QUICK WRAP: Australia vs. Germany

Australia sleepwalk their way to an 85-82 loss

Soft. Pathetic. Embarrassing. Disrespectful. Whatever adjective you can think of to describe one of the most truly worrying Boomers performances of the last few years surely applies.

Australia were dealt a huge advantage pre-game with Franz Wagner, Germany’s star young forward, being ruled out thanks to an ankle injury suffered in their opener against Japan. It’s almost as if that news made the Boomers relax. Like they could just show up and win.

We saw warning signs of what would happen when a coherent opposition came with a game plan and shotmaking ability when Brazil loped into Melbourne and pantsed the Boomers in the pre-tournament warmups.

Well if the Boomers didn’t heed that warning, they surely re-learnt it when the Germans raced out to an 8-0 start, leading by as much as 11 in the first quarter before the Boomers got a foothold in the match, led entirely by FIBA Patrick Mills, whose incandescence knows no bounds when he pulls on the green and gold.

The Germans fired their shot across the bow but Australia still ended the first quarter with the slenderest of margins, a one point lead.

However, unlike the game against Finland, where Australia eventually worked into their flow and smothered the Scandinavians out of the game with relentless defensive pressure, the Boomers sat back and played passive, allowing the Germans to run an endless array of pick and rolls with their star man Dennis Schroder, who burned Australia to the tune of 30 points and 8 assists.

As we’ve spoken about ad nauseum coming into the tournament, the Boomers advantage lies in their defence, being aggressive and swarming, playing passing lanes and creating offense via their defensive pressure by getting out in transition and using their athleticism.

That didn’t happen against Germany.

The Boomers employed a largely switching scheme against Germany, and while mindless switching isn’t my favourite defensive scheme because a savvy point guard can time attacks when the defence is still off kilter and imbalanced, I understand having defensive principles and switching when your lineup is athletic and balanced.

What I did not like, however, was how easily Germany recognised this scheme, and the little time it took for Dennis Schroder to call up the man being guarded by Nick Kay, and run a basic pick and roll that the Boomers obviously switched.

I love Nick Kay, but he was a sitting duck out there tonight, constantly flambeed in isolation actions as Dennis Schroder and Maodo Lo took their turn to victimise the former Perth Wildcat, offering an array of shimmies, jab steps and crossovers to work for stepback threes or to attack an open lane, one devoid of a real shot blocking presence.

Despite trailing at half time by 5, there was a sense Australia would eventually click into gear. After all, they’d put in one of their more shocking halves of basketball and still only trailed by a couple of scores.

And their third quarter confirmed that theory. A ratcheting up of the defensive intensity saw Australia relentlessly double team and trap ball handlers, forcing Germany into rushed decisions and bad shots. Dante Exum and Duop Reath in particular found increased impact on the offensive end too, Duop showing his value with a couple of threes and a putback dunk as Australia turned a five point halftime deficit into a four point lead at the final change.

However, it appeared Australia didn’t learn from their sluggish start to the game, as the final quarter began with yet another Germany spurt keyed by some passive defence, as they went on an immediate 8-0 run to wrestle control of the game back from the Boomers, a lead they would never relinquish as Australia could only claw back to tie the score a couple of times before costly turnovers and late Maodo Lo heroics consigned the Boomers to a crushing loss, 85-82.

This loss will irk Boomers fans because the reality is despite how poor the team was for large swathes of the game, they still had their chances to run away with it, which shows just how much quality this team possesses. Germany are a legit medal contender too, and are coming off a very strong Eurobasket performance last year.

The Germans made a heap of tough threes, yes, but the Boomers still lost the key moments, committed costly turnovers late, shot terribly from the free throw line and still had multiple chances to win.

Also, for those asking, the top two teams from every group go into the “second group” stage. The stats roll over, so Australia will likely start the next stage (assuming they advance of course) in third position, assuming a group with Germany, Slovenia and Georgia. They would then play the other two teams and need to jump up a spot, as the top two then advance to the quarters.

In short, the Boomers can win out and still be eliminated before the quarters. Fun stuff.

BOOMER HIGHLIGHT

Honestly it’s tough to pick anything positive out of that game.

Patty Mills, as he always does, got the Boomers back on the right track, but was quiet after an explosive first quarter, finishing with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

Xavier Cooks gave nice impact as a small ball centre with his sharp rolls to the rim and ability to switch onto guards, but he also missed some costly free throws.

I did also like Josh Giddey’s fourth quarter. Giddey had a rough night to me, playing at speeds he isn’t comfortable with, forced into some rushed decisions and not attacking the paint with certainty. In the first three quarters he was harried and rushed, but he came alive late to drag the Boomers back with some clutch buckets (missed free throw aside). That shows a level of maturity and poise.

Still though, I’m reaching a bit here. The reality is there was more bad than good.

DISLIKE

The persistence with the switching defensive scheme.

Nick Kay provides a lot of value to Australia and has been a loyal servant of the program for a number of years but this was just not a game for him, given how Germany identified the mismatch and attacked him over and over.

Tying into that, some of the rotation was questionable too. Giddey came alive late, but he got an awful lot of rope early when I thought he should’ve been spelled for Exum, while Nick Kay also got 25 minutes with minimal impact.

Meanwhile, Duop Reath and Matisse Thybulle were nowhere to be seen after midway through the third quarter, while I also thought both Josh Green and Dante Exum (16 minutes each) were criminally underused.

BOX SCORE

NEXT GAME

Australia vs. Japan, Tuesday 29th August, 9:10pm AEST

KEY MATCHUP: Honestly if the Boomers are serious this is a game they need to absolutely come out and dominate in. Japan are one of the few teams the Boomers will have a size advantage against, so a strong showing and a for/against booster is the order here.

On Japan’s side, they’re missing Rui Hachimura, so Yuta Watanabe is their only NBA representative, and he’s going to be getting the majority of the attention on the offensive end as Japan will live and die by his threes.

One player NBL fans would be familiar with is Yudai Baba, who won a championship with Melbourne United a few seasons ago. Baba had a great first game against Germany, and is a transition menace who has elite finishing skills around the basket while also being capable of hitting a standstill three.

#GoldVibesOnly

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If you missed it, I recorded a FIBA World Cup preview podcast for Beyond The Fence, focusing primarily on the Boomers and Group E, with Michael Houben from The Pick and Roll. It’s on all podcast platforms, go check it out.