The Boomers have gone down in a three point thriller to Germany at the FIBA Men’s World Cup in Okinawa, Japan, losing 85-82 in their second Group E game.
Germany came out hard from the tip-off, going on an 8-0 run before co-captain Patty Mills fired up for the Boomers, scoring all of Australia’s opening 13 points, helping the Aussies close out the first quarter with a one-point lead, 25-24.
Star point guard Dennis Schroder was key for Germany, shooting a game-high 31 points and 8 assists, dominating through to give Germany a five point lead at the half.
The contest was typical of tight games between the two teams in the recent past - the lead changing six times in a see-sawing affair.
Australia’s depth showed through once again as ten Boomers hit the court and the defence ramped up in the second half. Australia won the rebound count for the game, Xaiver Cooks (9pts, 5reb, 2 asts) and Duop Reath (8pts, 3reb) injecting themselves to bring the Boomers back into the game at the third change with a four-point lead, 66-62.
Germany outscored the Boomers in the final quarter to go on and win, meaning Australia now must defeat Japan in the final match of the group stage to advance to the next phase of the tournament.
Despite the loss, Mills (21 points), becomes Australia’s second all-time leading scorer at the FIBA World Cup, on 311 points, sitting behind Andrew Gaze.
Co-captain Joe Ingles said the Boomers will take the next two days to get ready for Japan after tonight's loss.
“It’s obviously disappointing. We knew coming in they’re a good team, obviously it didn’t go our way tonight, so now it’s for us to re-group and go to the next one, ” said Ingles.
"We’re playing in Japan, they’ve got a home crowd, but we’ll get through tonight and we’ll go watch the film and see what we can get better at and prepare for the next one”.
Head coach Brian Goorjian said the outcome was disappointing.
“I thought it came down to a couple of things that were out of our control and we were right there so onward to the next one,” Goorjian said.
The Boomer's game against Japan is on Tuesday with tip-off at 9.10pm AEST
Group E
Germany 85 (Schroder 30 pts, Lo 20 pts)
Australia 82 (Mills 21 pts, Giddey 17 pts)
View the post-game press conference with Brian Goorjian and Joe Ingles
See the AUS v GER box score, photos and more on the FIBA website.
HOW TO WATCH
Every Boomers game, every Team USA game and all quarter finals, semi-finals, third place game and the FIBA World Cup Final will be made available LIVE and FREE on ESPN via Kayo Freebies - which does not require a subscription.
Fans in Australia can access Kayo Freebies and support the Boomers by watching ESPN’s coverage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
| UPCOMING WORLD CUP FIXTURES | ||
| Group Phase – Okinawa, Japan | ||
| Date | Game | Time |
| Tuesday August 29 | Australia v Japan | 9:10 pm AEST |
| Second Round and Classification– Okinawa, Japan | ||
| August 31 - September 3 | TBD | |
| Final Phase – Manila, Philippines | ||
| September 5 & 6 | Quarter-finals | TBD |
| September 8 | Semi-finals | TBD |
| September 10 | Final | TBD |
FIBA INFORMATION
General FIBA World Cup tournament information can be found in the FIBA International media guide.
Post-game press conferences are streamed live to the FIBA YouTube channel.
The Last Word
Adam Gibson - WC Boomer 2010, 2012, 2014
After a really bad start to the game being down 8-0, a timeout by Goorj lit a fire under the team when Mills decided to take over scoring the first 13 points for the Boomers, including a 3-point bomb one step over the half way line.
Cooks and Ingles coming in off the bench changed all the momentum on both ends of the floor with Thybulle everywhere. Germany shooting well from the three-point line had them ahead at half time.
Reath and Exum in the third quarter provided a big offensive punch with Cooks everywhere on the defensive end. Exum’s push of the ball in transition, his attack at the hoop and play making was big.
10-0 start for Germany in the fourth set the Boomers up to lose the game with two turnovers late and no shot at the hoop in a disappointing loss. 7 missed free throws for the game also hurt. Schroeder was big for Germany.
