Is it known which channel the Australian commentary will be on? Or 7 just shuffles the basketball at their whim?

Good question. Unlike on Sunday and Wednesday the EPG doesn't specifically mention basketball under the information for the night session coverage on either 7HD or 7mate.

No swimming tonight to push it to 7two

Big game. Need a win.

I predict that if we win tonight we will top our group with a 3-0 record

Skip straight to v4.0

I think Australia will win but I couldn't put a margin on it. We will either be still working through our stuff or we will come in with our tails up and take this game by the scruff of the neck from the outset. I think we will see the crystalizing of Australia's run-and-gun game come to the fore on this one.

It's so ridiculous we don't even know which channel to watch this, assuming we don't want the stream with the boring lone FIBA commentator.

It will be on 7HD as promoted on air a moment ago.

Who is this American FIBA commentator? It sounds like he's commentating golf.

Why did they omit the Spanish referees name in the introduction? The other two refs were listed.

Dellavedova
Mills
Ingles
Kay
Landale

Would be great to see Detlef Schrempf and Ewe(Hands of stone)Blab back out there for Germany.

Sounds like Fran Fraschilla... an international hoops legend. His podcast 'World of Hoops' is really insightful

Why did they omit the Spanish referees name in the introduction? The other two refs were listed.

Referees
Fernandez, Juan Argentina
Anderson, Steven USA
Bermudez , Omar Mexico

Commissioner
Schaer Araya, Gabriela Costa Rica

Terrible foul call on Ingles by the only ref not in position.

Germanys Obst (42) looks like Cam Gliddon....dont like the fake crowd noises

"Referees
Fernandez, Juan Argentina
Anderson, Steven USA
Bermudez , Omar Mexico"

Thanks. I thought I heard the American commentator say he was Spanish.

Fek off with the camera angle

Some of the worst camera angles EVER.

Makes me woozy

The camera work is making me dizzy.

Exum loves driving into traffic with no plan. Awful.

Maybe the camera operator would play better than the Aussies are atm

Thanks 7 for the super blurry footage. Loving it

Wouldn't we have to lose by 17 or more to go to 3rd?

Interesting stat there - Goulding yet to score in the tournament. Not that he's had a lot of time on court.

Yesssss Goulding.

Okay, make me look stupid, Goulding :(

Nice reverse jinx there.

Draw blood by being swiped at on your face yet no foul. Ummm okay FIBA.

No blood no foul? Oh wait...

Ref was right there looking at it too.

No blood, no foul.

Sobey is on.

Kay keeping us in it.

Nick Kay continues to impress.

Patty not able to find the range yet, but he's had a number of decent looks.

We paid good money for this skycam and we're gonna use it regardless of how much is sucks
:/

Camera angles pissing me off

Like Boomers need to do in offence - please stick to the basics

Sobeys :o

Damn Thybulle stop getting into foul trouble

Sobey!
We're surviving his minutes ok so far this game
(touch wood)

Boomers doing their best opals impression. Zero sets being run on offense

Reath might struggle with Goorjs system at the Hawks...

Germany looks susceptible to a slasher. Good to see Sobey exploiting this.

>>Boomers doing their best opals impression. Zero sets being run on offense<<

It's absolutely baffling how disorganized out offense is compared to the past 2 international tournaments

Boomers should know to look out for Gliddon in the corner.

Germans living on the three but Aussies over committing on the close outs and losing their feet

Isn't Green a guard?

Small ball!

Mat B is right. Our offense looks very disjointed. Especially since the "beautiful" basketball we played in Rio and World Champs.

German guards are terrible at preventing penetration and they have no shotblocking bigs. Sobey might actually work.

Why are we not seeing more Reith?

Why are we not using Thybulle more effectively?

Why is Ingles not looking to shoot?

WHy do the german bigs shoot so many 3s when they look they are not good at it?

So many questions.

Much better quarter. Good stuff.

German Gliddon is killing us.

I'm disappointed Lukas Wank hasn't got any minutes yet for the Germans.

Kay again!

Yes

The whole topic seems highly hypothetical though.
We're not exactly looking medal-worthy.

Sobey needs to keep attacking the basket, defenders don't respect him and he gives is something there that our other guards don't.

