Boomers Breakdown: Assessing Australia’s Thrilling Triumph Over Italy

NBL Media’s Liam Santamaria brings the analysis following the Australian Boomers’ 86-83 victory over Italy at the Tokyo Olympics.

 

Let’s start with the most important point: that was a really good win.

I mean, every victory at the Olympics is valuable but to get that one against a really quality opponent is big.

After all, that was undoubtedly the best game of the Olympics so far – a genuine arm wrestle across the entire forty minutes – and the Boomers stepped up in big moments to claim the result.

 

THE ITALIANS WERE ALL OVER PATTY… AND THE BOOMERS HANDLED IT

The game plan was pretty clear from coach Sacchetti last night: the Italians were not going to let Patty Mills torch them.

They sat in passing lanes, showed hard on pick-and-rolls and, at times in crunch time, sent doubles at Patty a long way from the bucket. 

The idea was to limit his touches and force others to make plays.

What was impressive from a Boomers perspective was the squad’s ability to problem-solve those schemes. 

At times Patty was able to accelerate out of pressure and find clear air but, for the most part, the others used that extra space to make plays. 

Remember that dunk from Thybulle in the opening term? That came after the Italians doubled Patty on a ball-screen and then had his primary defender follow him well beyond the arc, removing any help on middle penetration.

They also used that space on rolls to the rim. 

With Patty’s man unwilling to leave him off the ball, combined with Italy’s help-and-recover schemes on pick-and-rolls, the Aussie bigs were open as they rolled to the rim. At a crucial stage midway through the third – as the Boomers were making a run – Ingles found Baynes and Landale on consecutive possessions off these type of actions.

Then, when Patty was involved in those ball-screens, he drew the defensive attention and dropped it off for finishes at the rim.

The result was an impressive spread of scoring that saw five guys – Mills (16), Ingles (14), Kay (15), Landale (18) and Baynes (14) – post double figure totals.

This bodes well as Patty’s going to get more and more of that type of attention and the entire squad needs to be ready to respond. Mills shot 6/17 from the field last night and yet the Boomers found other avenues to score.

“We’re going to get different stuff thrown at us and we did again today,” Patty stated post-game.

“For us to know how deep we are and how much we can rely on each other and have each other’s back, I think, was another example of this win today.”

THE AUSSIE BIGS WERE HUGE

Landale, Kay and Baynes were outstanding.

Punishing the Italians in a variety of ways, those three combined for 47 points and 21 rebounds on 66 per cent shooting (including 4/6 from long range!).

Yep, the big fellas balled out.

They dominated the glass, got out in transition, knocked down open looks and finished consistently around the hoop.

Their biggest impact, of course, was on the boards, where the Aussies outrebounded the Italians 44-30. The Boomers allowed Italy to grab just 17 per cent of their available offensive boards while grabbing an enormous 40 per cent of their own.  

Those extra possessions were vital. Australia’s 16 offensive boards led to 17 really important second-chance points (compared to just five for their opponents).

A bunch of those came off really smart tap-backs – particularly from Landale, who refused to give up on rebounding contests despite being out of position. 

This one, in crunch time, was massive…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Q4: 2:28 ?? 80-73 ??<br><br>Ingles from range. Money.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7Olympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7Olympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/oYiB3Apsfv">pic.twitter.com/oYiB3Apsfv</a></p>&mdash; 7Olympics (@7olympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/7olympics/status/1420320937023528960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

DON’T SLEEP ON JOE

The Boomers need Ingles playing well and, after an inefficient opening game, the NBA vet was much more impactful last night.

He was a little quiet early but a couple of triples in the second quarter and two more in the fourth – as well as an important bucket early in the third – helped him notch up 14 points on 5/11 shooting.

He also made plays for others. 

Ingles’ playmaking is super-important on this squad and his ability to find guys out of pick-and-rolls was well and truly on display last night, particularly in the second half. Joe finished with an equal team-high five assists as the Boomers, collectively, threw 26 assists on 32 made field goals.

THE KEY MOMENTS

There were a heap of moments that were influential last night but three in particular, all in the second half, stood out above the rest.

The first was the missed dunk from Polonara early in the third. Oh boy, that was a big play. Had the springy Italian put that down, it would’ve put the Azzurri back up six and given them another chance to build towards a double-digit lead.

Instead, he butchered it and that play wound up sparking the biggest run of the game: a 12-0 spurt from the Boomers that flipped a six-point Italian lead into a six-point Aussie advantage. 

The Boomers never trailed from that point on.

The next key moment came with four and a half minutes left when Kay flexed his sizeable muscles to haul in Landale’s missed free throw. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CLUTCH PATTY DOES IT AGAIN!<br><br>Mills drops the hesi and kisses it off the glass ?<br><br>The Boomers remain undefeated through two games ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7Olympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7Olympics</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Patty_Mills?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Patty_Mills</a> <a href="https://t.co/V124yTerch">pic.twitter.com/V124yTerch</a></p>&mdash; 7Olympics (@7olympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/7olympics/status/1420323076022018049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What a massive play! Kay had no right grabbing that board but he outworked his opponent and it led to a wide open triple for Landale. The result: an 8-point lead for the good guys.

And finally, the Boomers were clutch down the stretch. Both Thybulle and Mills knocked down key free throws and this bucket from Patty was exquisite in a high-pressure situation.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CLUTCH PATTY DOES IT AGAIN!<br><br>Mills drops the hesi and kisses it off the glass ?<br><br>The Boomers remain undefeated through two games ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7Olympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7Olympics</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Patty_Mills?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Patty_Mills</a> <a href="https://t.co/V124yTerch">pic.twitter.com/V124yTerch</a></p>&mdash; 7Olympics (@7olympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/7olympics/status/1420323076022018049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

STILL SOME THINGS TO WORK ON

All that being said, there is still some room for improvement.

The biggest adjustment the Boomers made from their opening game was a renewed focus on looking after the ball. Those 22 turnovers they coughed up against Nigeria were way too many and, having addressed it between games, they halved that count last night. 

That resulted in far better offensive execution but the fluidity of their offence still needs work. The Boomers always look their best when there’s plenty of movement off the ball and at times they sunk into some pretty stagnant possessions last night. Of course, you’ve got to credit Italy’s defence for some of that, as they were solid for most of the night. Nonetheless, the Boomers’ ability to get the ball through hands and shift the D – something they’ve done so well throughout previous campaigns – will continue to be a focus.

Speaking of their offence, Chris Goulding is yet to fire. Goorj has injected the Melbourne sharpshooter for brief stints in each of the games but after a couple of misses, has brought him back out. At some stage Goulding’s going to knock a few down and that extra weapon on the perimeter is going to be huge.

Dante Exum, meanwhile, continued to dish up some bad with the good. His defence is always solid and his attack on the rim led to a couple of easy baskets. But the lack of control that plagued him against Nigeria was also still there as he combined his 4 assists with a game-high 4 turnovers.

Lastly, the fellas had some issues last night at the defensive end. 

They’ve been outstanding defensively throughout the campaign so far – the warm up games and the tournament opener – but that intensity dipped at times last night, gifting the Italians some easy first-half buckets.

“There were just some breakdowns defensively,” Ingles noted postgame.

“You’ve got to give them credit, they’re a really good team with some really good players. But there were just some little things defensively… we’ll keep building from here.”

The positive was that those issues were largely corrected in the second half and an improved defensive effort helped the Boomers gain control. 

All in all, it was a tremendous performance from the Aussies that puts them in pole position to finish top of Group B. Onto the next one!