 steps and fell on the floor after Saric gave him a shove in the key. Worth getting a hold of that footage...

The problem is: how do you stamp out flopping from a FIBA tournament?

I think the NBA has proved the only way to stamp it out is through post-match fines. It's too hard for refs to call (especially FIBA refs) in the thick of the action.

And you can't really fine FIBA players because of the drastic difference in each of their net worth.

I feel sick watching the replay while focusing on Mirotic and the foul calls, especially when Bogut is matched up on Mirotic. Mirotic has already developed a reputation in the NBA as a flopper.

In the past there has been a flood of complaints about Mills flopping, but he is a absolute saint compared with Mirotic. Seriously, I've lost count of the number of flops and exaggerated reactions by Mirotic in this game. When it happened, I felt it was poetic justice when Mirotic injured himself mid-flop, but now I suspect he hardly injured himself at all, just upped his acting once he went down.

There was definitely a concerted effort by Spain to suck the refs into fouling Bogut out. It worked in under 14 minutes.

Bogut deserves to take some blame for that too there were a couple of brain farts from him especially the last one. He had just gotten his fourth I think and we were trying to get him out and he allows the spaniard to run into him.

With 1.5 quarters still to go he should've made sure he wasn't anywhere near the action even walking off down the other end until we got him out. Him staying available was much more important than giving up two points early in the 3rd quarter.

Bogut's second was a bit too aggressive given he already had a foul.

But his first (9:17, Q1) should have resulted in Mirotic being warned for flopping instead of a foul for Bogut, and his 4th (9:42, 3) was just a horrible call. Nothing in it and Mirotic jumped out of bounds like he'd sprinted from half court and saved a loose ball. Mirotic had them around his little finger. Played them like a cheap guitar.

Why can't FIBA introduce an NBA style penalty system for major tournaments to stop flopping?

Review each game, and if someone commits a serious flop then issue a warning. On the second offense in a major tournament, they miss the next game. If it’s the last game (say, Bronze medal match) and it’s a second offense for the tournament then the one game penalty can carry over to the next major tournament, eg: Eurobasket 2017.

Because it's ingrained in European sporting culture to flop and if the refs don't call a foul next time flop even harder. FIBA is very Euro-centric and that will never change so I can't see anything being seriously done about it. All it would take is for one top Euro nation to threaten to pull out and then others making similar noises and it will just go out the window.

But they do have flop warnings. Reyes was warned this morning. If you're gonna warn someone for doing something, logically you need a next line of punishment for serial offenders.

What about a yellow/red card system after video review? If Mirotic is suspected of flopping, the refs can talk and decide if it needs to be looked at. Go to the bench, have a look, and if guilty, the yellow card comes out. Next flop, he's out of the game, and misses the next one.

I'm thinking that'd be a deterrent.

The problem is though you can't trust the FIBA refs to make that decision even with video. They just don't get it. They don't understand the importance of consistency.

I am all for the ridiculously unfeasible situation of having nothing but NBA refs in these tournaments. I would be happy to lose whatever is lost from them not knowing the FIBA rules as strictly and would not be worried about them being biased towards the Americans. They are the best refs in the world.

It will obviously never happen, but I can dream.

I am probably not going to say much more about the result of this game, so I want to leave it with some thoughts and hindsight.

Speaking with people from not such a basketball background, who were actually interested in this game, also speaking with coaches from overseas, in other countries and quite a few basketball people here as well it is very highly accepted that the Boomers were robbed.

That said, in hindsight now, what were the repercussions of this and what have we really lost, compared with Spain and how much potential drive for the sport did we have taken away from us with one poor decision?

It may be the case that we did enough and have shown that basketball is played at the highest level in Aus by both male and female athletes that either result isn't going to hurt our reputation that much!

However, in Europe in particular countries like Spain/Serbia are not short in their development of basketball, they are not lacking passion and money or exposure in their media, nor do they fall short of providing quality international grade competition only superseded by soccer in crowds, media and money.

For a nation like Australia, where the sporting dollar is so thin, especially for a sport we need a boost in, I do feel we were on the cusp of something enormous.

We may have almost reached that pinnacle, we may have actually reached it, but for the sake of a bad call in the Boomers game and a shock result for the Opals, wouldn't it have just been an amazing shot in the arm for our sport had we gained a medal (just one)...

"I am all for the ridiculously unfeasible situation of having nothing but NBA refs in these tournaments."

Gold Mick, when it was an NBA ref who made the call on Mills. Anyone who watches the NBA playoffs knows there is no referee magic there.

The issue for mine is how refs are instructed to call the game. If they are inconsistent it generally means there isn't clear enough direction.

The NBA's "last two minute reports" have really showcased the brilliance of the NBA's refs...

Oh, wait a second.

Boti's take on the game

http://botinagy.com/blog/daylight-robbery---boomers-in-rio/

Finally got to see Bogut's fourth full-screen, as opposed to as part of Channel 7's "Megawall"...I think it might have been worse than the call on Mills. Definitely understand why Andrej wouldn't have noticed it was on Bogut.