Sobey needs to keep attacking the basket, defenders don't respect him and he gives is something there that our other guards don't.

V2.0 is clearly a shonk. The Real Nostraballmus would never make a prophecy so bold.

Cmon u Boomers.

Mills 4pt play. Very nice.

Ten point lead up in smoke. Not nice.

Stop jumping on the threes.

Start moving in offence.

Try rebounding.

Pretty this game aint

Gliddon's best game on the big stage.

Ingles is on a donut, way too passive.

Thyblle getting frustrated with his role?

Where does Jingles disappear to everytime he puts a boomers jersey on? We need so much more from him that what we're getting

Germany way too happy to force risky perimeter passes. No idea what they are thinking

Bad ingles is terrible

Thybulle on the other hand. What a champion.

Yeah Matisse!

Why is Ingles so passive and unassertive???

"Thyblle getting frustrated with his role?"

?

Germans seem to be arguing with one another on the sideline. Lovely.

When Goulding is out there we gotta look for him

"Ingles is on a donut, way too passive."

Reverse jinx not working.

Not a critique of Thyblle's play. I've been very happy with him.

Moreso, that Thyblle has been very physical with the Germans (slaping at ball on dead ball, knocking guys down on screens etc.), he normally seems quite chill.

It may be nannoyance with the german players individually of course

We need to play Thybulle 40 mins

Matisse quickly establishing himself as a Boomers fave.

without Thybulle Australia would be stuffed.

He put in

Reath and Joe playing like their confidence is down. Reath also looking unfit.

But what were you even basing your original comment re: Thybulle's supposed frustration on, Some Dude?

Mo Wagner may be the worst defensive big and bad 'attitudist' Ive seen in a while. He's always yelling at this teamates while not contributing much

Just me or does 42 for Germany look like Cam Gliddon's long lost twin?

Boomers 66 points:

Mills: 19
Other NBAers: 12
NBLers: 35

Reverse jink was delayed-acting

PlaymakerMo, see my other comment

"...Moreso, that Thyblle has been very physical with the Germans (slaping at ball on dead ball, knocking guys down on screens etc.), he normally seems quite chill"

Reverse jinx not working.

Joe now proving me wrong - YESSSS!!

I think you need to look closer. Those guys were exaggerating contact coming off those screens, and the German dude slapped it out of Thybulle's hands.

He continues to look chill and play his game.

Goulding flopping in all types of basketball

Great baseline cut Dante

Gliddon is killing us.

I'm looking closer lol.

He slapped the ball from the german #5 and took it off him, the german slapped back and they had a few words.

Patty putting in some serious work.

Cut- drive - dish.
Nice

Fiba mills is Australia's best ever basketball player.

If Goulding can't hit his shots, at least he’s still contributing- his flops are drawing fouls.

I love it when Patty is playing super aggressive and looking for his shot

Mills carrying this team again.

Sobey's actually given good minutes this game.

Nick Kay plays like an undercover agent.
Love it

Kay really is mr fundamental

Nick Kay plays like an undercover agent.

So many O-boards....

We really need a rebound

This repeated offensive boards to a 3 is becoming comical.

Germany are panicking.

Showing a lot of faith in Sobey and he is delivering

6-0 this year.

It actually looked like we ran a play when Sobey passed to Landale under the basket. Everything else looks like we are just winging it.

Weird how Germany called that timeout and let us get through 20 seconds of the clock without much interference.

Germans obviously pissed at Thybulle putting their offence in the blender

Cmon Boomers. Get this over with before we switch to the awful SD channel

Brilliant!!

Satisfying win. Mills with another Boomers Mills performance. Kay with another Boomers Kay performance.

I still feel we are a long way off the 2019 form offensively, yet we still put up 89 points. The defense remains solid. Having someone like Thybulle in there is a bonus on the defensive end. Rebounding appears a major issue against bigger teams, so hopefully we can address that moving forward.

No

We need czech to lose by a couple of points and be a third place entry

So USA will be seeded as long as they win? But if Czech only lose by a little they could go in unseeded?

And we want czech to go through.

