Australia downs Lithuania to reach Rio hoops semi-finals

The Aussies never loosened their grip as they trounced Lithuania 90-64.

The Boomers are now one win away from the gold medal match and a potential rematch with the United States of America, who struggled long and hard to beat Australia narrowly earlier in the Olympics.

Lemanis was more interested in giving credit to the team’s leaders, in particular Patty Mills, for inspiring the Boomers so far tournament. “I can tell you this is one hell of a group that I’m very happy and proud to be a part of”. It led by nine at the end of the first quarter and by 18 at the half.

“We all see when he scores, but he goes through the video and he sets screens to get other people open”.

Ingles was solid for Australia once again, reaching double figures for the third time in Rio.

The Boomers have been beaten twice by Lithuania in Olympic bronze medal matches (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000). Australia will face either Croatia or Serbia in the semifinals.

Mills, Bogut, Dellavedova and Baynes played little of the final quarter as other squad members were given valuable time but the Australians maintained their big lead. Not only do the two teams have some history, but you might have noticed that this isn’t the same US team that trounced the competition in Beijing and London. The Boomers did it pretty easily, which is a change from the old days when Lithuania used to beat us a lot at the Olympics.

Lithuania’s Olympics started with three straight wins and ended with three straight losses.

As the Boomers let fly, the gameplan clearly wasn’t working for the Lithuanians who would have hoped to lean on the size of Jonas Valanciunas for an advantage inside.

“We came out with the right energy and mindset”. We were not playing basketball. He’s a lot more creative in global play than he has a chance to be in the National Basketball Association, and seeing Bogut thrive has me feeling nostalgic for his pre-injury stint as the face of the Milwaukee Bucks. “We were not enjoying basketball”.

It’s the one with a roster loaded with skilled and experienced National Basketball Association players, an overall No. 1 draft pick, a backcourt featuring two guards with championship rings and a strong belief it can capture gold in Brazil. He averaged just 6.7 points on 39 percent shooting over Lithuania’s six games. Both men have proved pivotal for their sides throughout the Olympics, ranking within the top 10 for centres in points, rebounds, blocks and assists. Bench: David Andersen, Kevin Lisch, Ryan Broekhoff, Chris Goulding, Brock Motum, Damian Martin, Cameron Bairstow*. “If he’s not rolling, it’s hard for Valanciunas to get rolling”.

They dominated the Lithuanians from the outset, with Matthew Dellavedova nailing three three pointers in the first quarter, while Patty Mills led the scoring with 24 points.