A brilliant start for basketball at the Olympic Games! Bronze medallist from the last Games “nailed” Spain
Nikita Biryukov July 27, 2024, 14:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Australia started with a victory in the most important tournament of the year.
The wait has finally begun! The Olympic basketball tournament has begun. The opening match between Australia and Spain, representatives of Group A, took place. The team from the entire continent took third place at the last Games in Tokyo, and its rival from Europe at all major tournaments is a formidable opponent. Who proved their worth in the opening match of the tournament – about all the most interesting material from the “Championship”.
Patrick Mills scored the first points at the Olympics; the point guard scored three free throws in the opening attack. This was followed by a three-ruble note from Jock Landale. The Spaniards then improved their game a bit thanks to the efforts of Alex Abrines, but Australia continued to excel in finding their players under the basket and in the goal. The Kangaroo team gained a comfortable 18:7 lead, after which Sergio Scariolo had to call a timeout. The game opened up: both teams started shooting three-point shots, and at one point, Usman Garuba, after a minor verbal altercation, pushed Josh Green. The referees and other players calmed the basketball players down, and Garuba and Green received an unsportsmanlike foul. The first quarter ended with the score 31:21 in favor of Australia.
Skirmish between players from Spain and Australia
Photo: Frame from the broadcast.
The second half of the match started with brilliant actions by Real Madrid player Sergio Llull. The veteran scored two three-point shots. Everyone knows that Scariolo is a temperamental coach, so the specialist did not agree with one of the referees’ decisions, which is why he ended up receiving a “technical”. The level of the game was quite high: Josh Giddy had a verbal altercation with Garuba, whom we already knew. Giddy not only moved his tongue, but also distributed great passes to his teammates and converted important shots. Spain has activated Santi Aldama, the only player of the NBA team. As a result, Furia Roja won the quarter 21:18. The result of the first half is that Australia leads by seven points – 49:42.
After the long break, the Spaniards began to act more clearly in defence and, most importantly, to find the free throws. Scariolo’s team got closer to the opponent and literally a minute later took the lead thanks to a three-pointer by Aldama (56:54). However, Australia got involved and responded with accurate long-distance shots from Mills and Jack McVay. The teams continued to exchange attacks and the game stabilized. If Spain put pressure on the opponent in the first minutes of the third quarter, then the Australians later neutralized the opponent’s advantage and even took the lead (20:18).
Australia found attempts to shoot close to the basket and, for Spain, Lul came alive again, scoring eight straight points in the final ten minutes. But the Kangaroos were held in line by Mills, who worked on the rebound and made several important shots. Landale continued to harass Spain’s paint and secure his teammates in their own half of the court. In the end, the efforts of Aldama and Lleul were not enough and Australia took matters to a 92:80 victory.
Olympic Games (m). Group A. 1st round
July 27, 2024, Saturday. 12:00 Moscow time
Australia: Daniels, Giddy, Mills, Green, Ingles, Dellavedova, Exum, Landale, Kay, McVeigh, Magnay, Rieth
Spain: Moreno, Pradilla, Fernández, López-Aróstegui, Aldama, Brizuela, Díaz, Hernangomez, Hernangomez, Garuba, Abrines, Llull
The most productive player of the game was Aldama, who scored 27 points and five rebounds. Landale stood out for Australia, who not only finished the game with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but also showed the best plus-minus among all participants in the game: “+30”. The Australians had five players who finished the game with more than 10 points: Landale, Mills, Giddy, McVay and Dyson Daniels.
Overall, Australia looked like a much more organized team than Spain. One of the leaders, Lorenzo Brown, flopped on the European team; while he occasionally played well with his teammates, he looked mediocre in terms of scoring points. The Australians were better at rebounding, passing, and shooting from any distance except free throws. An absolutely hard-fought victory for the team from all over the continent.
France’s first Olympic match was an exciting one. There was a fight from the first to the last minute, tough clashes, colourful shots and simply a great performance from Landale. Follow all the most interesting things from the Olympic Games in our LIVE.
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