Need to know how to cheer for the USA game

So if Germany look like they will be one of the unseeded teams, and Italy are through, that's two teams we can't be matched up against in the quarters. So it's 50-50 we play one of the two other unseeded teams in the quarters.

Cheers for the stats Luuuc was stuck at a boring in law function.

USA will go through as the top second seed.

Yes, so either Argentina/Czechia or loser of Slovenia-Spain.

50% chance of Slovenia-Spain loser. That sucks.

^ reply to rjd

Yeah and we'd rather czech over Argentina imo.

Assuming Spain loses, if Australia drew Spain that’d be fucked.

Can’t be denied a medal again by them.

Agree rjd very satisfying win. Olympic Patty playing to his usual high quality standard. Thybulle playing some of the best defense in that 3rd quarter I've ever seen for any player in the green and gold.

We definitely miss the elite level rim protection and world class rebounding that Bogut has provided in previous Olympics and World Championships and Baynes going down exposes this even more. But compared to Rio we do have some things in our favour, 1 being a defensive beast on the wings in Thybulle. He just has to stay out of foul trouble. Exum is very good on the wings too. Landale is also a better player than he was in Rio as is Nick Kay. Offsetting that is that Delly has regressed but he's still a bulldog on the defensive end.

Clearly in hindsight if you knew Baynes was going to go down you would have taken another big but I really like the Sobey selection as he provides a spark off the bench for when the Boomers' offence struggles. There's not a lot of guys that can create their own shot and he can. He was great at slashing to the rack tonight, picked up a steal and threw a beautiful dime to Landale.

Yeah enjoy Bogut's commentary on basketball, on everything else he reminds me of a combination of a QANON nutter combined with Pauline Hanson sympathiser on social media trying to get some self-definition.

I am not sure what I am watching when I watch these Boomers. The offense seems stagnant and tentative. The basketball looks sloppy, a bit ugly. Defensively we've left a lot of things wide open. We're getting completely spanked on the rebounds.

.... And yet... we STILL win. I don't understand it. There must be something I am not seeing. Yes, Patty MIlls is basically Michael Jordan for the Boomers. Landale has stepped up. Kay. Thybulle. I get it. But I just don't get how we keep winning when we don't look to be playing anywhere near our potential or anywhere near where we were at in 2019.

If anyone can explain it for me I'd appreciate that. Are we just playing lesser teams than we were before?

I am not sure whether to be worried when we face the better teams or be extremely confident knowing we seem to have a knack for getting a w? We're undefeated across six games so far and yet I still cant visually see how.

Yes.

I hope it's just playing down to the competition and doing enough to keep the players as fresh as possible and even more so that there is a playbook over on the bench somewhere and we are still hiding some of our cards

Yeah, it bothers me that we depend too much on Patty for points and minutes.

This wasn't a dead rubber to the anon, if we lost by under 6pts we would have been 2nd in our group, if we lost by over 7pts then we slip to possible 3rd in our group.

Patty was not on in the first half and feel he doesn't need to keep shooting as we have other solid offensive options in Landale, Kay etc. There is going to be a game where Mills gets absolutely blanketed and then we're screwed because we don't know what else to do. I'm convinced if Patty has taken 5 less shots the team would have been further ahead. If he's on fire go for it, but he was missing a lot of shots and everyone was looking to him. Thybulle, Ingles all passing up open shots to get it to Patty, it's gonna bite us.

With Scola and Gasol both producing at 40+ I'm thankful Mills will only be 36 in Paris.

Play off fatigue notwithstanding, can anyone explain why Ingles is so tentative and evidently reluctant to create?
He's an elite shooter and creates off the dribble, yet he was giving up open looks tonight and appeared to be a different player to what we see at Utah.
To me, when he's aggressive - both for his own shot, and in initiating offense that creates opportunities for team mates - it's a win win for the whole team.

Id like to Exum develop a jumper off the dribble for when the interior isn't a viable option because he can often take his defender off the dribble seemingly easily. If he could develop a post game, even better given that he's often tall and longer than his defender.
Have there been many guards with a good post game since Jordan/Kobe/Wade?

Please, not Spain. I couldn't handle FIBA refs helping them out AGAIN.

"Another 30+ minutes for mills, he will be too exhausted by the semi final comes.
Should have rested mills and play Green more minutes today as this is a dead rubber."


