Boomers Bigs Help Deliver Win Over Italy

The Australian big men trio of Nick Kay, Jock Landale and Aron Baynes came up huge to help the Boomers to a second win to open the Tokyo Olympic Games in 86-83 win over Italy on Wednesday.

The Boomers opened up their Olympic campaign that promises so much back on Sunday with an 84-67 win over Nigeria, but Italy was always likely to provide more of a challenge on Wednesday at Saitama Super Arena – and that's how it panned out.

The Azzurri opened the second half on fire quickly turning a one-point half-time edge into a six-point lead and it should have been eight had it not been for a momentum turning missed dunk from Achille Polonara.

From that moment, the Boomers grabbed the ascendancy by scoring the next 12 points of the game and it was reigning NBL Grand Final MVP Jock Landale making the biggest statement, throwing down a big dunk to put Australia up six.

Nick Kay then kept Australia up three heading into the fourth and then it was huge threes from Joe Ingles and Landale early in the fourth that put the Boomers up eight. 

Italy kept coming and numerous times were back within three, but crucial Matisse Thybulle and Patty Mills free-throws sealed the three-point win for the green and gold.

While Patty Mills (16 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Joe Ingles (14 points, five assists, four boards) were again critically important for the Boomers with Ingles going 4/9 from downtown, it was the big men trio undoubtedly that turned the game Australia's way.

Jock Landale ended up top-scoring with 18 points and seven rebounds while Nick Kay put up 15 points and seven boards, and Aron Baynes had 14 points and seven rebounds even if he did only have 14 minutes of court time.

There were plenty more handy contributors too with Matisse Thybulle exciting for his seven points and four assists while Matthew Dellavedova had two points and three assists with Dante Exum important with four assists even if he didn't score.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian was impressed with the improvement from the win over Nigeria to this game, and especially with the better care being taken of the ball and efforts of the big.

"From the first game to this game we talked about turnovers and our offensive execution in the transition," Goorjian said. 

"I thought we played a much better game, offensively we moved the ball better, less turnovers, got better shots. I thought our second half, defensively we really locked them down and defended real well.

"I thought our bigs tonight – running the line, getting some cheap baskets, keeping the ball alive, tip outs to threes - were really big for us."

It was a dangerous Italian opponent even if NBA star Danilo Gallinari didn’t really get going with just five points on 2/5 shooting. However, Simone Fontecchio had 22 points, Nico Mannion 21 and Achille Polonara 12 to give the Azzurri a sniff.

Australia started the game well with early triples to Patty Mills and Aron Baynes before Matisse Thybulle hit the floor and also landed from deep for the 13-9 start. However, Italy worked their way into the game and closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run to level scores up at 25-25.

The Italians then took that momentum into the second quarter with Nico Mannion hitting the first five points before a steadying triple from Baynes and bucket to Nick Kay for the Boomers.

However, another 8-2 run from the Azzurri had them leading by six only for this time Ingles to knock down a couple of three-pointers and that helped the Boomers to stay within a point at the half despite their opponents shooting 55 per cent from the field.

Once again the Italians started the third quarter better with the opening five points to go out to a six-point lead. They were still up six when Achille Polonara missed a dunk and a chance to make it eight.

It proved a pivotal moment that kicked Australia into gear starting with Mills scoring and then back-to-back scores from Baynes. Landale then hit six straight points and in the space of three minutes the Boomers turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead.

Australia was still up 65-62 by three quarter-time but Italy drew level to open the fourth term with a three from Michele Vitali. The Boomers responded with triples to Kay and Ingles, and when Ingles knocked down his fourth from downtown for the game, they were up 80-73.

Italy refused to go away and made Australia fight to the end but they maintained at least a three-point lead which is what they won by in the end. 

The Boomers now finish out the Group Phase in Tokyo on Saturday against Germany with a win to see them go through undefeated on top of Group B into the knockout phase.

TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES BASKETBALL
GROUP PHASE – GROUP B

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 86 (Landale 18, Mills 16, Kay 15)

ITALY 83 (Fontecchio 22, Mannion 21, Polonara 12) 

BOX SCORE