Bogut: "Piss poor" runs cost Boomers

As the dust settles on the Boomers' Olympic disappointment, many are still left wondering where it all went wrong.

Andrew Bogut believes that too many “piss poor” runs ultimately cost the Australian team any chance of achieving their ultimate goal.

The Boomers finished the tournament in sixth spot, with just one win from four games.

“The story of the tournament is Australia will look elite for 4-5 minutes and then piss poor for 4-5 minutes,” Bogut said on The Gold Standard.

“In FIBA basketball, especially in a 40-minute game, you have to be able to finish quarters and finish halves. We played a fantastic 17-minute half and Serbia scored ten in the last three minutes ... they cut a 24-point lead to 12 going into half-time.”

Throughout the four games, Australia won nine of a total 16 quarters of play.

Unfortunately for the Boomers, in all three of their losses they had at least one quarter which ultimately cost them the game.

The shock loss to Greece was largely due to the second quarter, where the Boomers put up 12 points and allowed 28.

Canada ran over the top of Australia in the last quarter, outscoring Australia 21 to 13.

Then in the Quarter-Finals against Serbia, the game flipped on its head during the third quarter, where the Boomers were outscored 25 to 11.

“We just couldn’t find the consistency ... you have to find a way to turn the piss poor into just average and then you will be fine,” Bogut said.

“Everyone has ups and downs in games, but it was the contrast between how elite we were at times, to then just fall off a cliff ... it really cost us.”

Throughout those stretches, coach Brian Goorjian used a multitude of different rotations trying to find a solution.

“Goorj was searching for lineups to work and couldn’t find it,” Bogut said.

In the four games the Boomers played, there were four players who played more than 100 of the total 165 minutes; Patty Mills (123), Josh Giddey (118), Jock Landale (113) and Dyson Daniels (107).

Nick Kay, who played the fifth-most minutes of any Australian in the tournament, was left warming the bench against Serbia. He played just eight minutes in the Quarter-Final loss, while Josh Green played one second and Joe Ingles did not take to the court.

Bogut wasn’t as surprised by the Ingles DNP as he was the form of Green.

“I just don’t see where you’d have fit him (Ingles) in,” Bogut said. “... Josh Green though ... he’s looked out of sorts all tournament. He hasn’t looked great. He didn’t know where he fit and I think the coaches lost confidence in him.

“It’s a tough one. Goorj was searching, but the second half was an absolute train wreck ... it’s a tough way to go out.

“Considering the way that game went, it hasn’t been a successful campaign and I think most of the guys on the roster would say the same thing.”