Where does this 'dead rubber' myth come from, the idiot on 7 plus saying the result didnt matter for Australia because we still go to the quarter finals? It directly matters as to the level of team we're expected to face in that quarter final. We dodge USA, France and most likely Spain in the knock out round because of winning that 'dead rubber'. Instead of having 3 tough games left, we have a winnable game and 2 tough games. Only an idiot would do anything less than play this game to win.

As for Mills, he will have three days off until the next game Tuesday. Then a day off til Thursday. Then a day off til Saturday medals if we should make it. I think he is very capable of keeping this up. Let's remember the World Cup had 2 extra games in each pool and each game was with one day's rest, not two. It will be a rest, then 3 tough games in a row. Confident he'll be fine. If anything he's getting more rest now with Exum, Thybulle, Green, Delly etc on deck than he ever was at the cup.

>>Please, not Spain. I couldn't handle FIBA refs helping them out AGAIN.<<
Absolutely. The favouritism they get is absurdly obvious.
Also, I couldn't stand to watch Rubio and co's theatrical flopping again. Shots me up the wall. So irritating that the refs fall for it.
Yes, we flop occasionally, but it's *nothing*
compared to the Spanish.

ME, one school of thought, that I don't subscribe to mind you, is that the Boomers haven’t played anyone yet.

The Argies are clearly not the team they were in 2019.
Nigeria, we’ll, have gone 0-3
The USA in preparation
Italy, Germany, both surprising qualifiers

We can only beat who’s in front of us. We are about to find out more.

Came here to see if anyone else had picked up on the German Cam Gliddon.

Was not disappointed.

Czech Republic up against the US. Can't see them winning, tho

"Italy, Germany, both surprising qualifiers"


Surprising qualifiers but they're battle tested, and beat some tough European teams to be there, most notably Serbia and Brazil.

It's a double-edged sword as though we'd like to have a chance at drawing the Czechs you don't want USA winning by a small margin. A narrow loss by Slovenia tomorrow would mean resulting the US not being seeded which so they could potentially become a quarter final opponent for us.

A narrow loss by Slovenia tomorrow would result in the US not being seeded so they become a potential quarter final opponent for us.*

Enjoyable game to watch. Seemed like they were well-matched for much of the game, before pulling clear. All contributed; Sobey will be a lot better for having a longer, more positive run. Reath didn't seem confident offensively, so it was like we had more or less two bigs. But keeping everyone on the same page and having an impact might be the key for now.

Still a lot of minutes for Patty, and running constantly. But every team besides the US will have similar dependencies that are wearing down the deeper we go into the tournament.

Wonder if there's anyone who's not a Thybulle fan having watched these games? What a great addition.

Why would Slovenia go ahead of USA if they lose narrowly?

Oh right you wrote that early in the USA game

May as well repost this from the other thread:

Our possible QF opponents are now either:

Winner of Argentina-Japan

or

Loser of Slovenia-Spain

And the USA can only play Italy or the loser of Spain vs Slovenia. Big game that one, as the loser gets to play the USA or Aus!

Sorry I'm wrong. Ignore me!

Yes, fitness should not be a major issue, with only 6 games over 2 weeks, and no travel, compared with World Cup (8 games and some travel around China, at least for some teams - not sure where everyone played)

I am impressed that Gurujian had Sobey on-court at the final buzzer. That must have been a real boost for Sobey.

His spark off the bench was extremely helpful. Not game-winning, by any stretch of the imag, but a great burst at the right time.

This is that same game that Sobey can dominate back home. Give us his usual and that'll be fine. Brought himself right back for more meaningful mins, we hope.

Well done.

Patty Mills- National Treasure

So if a lot of sources are correct and the highest 2nd seed cannot face a 3rd seed (ie Germany and Argentina/Japan) then there's 4 scenarios that play out.

For simplicity sake let's say Slovenia and Argentina win out. Then USA can't face Germany/Argentina. Australia can't face Italy/Germany. Slovenia can't face Spain or Argentina. France can face anyone.

