Olympic Basketball: Australia Trounces China Using Second Unit
If I were to tell you that Patrick Mills would only score five points and Andrew Bogut would not play, would you think Australia could win a game of Olympic basketball? Well they did, beating China 93-68 in a one-sided affair.
Australia was expected to win against China in their Pool A match of Olympic basketball, but no one expected it to be as easy as it was. The win guaranteed the Australians a semifinal berth and most probably second place in Pool A.
Australia barely got out of second gear in the 35-point win. Their best player, Andrew Bogut sat out the game, giving him a chance to rest the knee that he injured during the NBA Finals.
Patrick Mills had his role changed for the game. He only played 19 minutes, scoring five points on 2-of-4 shooting. He was a defensive nightmare for the Chinese, stealing the ball three times as well.
Cameron Bairstow was the standout player for Australia, leading the Boomers with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. collecting nine rebounds including an impressive four offensive rebounds.
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Aron Baynes bounced back from his worst offensive performance of the tournament against Team USA with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting as well as collecting four defensive rebounds.
European-based player Ryan Broekhoff showed that Australia does not have to totally rely on Joe Ingles at small forward with his best performance of the games, scoring 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Ingles is still a better all-around player, but Broekhoff did play well.
Another European-based star, David Anderson, scored an impressive 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
With Bogut resting, Brock Motum got his first meaningful minutes and he made the most of those 16 minutes. He scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, proving that Australia has greater depth than in the past. He collected three rebounds, all offensive, and gave out two assists.
Matthew Dellavedova had a quiet game by his standards, being required for less than a half. He still had six points and a game high eight assists, setting up many Australian baskets.
Yi Jianlian was the best player for the Chinese, scoring 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting as well. The No. 6 pick in the 2007 draft averaged 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in his five-year career in the NBA.
Houston Rockets pick no. 43 Zhou Qi was underwhelming against the Australians, only scoring six points in 18 minutes, but was efficient with 2-of-3 shooting.
As you can imagine, Australia won most of the statistical categories. From the field Australia shot 62.5 percent compared to the Chinese 55.9 percent. From beyond the arc, Australia shot 38.9 percent compared to the Chinese 27.3 percent.
Australia won the rebounding battle 35-21, mainly through offensive rebounds 15-5 which allowed for a 14-4 advantage to Australia in second chance points. This also helped Australia have a huge advantage in points in the paint 50-28.
Australia moved the ball better, almost doubling the Chinese assist count 34-19. They more than doubled the Chinese in steals 10-4, getting 21-5 points from turnovers.
The strong showing from Australia’s bench showed that for the first time in the Olympics ever, they have depth on their bench which might finally help the medal for the first time in their history.
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Next up, China takes on Serbia, which can only go from fourth to fifth if results go against them. Australia takes on fifth-place Venezuela. The places of the Pool A semifinals are set unless all three final games finish in upsets.