Greece defeat the Boomers: Is this the end of an era and the last time we see Mills, Ingles and Dellavedova?

Boomers fall to Greece but Dyson Daniels shows he is worth his weight in Gold, despite this potentially being the end of the road

The Boomers have crumpled at the finish line to round out the group stages as the attention turns to the Quarter Finals. Whilst tonight was a sour night, it showed the coming out party of young gun Dyson Daniels who showed the Green and Gold faithful that he is well and truly worth his weight in Gold. The wait ahead will be one of irritation for the Boomers who are waiting to see what position they will end the group stages in.

With a ticket in the Quarter Finals up for grabs for the Australian Boomers it was a simple equation, win and advance, lose and see where the rest of the domino’s fall. For Greece a win would keep the door open for them to advance as well but it would be dependant on what Spain do against Canada.

The first quarter started well for both teams and at the conclusion of the first quarter Greece took a one point lead into the quarter time huddle, 25-24. For Greece it would be NBA superstar Giannas Antetokounpo who would lead the way with 7 first quarter points. Sharpshooter Thomas Walkup would also start hot with 6 early points for Greece as well.

For the Boomers it would be the Patty Mills of old who would end the quarter with 8 points, whilst Jock Landale would also have a hot start and finish with 6 points which all came inside. Australia would finish the quarter shooting the ball at 50% from the field and Greece would finish it shooting 52.5% from the field.

End of an era potentially if Spain beat Canada. Mills, Ingles and Dellavedova may never wear Green and Gold again!

The second quarter would start and Greece would fly out of the gate. Dyson Daniels would go down with a knee injury which saw him exit the game for five minutes before Greece would pour on 14 unanswered points in an incredible three and a half minutes to shock the Boomers. With made shots to Walkup, Toliopoulos, Mitoglu and Antetokounmpo Greece really moved the ball around fast and effectively and never let the Boomers have a chance.

Dyson Daniels would return and quickly help the Boomers restore some hope to close out the quarter. He would come back in and make a quick shot before been fouled and sent to the line for a three point play and really help clean up the Boomers defensive system which leaked a massive run whilst he was out. Antetokounmpo would finish the quarter with six points and Mitoglou would finish with a quarter high nine points to end the half out scoring the Boomers, 28-12 and going into half time up by 17 points, 53-36.

The third quarter started and it was a very stagnant quarter with both teams struggling to get into a rythmn all together. The Boomers needed to get the game back on their terms but never could really establish any dominance at all. The Boomers would claw back the lead to 12 heading into the last quarter out scoring Greece in the third quarter 14-9, but it wouldn’t be enough to really have the belief that they could get the job done in the final quarter.

Matthew Dellavedova would come on for the Boomers and give them a defensive spark that they desperately needed, his aggressive and veteran savvy plays really pushed Greece into some unforced errors. Josh Giddey would lead the scoring for the Boomers in the third term with five points and Landale would also feature in the third with four points as they headed into the last quarter with a lot of pressure to claw back the double digit lead that they had allowed.

Boomers Medal hopes up in the air at least until the end of the night

The last quarter would be seen as potentially the last quarter for the Boomers in the Paris Olympics and they played like it was. It would be Dyson “Diamond” Daniels who was involved in everything offensively and defensively. Daniel’s would end the quarter with six points, two rebounds and multiple strong defensive efforts in which forced Greece into tough shots.

Giannas would really struggle for Greece as it seemed the Boomers really clamped him up and wanted to turn it into a shoot out against the rest. That would prove to be the worst thing they could do as they would cut the margin back to as little as two points, before Greece would hit back to back triples to put a dagger in the Boomers comeback hopes. The Boomers would again outscore Greece in the final quarter, 21-15 but it wouldn’t be enough to come back from 17 points down at half time and snatch the game.

The game would end with the final score being 77-71 with Greece walking away with their first win in these Olympics. For Greece it would be Giannas Antetokounmpo who would star with 20 points. 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Thomas Walkup would also be a very solid contributor for Greece finishing with 18 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. For the Boomers Jock Landale would finish with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assist, Josh Giddey with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists and Dyson Daniels with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.

Both teams now nervously wait for the conclusion of the Canada V Spain game which will decide the fate of Greece and Australia. If Canada win the Boomers will advance as the second placed team and so would Spain but if Spain are to walk away as winners, Spain would finish in second and Greece would advance because Greece and Australia would both be on a 1-2 record but because Greece won the head to head against Australia they finish above them. Yes that is a lot to comprehend but everyone got there in the end.

For a campaign that started off so well for the Boomers against Spain, it could all be over by the time most Aussies wake up in the morning. One thing is for sure though, this could be the last time we see Mills. Ingles and Dellavedova in the Green and Gold, this is truly a nervous, sad and emotional day as an Australian and Boomers fan.