Scenario 1
Australia vs Spain
USA vs Italy
Slovenia vs Germany
France vs Argentina

Scenario 2
Australia vs Argentina
USA vs Spain
Slovenia vs Italy
France vs Germany

Scenario 3
Australia vs Argentina
USA vs Spain
Slovenia vs Germany
France vs Italy

Scenario 4
Australia vs Argentina
USA vs Italy
Slovenia vs Germany
France vs Spain

I'm not 100% sure if that's correct but if it is then we have a 1/4 chance to face the loser of Spain/Slovenia and a 3/4 chance of facing the winner of Argentina/Japan

Feel free to delete this if wrong

Fair-suck-of-the-sauce-bottle! That is a brilliant breakdown. Thank you.

[If Bommer611 is wrong, PLEASE, nobody correct it.]

I think your summary looks right but the forboding terror I have about Spain and France really irks me. we have to be a lot better than we've shown if we're expecting to knock either of them off. I would hope and pray we get Argentina and make vat improvements before any crossover with any top 4 squad.

Am I missing something? I get there are 8 possible valid draws, out of 24 possible draws (if being matched with teams from your own group were allowed). I'm assuming that Spain and Argentina win, but substitute the applicable teams if those results differ.

Australia Argentina
Spain Italy
France Germany
USA Slovenia

Australia Argentina
Spain Italy
France Slovenia
USA Germany

Australia Argentina
Spain Germany
France Italy
USA Slovenia

Australia Argentina
Spain Germany
France Slovenia
USA Italy

Australia Slovenia
Spain Italy
France Germany
USA Argentina

Australia Slovenia
Spain Italy
France Argentina
USA Germany

Australia Slovenia
Spain Germany
France Italy
USA Argentina

Australia Slovenia
Spain Germany
France Argentina
USA Italy


Which means it's still 50-50 for the Boomers getting either Slovenia/Spain or Argentina/Japan.

Either way, time to watch both of these next two games to scout our next opponent!

"the highest 2nd seed cannot face a 3rd seed (ie Germany and Argentina/Japan)"

I see, didn't get that part. Is this mentioned anywhere in the FIBA website? If so, then yes, only 4 valid draws possible.

Australia Argentina
Spain Italy
France Germany
USA Slovenia

Australia Argentina
Spain Germany
France Italy
USA Slovenia

Australia Argentina
Spain Germany
France Slovenia
USA Italy

Australia Slovenia
Spain Germany
France Argentina
USA Italy

Really, it's a bit 50 - 50 IMO. We have had Nigeriyanks, Italy, Germany, none of them easy-beats. Luckily in that order. We got better each game, as has everyone.

Nigeriyanks are out.

Germany is a great team but we took care of that game, without our super-centre, comfortably, in the end.

Italy, which too many of us don't seem worried about, were one, missed, buzzer-beater away from a poss win (that on, with our super-centre!). Just like for us in the WC's, and we're still lamenting how close we got...just as the Italians will do. Next game, between us, especially if it happens at this Olympics, they will be out to get us. Who wins that one? Could we end up v Italy for the Gold/Silver or for Bronze/Nadda? First, both teams need to get past the next round.

Oye,Oye, OYE!

Spain has overtaken us as second favourites overnight. Can't help but think there will be some shenanigans with the draw.

""the highest 2nd seed cannot face a 3rd seed (ie Germany and Argentina/Japan)"

Sorry, everyone, this is not mentioned in the FIBA document related to the draw.

I believe that was copied over from Wikipedia which has always read like an error to me.

It doesn't make sense the #2 overall seed is precluded from facing a third-placed team - thatt would mean being seeded at #3 and #4 is more advantageous.

I'm specifically referring to this:

The second-placed team from Pot D cannot be drawn against the third-placed teams from Pot E.

(We are currently #2 in Pot D.)

"Spain has overtaken us as second favourites overnight. "

Boomers did lose their starting centre. In pre-Olympics discussions, what would've we assessed our chances as without Baynes, Bogut and Humphries? IMO, we are underdogs if we are drawn to play Spain or Slovenia.

If Spain is kept separate from the US and has the easier road to the final then the conspiracy theorists might just have a point about FIBA

rjd yes but the odds only moved overnight. Baynes was injured on Wednesday.

