Sport
9 August, 2024
Delly and Boomers’ Olympic campaign comes to an end after Serbia fightback
Matthew Dellavedova’s dreams of securing a second Olympic basketball medal in Paris has ended in dramatic, yet heartbreaking circumstances.
With the Australian Boomers, fired up by phenomenal shooting through Patty Mills, leading Serbia by 24 points halfway through the second quarter of their quarter-final match-up, it looked for all money that they would be the ones challenging the force of the United States for the right to progress to the gold medal match.
Instead, the Boomers’ shooting dropped away in the second half, and coupled with some sloppy turnovers, plus the outright influence of three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic taking over the game, the Boomers went down by five points in overtime.
Dellavedova earned 11 minutes of game time thanks to his efforts in helping spark the Boomers in their final group game against Greece, and again provided some trademark hustle early in the game, and would eventually finish with three rebounds.
The early stages of Tuesday night’s game saw both teams go bucket for bucket early on, but the Boomers would soon go on a 15-2 run to wrap up the opening term, with Mills providing 10 of his 12 opening quarter points in the last three and a half minutes of the term to take a 31-17 lead into the first change.
Mills was on fire, scoring six of the Boomers’ first eight points of the second term to bring his tally up to 18, and when Dante Exum scored five points in quick time, Australia suddenly led by 24 points.
However, a controversial unsportsmanlike foul call on Exum when the Boomers had all the momentum, which brought Aleksa Avramovic to the line for two free throws, helped change the complexion of the game, with Serbia starting to take advantage, and they finished the quarter on a 20-8 run to reduce the margin to 12 points at half time, 54-42.
By the third quarter, it was clear that Australia’s stellar shooting — which had seen them shoot at a percentage of 70 percent in one stage in the first half — had started to desert them, and with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter, Serbia hit the front for the first time since the early stages, scoring 25 points to 11 for the term to lead by two points at the final change, 67-65.
The final quarter was a back-and-forth thriller.
Firstly, Serbia took advantage, as a Vasilije Micic-inspired spell helped them open up a six-point cushion.
But Australia hit back, with Jack McVeigh and Exum hitting critical shots to help reduce the margin.
With nine seconds to go, Serbia hit the front again thanks to two Micic free throws, before Mills heroically saved the game for Australia to hit a tough, contested jumper, with Jokic in his face, to force overtime.
The overtime period was made more difficult with Australian big Jock Landale fouled out, and it was there that Jokic was able to eat inside the paint.
Despite that, Australia were able to open up a three-point lead thanks to critical shots from McVeigh, Duop Reath and Josh Giddey, before Jokic took over.
Jokic’s defense helped stifle the Australian cause, providing plenty of blocked shots and forcing the Boomers to be clumsy with their ball handle, which led to many turn-overs.
Jokic would score two big buckets to help seal the game for Serbia, and condemn Australia to a quarter-final exit, moving on to a semi-final showdown with the United States.
While there were many positives for Australia throughout the tournament, it was the one that got away for the Boomers, failing to stop Serbia from collecting offensive rebounds at will at crucial stages, winning that count 15-11, which helped lead to 23-11 second chance points, while the team’s 20 turnovers also hurt them, much as it had throughout the entire Olympics.
Mills provided 26 points on 11/21 shooting, while Giddey poured in 25 points on 11/20 shooting, while also collecting five rebounds and four assists, albeit with seven turnovers thrown into the mix.
The loss likely signals the end of an era for the Boomers, with this edition of the Olympics likely to be the last significant tournament involvement for 35-year-old Mills, 33-year-old Dellavedova, and 36-year-old Joe Ingles, who failed to see playing time in the quarter-final.
Head coach Brian Goorjian also walked away from the role after 16 years of involvement with the Boomers across two separate stints on Wednesday afternoon, helping the team secure their famous bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
For Maryborough product Dellavedova, the focus now shifts to Melbourne United’s NBL campaign, which is due to start on Thursday, September 19 with a grand final rematch against the Tasmania Jack Jumpers.