What is suspicious is Spain having the benefit of playing the very last pool game so they have the benefit of knowing exactly what they need.

I would tip the Boomers to beat Argentina in a crossover but not necessarily anyone else. We don't pass the eye test in my book. I want to be wrong but we've looked too disjointed and like we've maybe been a bit lucky to get the pool we have. We need to tidy up our rebounds massively if we expect to take down France, USA or Spain. I might even put Slovenia in that group as well. We need more out of guys like Delly and Goulding when it comes to outside shooting. And to win those games we need to control the tempo from the outset. If we don't get Spain into a running game, I am not sure our half court play will beat them. Maybe we've been playing down to our opponents level and maybe we step up as the competition does? I don't know. But from everything I have seen so far, and with the loss of Baynes, I do struggle to see how we push ourselves to a medal. I want to be very wrong about that.

We all know where FIBA's headquarters is

Someone said something about a secret playbook. Yes, I hope we have some looks that we haven't seen yet. I know that teams hold things back and we're going to need to have some things up our sleeves if we're really legitimately trying to medal. The Baynesy injury was beyond cruel but if we do manage to medal it will be one of the great Australian sporting triumphs. We're winning, and winning really ugly. Winning is a habit, and good teams always find a way. But I don't think we should allow ourselves to be fooled by our record. We're yet to see a top 4-5 level team. Of course, so are Spain (at the moment) and Slovenia. Only France and USA have faced off against eachother. There are still unknowns about our team and also about the level of our harshest competition when faced with real pressure.

I said when Lemanis left that we'd be lucky to get out of our pool. We did get lucky, in that there was an extra year of delay which also forced Brown out and gave us a bit more prep time, and we got a weak pool.

But I'd still much rather have Lemanis coaching this team.

Betfair.

Slovenia's odds have come in now as well.

How are we shorter odds than France?
It feels to me like 4th is once again our most likely result, with our 2nd-most-likely result being losing in the quarters.

Is there a market where you can bet on us NOT winning a medal? I'd like to get a piece of that action. That's a win-win situation.

Is there a market where you can bet on us NOT winning a medal? I'd like to get a piece of that action. That's a win-win situation.

Spain? If they win we avoid them in the quarter final draw.

However Doncic is an X-Factor for Slovenia so it may be a case of be careful what you wish for.

Spain were favourites but now the odds have flip-flopped and Slovenia are. What are these sneaky Euros up to?

Agreed Luuuc

Betting against the Boomers medalling just wouldn't feel right to me.

Yeah, and that's why I've contemplated it but not pulled the trigger.

I hope people aren't projecting the Boomers' possible outcomes on what the bookies say lol.

We'd rather play Slovenia than Spain?

"The second-placed team from Pot D cannot be drawn against the third-placed teams from Pot E."

Apparently we have a 3/4 chance of playing Argentina is that right?

Apparently we have a 3/4 chance of playing Argentina is that right?

Apparently we have a 3/4 chance of playing Argentina is that right?

Apparently we have a 3/4 chance of playing Argentina is that right?

Spain win by exactly 12 = both ESP & AUS would have the same points differential so the tie-breaker is number of total points scored. Currently AUS 259; ESP 169. So we would want Spain to score over 90 in this unlikely scenario to avoid seed #2 and a shot at Argentina.

The rule about the second seed just means that finishing first in your pool is better than being the best second placed team, right? That seems to make sense to me.

It does say second-placed rather than second-seeded so that makes sense.

So:

Slovenia win = Argentina 50%/Spain 50%
Spain = Argentina 50%/Slovenia 50%

Yes. I wish FIBA clearly stated second place of Pot A/B/C instead of the newly classified Pot D, as the second-placed team is actually the fourth seed of the new group. FIFA's communication is so much better.

Good point - you would think France as top seed would draw their opponent first. Hopefully that will be Spain.

That's....not how it works.

What is the mechanism of the draw?

Random pot drawings UEFA style? Hopefully there are no hot balls. ;)

FIBA website is hopeless.

Is the draw televised (and probably legit) or just announced (and likely not so legit)?

FIBA website instructs to watch the draw via your official Olympics broadcaster. The question is will it be on the same general basketball feed we've been watching the games on.